By: Hope Wilkos, Monique Nolan Writer/Blogger
It doesn’t seem to matter how unbearably cold it is, record crowds of over 1 million people seem to flock to Times Square every year for the tradition that we never tire of. The festivities this year marked the 42nd year of the largest New Year’s Eve Celebration signifying ‘out with the old and in with the new.’
Visitors travel hundreds of miles from across the world just to be a part of this legendary annual event that overtakes the streets of New York City. Nivea continues to sponsor the event and you can tell that midnight is approaching as Nivea hats and blue balloons are seen covering the heads of the crowd for miles and miles. TOSHIBA is another official sponsor of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration. Viewers gaze upwards to see a huge TOSHIBA LED Vision Screen and focus in on the performances of the evening amongst other unprecedented scenes such as a ‘Happy New Year’ greeting from the astronauts at the Space Station courtesy of NASA.
Ryan Seacrest has been following in Dick Clark’s footsteps for the past few years now creating an atmosphere of excitement as he mingles with the crowd on a personal level. He was joined by the lovely, yet very chilly, Jenny McCarthy, who added a bit of humor to the evening festivities. This year, fans were thrilled to be able to enjoy performances by Miley Cyrus decked out in gold sequins and white fur, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis singing their hit ‘Thrift Shop’ with fervor, Blondie taking us back to the 70’s with her iconic hits and the very entertaining Icona Pop who wowed her fans.
For all those watching on television from their homes, Seacrest was joined by Fergie in Hollywood who was ready to party as she packed a full house with guest performers of Robin Thicke, Enrique Inglesias, Capital Cities and Jennifer Hudson along with a few others. Miami Beach’s famous Fountainbleu Hotel was hopping with the savory sounds of AfroJack while the American Airlines Arena welcomed an energetic performance by PitBull as he appeared on the big screen in Times Square and gave Ryan and the New York crowd a hearty hello and ‘Happy New Year’ from a much warmer climate.
Since New York City is the gateway to the cultural world with a melting pot of nationalities, it was only fitting that this evening pay tribute to another nation that is heralding in the new year in their traditional manner. A “Japan Countdown” took place on stage earlier in the evening and the TOSHIBA LED Vision Screen captured it all.
Every hour on the hour it was a practice countdown on the big screen getting ready for the big moment. It became even more impressive with audio and pyrotechnic effects. Ryan Seacrest was not the only host in the middle of Times Square as he was broadcasting for ABC. Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin took their spot for CNN and Carson Daly was staying warm by the fire broadcasting for NBC. All radio and television personalities took their positions to escort out the final hours of 2013.
One of the largest stars of the evening was the Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball. This year, the 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles introduced a new design; ‘Gift of Imagination.’ There were a series of intricate wedge cuts appearing to be endless mirrored reflections of each other. This sparked our imagination with a kaleidoscope of colorful patterns all over the ball. Incredibly enough, the ball is capable of creating a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and a billion color patterns from high in the sky above the skyscrapers.
The official champagne of the evening was MOËT & CHANDON. To toast its grand debut in Times Square, the world’s most beloved champagne was invited to commemorate the end of 2013 by ringing in the final closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
“Moët is the most beloved Champagne in the world, so it was a natural fit for us to partner with the world’s most famous New Year’s Eve celebration, Times Square New Year’s Eve,” said Thomas Bouleuc, Vice President, Moët & Chandon USA. “What an honor to also be invited to close 2013 at the New York Stock Exchange.”
To get New York City in the spirit of the New Year – a time to both reflect on the year winding down and to look with optimism toward the future – the champagne house invited consumers to toast to what mattered most in 2013 and what’s to come in 2014 using the hashtag #MyMoëtMoment. This exciting social media program rewarded ten lucky winners, whose photos and toasts were shared with the world on seven of Times Square’s largest video screens during the New Year’s Eve celebration.
As part of this program, a larger than life 11-foot tall bottle of Moët & Chandon Imperial – the first of its kind ever created in the United States – toured New York City’s most iconic locations including Times Square, Union Square, and Chelsea Market – before finishing its journey in Times Square for all to see on New Year’s Eve.
One of Moët’s biggest moments of the night was a toast in front of millions in Times Square. Vice President of Moët & Chandon USA Thomas Bouleuc and Editor of Eater LA and Moët & Chandon Entertaining Expert Kat Odell invited all those assembled in Times Square to share a moment and mark a memory with a toast in true Moët style. Bouleuc shared with the crowd that “this is the night to reflect upon the past, envision the future and just enjoy themoment together,” with Odell adding that “when you toast with Moët, those moments are made even more memorable.” The pair invited everyone to raise a toast to turning moments, big and small, into milestones, to sharing love with good company, to taking the first step in a new direction, and to making each step of the journey to success a Moët moment.
One deviation from the traditional was the non-presence of Mayor Bloomberg. After taking part in the event for 11 years, Bloomberg decided to stay at home with family for his last evening as Mayor and forgo the festivities. The incoming Mayor, Bill De Blasio, was taking part in a swearing in ceremony close to home and was unable to attend. We will most likely see him in the middle of Times Square as 2014 leads into 2015. Justice Sonia Sotomayor eagerly came back to her native city to do the honors this year. It is a ritual that she may never forget and a ‘first’ for a woman in her position to welcome the New Year in front of a huge crowd. Because of her ability to live out her dreams and because of her humble background, she seemed the most logical choice to inspire the attendees and television audience to believe in their dreams because no dream is too big to be achieved.
As the clock ticked down to those final minutes and the chilled onlookers threw their balloons to the sky, we looked back with retrospect on 2013 but looked ahead with optimism and promise of a better year for 2014. The clock struck midnight and kisses and hugs overcame the crowd as confetti went flying everywhere. For just a few moments in time, there was peace and love and friendship which brought the world together to celebrate the beginning of a new year, 2014. But we were not the only ones celebrating. Countries around the world had their own ways to usher in 2014 from fireworks to traditional customs.
Just because the clock turned midnight, the party certainly didn’t end. Plenty of people continued to have fun and Billy Joel could be seen on the big screen in Times Square singing one of his more famous songs to a cheering audience at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn while fans also cheered on the streets of New York City.
It may have been a brutally cold evening but the warmth permeated throughout Times Square as it filled with people excited to become part of history and fill themselves with magical moments.
We welcome you 2014! It is going to be a great year.
PHOTO CREDITS: George Whylie, Maxine Nolan -Whylie
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