Grammy-Nominated Singer-Songwriter KT Tunstall to Headline Musical Lineup for Times Square New Year’s Eve
The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment - the co-organizers of Times Square New Year's Eve - today announced select performance and host details for the upcoming 2022 New Year's Eve celebration, including that Grammy-nominated Singer-Songwriter and multi-platinum recording artist KT Tunstall will headline the live commercial-free webcast and TV pool feed.
Tunstall will continue the New Year's Eve tradition of singing John Lennon's "Imagine" moments before midnight, as well as performing two of her global chart-topping songs earlier in the night, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See", along with Tom Petty's classic, "I Won't Back Down".
Actor and beloved TV personality Jonathan Bennett, star of the Hallmark Holiday film "The Christmas House" and the 2004 film, "Mean Girls," and host of the Food Network's top-rated "Cake Wars," "Halloween Wars," and "Holiday Wars," will return to the celebration as Times Square New Year's Eve Host. This year, Bennett will be joined by Jeremy Hassell - an experienced live event and celebrity interview host, most recently with Regal Cinemas, who will serve as co-host. Hassell has been a part of the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration since 2016 serving as a street correspondent.
The 13th annual webcast will cover the action and festivities in Times Square, beginning with the Ball Raising at 6 p.m. EST, plus live musical performances, hourly countdowns, behind-the-scenes stories, and star-studded interviews as anticipation builds towards the midnight countdown and the famous Ball Drop.
As the event co-hosts, Bennett and Hassell, along with street correspondent Andrea Boehlke, will kick-off the six-hour celebration at 6 p.m. EST when the star of the show, the Times Square Ball, is introduced.
The Sino-American Friendship Association (SAFA) will present a Chinese cultural dance performance from Henan, China. The performance will feature Chinese martial arts, Taiji and Shaolin Kungfu, which originated from Henan, along with a captivating Fan dance, where traditional Chinese fan dance will fuse with American break dance.
At the top of each hour, Bennett will be joined by a special guest who will talk about his or her New Year's Eve experience and Confetti Wish for the New Year and then lead the revelers in an hourly countdown. Hassell will be providing exclusive interviews and sharing celebratory moments with Bennett and the Times Square revelers from around the world. Throughout the night, Bennett and Hassell will keep the revelers informed about the musical performances and other exciting entertainment in Times Square.
The live webcast video experience is available to embed for digital media outlets, bloggers, social media editors, webmasters, and Facebook users as a source of fun and entertaining content on their own sites customized for their respective communities and networks.
Last year's webcast was watched by more than 6.1 million unique viewers representing more than 200 countries and territories.
How to Watch
The Times Square New Year's Eve commercial-free webcast will cover the action and festivities in Times Square, beginning with the Ball Raising at 6 p.m. EST, plus live musical performances, hourly countdowns, behind-the-scenes stories, and star-studded interviews as anticipation builds towards the midnight countdown and the famous Ball Drop. The webcast will be streamed live on multiple websites, including TimesSquareNYC.org, NewYearsEve.nyc, LiveStream.com/2022 and TimesSquareBall.net. Embedding codes and additional webcast info is available at: https://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-new-years-eve/nye-live-webcast or LiveStream.com/2022.
Additionally, Jamestown, the owner of One Times Square - home of the iconic New Year's Eve Ball Drop Celebration - will bring back its virtual New Year's Eve experience with the VNYE app. Through the VNYE app, people from across the globe can explore the virtual world of Times Square, play games, and livestream New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square and around the world. In 2020, the VNYE app reached more than 3.7 million people worldwide.
A number of broadcast networks will be airing elements of the Times Square celebration.
Info for the Times Square New Year's Eve television broadcast pool feed is available at https://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-new-years-eve/media-press/new-years-eve-pool-feed-information
For more information on the vaccination policy for in-person revelers, and how to watch all of the action and Times Square New Year's Eve festivities from anywhere, please visit www.TSQ.org/NYE.
