New Year’s Eve: Taylor Swift, Pitbull, Lady Gaga

Television offers a range of New Year’s Eve celebrations if you decide to stay in Wednesday night. Those telecasts lead off the week’s highlights:

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ABC has  a traditional edge with the lumpily titled “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2015.” The coverage starts at 8 p.m. from Times Square in New York.
 
ABC is promising more than 38 performances over 5 and a half hours. Jenny McCarthy will be in Times Square where Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Magic! and Idina Menzel will perform. Gavin DeGraw and Lady Antebellum sing in Nashville, and Elton John performs in Brooklyn. Fergie hosts from Hollywood, and the performers there include Brantley Gilbert, Ella Henderson, Nick Jonas, Nico Vinz, Train, Iggy Azalea, Bastille, Charli XCX, Jason Derulo, One Direction, Pentatonix, Rixton and Meghan Trainor.

Fans of wacky comedy on news channels can tune to CNN at 9 p.m. Wednesday to watch Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin co-host for the eighth consecutive year from Times Square.

NBC is turning up the star power on its telecast, “New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly,” which starts at 10 p.m. Daly hosts from Times Square. The performers include Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams and Seth MacFarlane. NBC starts the night with “A Toast to 2014!” at 8 p.m. Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb host the two-hour special from NBC News.

“Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution” starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday on Fox. The performers include Enrique Iglesias, Fall Out Boy, Fifth Harmony, the Band Perry and Becky G. The setting for the live telecast is the New Thompson Miami Beach Hotel. Fox promises that Pitbull will perform his biggest hits. The telecast runs 8 to 10 p.m. and returns from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Fox News Channel will deliver “All-American New Year,” starting at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Bob Beckel, Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery, Anna Kooiman and Jesse Watters host the live telecast from Times Square until 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Rick Leventhal, Bernard McGurik and Joanne Nosuchinsky will contribute to the coverage.
 
Victoria Justice and Charlamagne host “MTV’s New Year’s Eve 2015″ at 11 p.m. Wednesday live from Times Square. The hour special will feature the comedians of “Girl Code” and “Guy Code” looking back at 2014, and MTV provides a sneak peek of new series “Broke A$$ Game Show.”

The new year specials continue at 8 p.m. Thursday on PBS.  Julie Andrews returns for the sixth time to host “From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration.” Zubin Mehta conducts the Vienna Philharmonic from Vienna’s Musikverein.

Tuesday’s biggest show is the 37th Annual Kennedy Center Honors. The two-hour special, starting at 9 p.m. on CBS, honors Lily Tomlin, Tom Hanks, Al Green, Patricia McBride and Sting. The outstanding performers include Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Martin Short, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen and Bruno Mars.

ESPN has the bowl games in the College Football Playoff on Thursday. Oregon and Florida State meet in the Rose Bowl at 5:10 p.m. Alabama and Ohio State follow in the Sugar Bowl at 8:50 p.m. The winners meet in the championship game Jan. 12 on ESPN.

Usually the broadcast networks take off the night of Jan. 1. But NBC offers a new “Biggest Loser” at 8 p.m., and ABC presents a new “Taste” at 8 p.m.  On Friday, CBS will offer new episodes of “Undercover Boss,” “Hawaii Five-0″ and “Blue Bloods.” 

Copyright © 2014, Orlando Sentinel

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