By April MacIntyre Nov 18, 2009, 4:13 GMT
What do Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Brian Williams, James Tupper, Jane Krakowski, Michael Buble, Shakira, Taylor Schilling, The Roots and Zachary Levi, have in common?
11/09/2009 - Jane Krakowski - Jane Krakowski and Zachary Levi will co-host for NBC rolling out the holiday festivities on Wednesday, December 2 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) with a dazzling display of musical talent and the lighting of the world's most famous Christmas tree during the 12th annual "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" telecast. © Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos
Christmas festivities at Rockefeller Center on NBC.
Jane Krakowski and Zachary Levi will co-host for NBC rolling out the holiday festivities on Wednesday, December 2 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) with a dazzling display of musical talent and the lighting of the world's most famous Christmas tree during the 12th annual "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" telecast.
The star-studded tree lighting celebration will feature Michael Bublé, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, The Roots, Shakira, and The Radio City Rockettes performing a mix of current hits and holiday classics from beautifully ornamented stages around Rockefeller Center in New York City.
This year, NBC Universal through its "Green is Universal initiative," is happy to work with the Arbor Day Foundation to "Text For Your Tree."
Every half hour throughout the national broadcast viewers will be prompted to text NBCU to have a tree planted on their behalf. The trees will be planted by the Arbor Day Foundation, and underwritten by their partners. Additionally, the "Text For Your Tree" promotion will be extended online with an interactive site on both arborday.org and greenisuniversal.com sites. This partnership is expected to drive awareness for the environment and the Arbor Day Foundation - and help to get up to 500,000 trees planted.
Background from NBC:
The tradition of the Rockefeller Christmas tree dates back to the Great Depression. First erected in 1933, the tree was decked with 700 lights and placed in front of the then eight-month-old RCA Building, now the GE Building.
The Christmas tree gathering was enhanced in 1936 with the opening of the Rockefeller Plaza outdoor ice-skating pond. NBC-TV televised the first tree lighting in 1951 on "The Kate Smith Show" and as part of the nationwide "Howdy Doody" television show from 1953-55.
Prior to the network special, WNBC, NBC's New York flagship station, and some other NBC stations will broadcast an additional live hour of the special (7-8 p.m. ET). "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" is produced by Brad Lachman Productions with Lachman serving as executive producer. Bill Bracken is producer.
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