A Hallmark star is hosting the New Year’s Eve event in Times Square tonight. Jonathan Bennett, who just starred as the lead in Hallmark’s hit movie The Christmas House, is the official webcast host of the Times Square New Year’s Eve event.
This Is Bennett’s Third Year Hosting the Times Square Event
Bennett was the webcast host for the Times Square New Year’s Eve event last year, but this year is going to be a little different because of pandemic regulations. The public isn’t actually allowed in Times Square this year, The New York Times reported, but the Ball drop is still going to happen. There will be checkpoints set up again this year, but uninvited guests won’t be allowed in starting at 3 p.m. Thursday. The Police Department will need 80% fewer officers than normal this year because of the smaller crowds.
The event will also still feature an outdoor concert, but there won’t be guests packed around the stage this year watching. The celebration will also encompass just two blocks around Times Square, and people will be physically distanced and wearing masks.
Bennett will be here for the whole thing, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern when the Ball is raised. The webcast coverage, which you can watch at the beginning of this section in the embedded video, will be commercial-free. The night will end at 12:15 a.m. Eastern on January 1.
I’m baaaack as the official host of Times Square NYE and yes, just like 2020, we are dropping the ball baby! Join us at 6pm EST on the livestream so you don’t miss any of the action! Stream it at https://t.co/TVPdzQSirH @TimesSquareNYC pic.twitter.com/1g9i9ej2qm
— Jonathan Bennett (@JonathanBennett) December 28, 2020
Bennett first hosted the Times Square Event in 2016, before returning for the 2019-2020 event, Broadway World reported. This year will be his third time hosting.
The Heroes of 2020 — First Responders & Essential Workers — Will Be Honored
Two 🤩 days 🥳 @JonathanBennett pic.twitter.com/IbdjdxCgVu
— Times Square (@TimesSquareNYC) December 30, 2020
The event tonight is going to honor the “heroes of 2020,” ET Canada reported. This includes frontline and essential workers and first responders. A press release noted that the show will honor “first responders, frontline and essential workers and their families who sacrificed so much in 2020 to provide care and support for their communities.”
Tim Tompkins, President of Times Square Alliance, said that the event will “shine a spotlight on the individuals who are tirelessly leading our nation through hard times with unshakable strength, determination and poise, as well as their families, who deal with their own set of sacrifices.”
The guest list for tonight includes a pediatrician at Elmhurst Hospital, a pizza delivery driver who caught coronavirus, and a Staten Island Ferry operator, Ronald Colbert, The New York Times reported.
Colbert, 66, said about being a special guest: “I am just so honored and happy. The elements of the excitement that Times Square offers — I get to share that again.”
As for Bennett, this has been a great month for him. He just got engaged a little over a month ago to Jaymes Vaughan, a host for the TV series Celebrity Page and a past contestant on The Amazing Race.
Vaughan wrote a song when he proposed to Bennett in an emotional engagement, People reported.
I genuinely feel like the luckiest man in the entire world ❤️ Thanks @people for sharing our love. https://t.co/eHHd9N8p2M
— Jaymes Vaughan (@JaymesV) December 1, 2020
Vaughan told People: “Every single part of the song was personal to Jonathan. Every lyric, even the structure of the melody was designed with how I knew he’d sing it back to me.”
Tonight’s Schedule Is Packed
Here’s the schedule for tonight and all the moments you don’t want to miss, as shared by TimesSquareNYC.org. Every time listed below is in the Eastern time zone. The schedule is from the Times Square NYC website.
- 6:00 p.m. to 6:03 p.m.: Lighting and Raising the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball
- 6:08 p.m. to 6:12 p.m.: Performance by Billy Porter
- 6:57 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.: Hourly Countdown
- 7:01 p.m. to 7:03 p.m.: Good Riddance Day Highlights with the host of Times Square New Year’s Eve, Jonathan Bennett.
- 7:03 p.m. to 7:17 p.m.: The USO Show Troupe Performance
- 7:58 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.: Hourly Countdown
- 8:01 p.m. to 8:11 p.m.: Musical Performance by Andra Day
- 8:11 p.m. to 8:14 p.m.: Waterford Crystal Toast
- 8:30 p.m. to 8:36 p.m.: Performance by Jimmie Allen
- 8:45 p.m. to 8:57 p.m.: Gloria Gaynor performs her hit songs I Will Survive, Never Can Say Goodbye and Joy Comes In The Morning.
- 8:57 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Hourly Countdown
- 9:39 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.: Machine Gun Kelly performs.
- 9:58 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.: Hourly Countdown with Planet Fitness
- 10:01 p.m. to 10:06 p.m.: The Waffle Crew performs on the Planet Fitness Center Stage.
- 10:06 p.m. to 10:09 p.m.: Barefoot Toast
- 10:18 p.m. to 10:26 p.m.: Univision’s ¡Feliz 2021!: Performance by Anitta
- 10:37 p.m. to 10:44 p.m.: Performance by Cyndi Lauper & Billy Porter
- 10:58 p.m. to 11:01 p.m.: Hourly Countdown with Raúl de Molina
- 11:01 p.m. to 11:15 p.m.: Univision’s ¡Feliz 2021!: Performance by Pitbull
- 11:38 p.m. to 11:46 p.m.: Performance by Jennifer Lopez
- 11:55 p.m. to 11:58 p.m.: Andra Day performs John Lennon’s Imagine
- 11:59 p.m.: The Sixty-Second Countdown: The Mayor of New York City will push the Waterford crystal button that signals the descent of the New Year’s Eve Ball. The lighted Ball descends 70 feet in 60 seconds.
- 12:00 a.m. — New Year’s Day: At Midnight, the lights on the New Year’s Eve Ball are turned off as the numerals of the New Year “2021” burst to life above Times Square, followed by Times Square Confetti Release and Pyrotechnic Effects.
- 12:15 a.m. — End of Show.
Bennett will be present for the entire night, helping usher in a new year and saying goodbye to a year that many people are glad to see going away. Bennett will be accompanied by street correspondents providing full coverage of the festivities tonight.
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