NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Legendary singer-songwriter Paul Anka will croon songs as the New Year's Eve Ball wears an LED bow tie and moves up and down the pole over Times Square to welcome 2024, organizers said at an unveiling Wednesday.
According to organizers, this year's ball light design—a bow tie—pays tribute to two icons of Americana—Time Square, which is marking 120 years ringing in the New Year, and the 70th anniversary of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.
Crews work atop One Times Square on Dec. 27, 2023.Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
The 2024 sign is seen over Times Square on Dec. 27, 2023.Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
Jeffrey Straus, the president of Countdown Entertainment, said the bow tie has multiple meanings when it comes to Times Square.
"The bow tie, it's a symbol of luxury—we all dress up in our tuxes with our bow ties—but it's also Times Square," Straus said. "Times Square was known as 'the bow tie.' From an aerial view, it's actually two triangles coming together in the shape of a bow tie."
This New Year's Eve will also mark a first for the ball—it will ascend after its initial descent.
"Unlike any New Year's Eve, for the first time ever," Straus said, "At 12:04 a.m., the ball's going to relight with a special bow tie pattern. It's going to go right back up the pole and then come right back down to rest at its year-round perch."
Paul Anka joins organizers at the New Year's Eve Ball on Dec. 27, 2023.Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Countdown Entertainment President Jeffrey Straus (C) and executive vice president of Sino-American Friendship Association Li Li (R) unveil the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball on Dec. 27, 2023.Wang Fan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
The ball—12 feet in diameter and a whopping 11,875 pounds—is covered in 2,688 crystal triangles.
During a test run Saturday morning, the ball will be illuminated and sent up its 130-foot pole atop One Times Square.
Before the countdown to midnight on Sunday, revelers will be treated to a performance by Anka, who will sing his song "My Way," as well as John Lennon's "Imagine."
"It's a first for me in a city that I love, where I started," Anka said. "The meaning of what it means as the Center of the World."
Other performers ringing in the New Year from Times Square will include Megan Thee Stallion and LL Cool J. The full schedule and lineup is on the Times Square website.
