New Year's Eve Guide

More news from around the web as it relates to New Year’s Eve:

Michael Feinstein and Linda Eder to Play New Year’s Eve Concert [Theater Mania]
Michael Feinstein and Linda Eder will reunite for a special New Year’s Eve show at Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency. Feinstein, the club’s namesake, will also perform a return engagement of his critically acclaimed The Sinatra Project, December 2-30.  Eder, a popular and concert recording artist, recently released her latest CD The Other Side of Me. She starred on Broadway in Jekyll & Hyde. (full story)

On November 11, 2008, the “new” Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball was unveiled at a press conference in Yonkers, New York. The new Ball is completely redesigned, can display more than 16 million vibrant colors, and will now be on display year round, rather than just for New Year’s Eve.  This is the 7th Ball in the 101 year history of the ball-drop at Times Square.

This year’s new Ball is double the diameter of previous Ball and is over 12 feet wide and weighs 11,875 pounds. The Ball uses 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which is more than triple the number of LEDs used when compared to the 2008 Ball. The four LED colors, red, green, blue and white, will produce a rich color palette, resulting in 4.3 billion possible color combinations.

The flag pole used for previous balls was not strong enough to support the new Ball, so it was replaced with a new one and additional steel bracing was added. The Ball is displayed on top of the One Times Square building.

“For one hundred years, the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball has attracted millions of revelers to Times Square on December 31st to celebrate the beginning of the New Year” said Jeff Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment and co-organizer of Times Square New Year’s Eve.  “The new Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball will be a bright sparkling jewel atop One Times Square entertaining New Yorkers and tourists from around the world not only on December 31, but throughout the year.”

“The New Year’s Eve ball is bigger, better and brighter than ever, just like Times Square itself,” said Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkins. “And like Times Square, it’s not afraid to show off. That’s why we’re proudly putting it on display year-round so visitors to the neighborhood can enjoy a true Crossroads of the World icon.”

Waterford Crystal created an exclusive “Let There Be Joy” design for the crystal triangles on the new Ball. Designed and crafted by Waterford artisans in Ireland, “Let There Be Joy” features the design of an angel with arms uplifted welcoming the New Year on each of the 1,728 new crystals.  The remaining 960 triangles are last year’s “Let There Be Light” design of a stylized radiating starburst.

More information on the history of the Ball can be found below.

- About the New Year’s Eve Ball [Times Square Alliance]
- 2009 Times Square ball to stay up year-round [Newsday]
- Lighting Science Welcomes the New Year with a Bigger and Brighter Ball in 4.3 Billion Colors [Press Release]

photo credit: Times Square Alliance

Photos of the Time Square New Year’s Eve Ball

[Show as slideshow]

Looks like Ryan Seacrest is back for another year of co-hosting Dick Clarke’s New Year’s Eve special on ABC. Seacrest has co-hosted the show since 2005, and this year marks the first time the show’s name has been changed to include him in the title – “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”

Fergie returns to co-host and perform at the West Coast party portions of the special, while Kellie Pickler has her first year as the Times Square correspondent. Full details are in the press release below.

Fergie Will Host West Coast Party and Perform; Kellie Pickler is Times Square Correspondent

For the 37th consecutive year, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009″ will lead America into the New Year when Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest host specials starting at 10:00 p.m., ET, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 on the ABC Television Network.

Singer/songwriter Fergie returns to perform and host the West Coast party portions of the specials, and for the first time country star Kellie Pickler will be the Times Square correspondent, reporting on other happenings in and around New York City. This year will include performances from both New York and Hollywood, and the American tradition of Dick Clark counting down to midnight will once again take place during the three-and-a-half hours of specials from Times Square in New York City.

The festivities will kick off with “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009″ from10:00-11:00 p.m., ET, featuring performances live from New York’s Times Square.

During “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009, Part 1″ (11:35 p.m. – 1:05 a.m., ET), in addition to reporting on the final minutes of 2008 and the traditional Times Square countdown to midnight, the show will feature music performances from both Hollywood, California and Times Square in New York.

Wrapping the night’s activities will be “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2009, Part 2″ (1:05-2:05 a.m., ET), when musical acts will continue the party into the early hours of the New Year with additional performances from Hollywood.

Multi-platinum, three-time Grammy award-winning, international superstar Fergie, who joined The Black Eyed Peas in 2002, released her solo debut, “The Dutchess,” in 2006. “The Dutchess,” which spent an astounding 94 weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, sold over 6 million copies worldwide and achieved triple-platinum status in the United States. Its success was propelled by the hit singles “London Bridge,” “Fergalicious” (#1), “Glamorous” (#1), “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (#1), “Clumsy (#2)” and “Finally.” Fergie is the first artist since Christina Aguilera (in 2000) to score three #1s from one album.

Singer/songwriter Kellie Pickler continues to entertain us since her debut on “American Idol” in 2006. Her first album sold more than 800,000 copies, and she made history with her self-titled, sophomore album upon its release in October this year, when she became only the sixth country artist to have her first two albums debut at #1 on the Billboard Country Album Chart. The multi-nominated and awarded Pickler’s current single is “Best Days of Your Life,” which she wrote her friend and fellow artist, Taylor Swift.

“New Year’s Eve with Dick and Ryan is a time honored tradition and all of us at dcp and ABC are delighted that Fergie will once again host our West Coast event, and thrilled that Kellie Pickler will be amidst the revelry and party goers at Times Square,” said Orly Adelson, president of dick clark productions.

The specials are presentations of dick clark productions, Inc. Executive producers are Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest and Orly Adelson. Larry Klein produces.

Glad to see that Dick Clark will be up and around for another New Year’s Eve!

So, we thought we’d start a weekly web site review section where we cover some of the other New Year’s Eve related web sites out there.  And, what better place to start than with NewYears.com.

NewYears.com is the largest and most established New Year’s Eve web site around. They provide information on New Years parties across the U.S. and Canada but are primarily focused on the major cities – New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Montreal, etc.  You can find out all the information on a party, see photos and videos of the venues, and even buy tickets online.  The information is cleanly arranged and easy to browse through.

Most of the parties are geared towards people in their 20s, and almost all of them include open-bar, meaning that all you drinks are included in the price of admission.  Most parties are generally listed by late November and they do often sell out, so don’t wait until the last minute to buy. (Plus, prices are increased as it gets closer to New Year’s Eve.)

So, check out NewYears.com to find all the details on where to party for New Years!