History
The show first aired in its current format on December 31, 2001 with CNN correspondents in Times Square hosting an informal, news-based, New Year's Eve celebration show. For New Year's Eve 2002, Anderson Cooper took over as host from Times Square. It was originally 30 minutes, but expanded to 90–120 minutes starting in 2003. Originally it featured live look-ins of several concerts, but by 2007, the musical acts had been eliminated.
In contrast with other nationally broadcat New Year's Eve programs, most of which focus solely on the celebrations in New York and/or go off the air shortly after midnight Eastern Time, New Year's Eve Live features various CNN correspondents in the United States and abroad reporting on the celebrations marking the New Year, including continuing coverage of New Year celebrations past midnight Central Time. Among the annual locations include:
- Times Square
- Key West - Where Gary Marion (a drag queen who performs as "Sushi") rides a ruby shoe down to ring in the new year.
- Central Park - Gary Tuchman runs in and covers the "Midnight Run"
- Eastport, Maine - The celebration in Eastport includes a celebration for midnight Atlantic Time for residents located across Passamaquoddy Bay in New Brunswick, Canada.
- Nashville - Brooke Baldwin reports.
Among the guest correspondents over the years include: Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, Ed Henry, and John Zarrella. The show currently airs after a special edition of Anderson Cooper 360°, which also originates live from Times Square on New Year's Eve.
Unlike New Year's Rockin' Eve, the current framework of the show does not feature any musical performances, nor any pre-recorded party scenes. The coverage of the ball drop itself and the aftermath are typically done without commentary, and the atmosphere and sounds of Times Square are the only audio for several minutes. As such, the customary playing of the songs "Imagine", "Auld Lang Syne", "Theme from New York, New York", "America the Beautiful" by Ray Charles, "What a Wonderful World", and "Over the Rainbow" by IZ, are usually covered.
Read more about this topic: New Year's Eve Live (CNN Program)
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—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“History, as an entirety, could only exist in the eyes of an observer outside it and outside the world. History only exists, in the final analysis, for God.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
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