NBC rolls out the holiday festivities on Wednesday, December 2 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) with the 12th annual "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" telecast, featuring the lighting of the world's most famous Christmas tree, and star-studded talent performances. Co-hosted by NBC stars Jane Krakowski ("30 Rock") and Zachary Levi ("Chuck") and broadcast in high definition, the star-studded tree lighting celebration will feature Michael Buble, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, The Roots, Shakira, and The Radio City Rockettes performing a mix of current hits and holiday classics from beautifully ornamented stages around Rockefeller Center in New York City.
One of the season's most treasured traditions, the 77th annual tree lighting extravaganza will also include a performance by co-host Krakowski with The Roots and appearances by Taylor Schilling (NBC's "Mercy"), James Tupper (NBC's "Mercy") and Brian Williams ("NBC Nightly News").
This year, NBC Universal through its "Green is Universal initiative," is happy to work with the Arbor Day Foundation to "Text For Your Tree." Every half hour throughout the national broadcast viewers will be prompted to text NBCU to have a tree planted on their behalf. The trees will be planted by the Arbor Day Foundation, and underwritten by their partners. Additionally, the "Text For Your Tree" promotion will be extended online with an interactive site on both arborday.org and greenisuniversal.com sites. This partnership is expected to drive awareness for the environment and the Arbor Day Foundation - and help to get up to 500,000 trees planted.
The tradition of the Rockefeller Christmas tree dates back to the Great Depression. First erected in 1933, the tree was decked with 700 lights and placed in front of the then eight-month-old RCA Building, now the GE Building. The Christmas tree gathering was enhanced in 1936 with the opening of the Rockefeller Plaza outdoor ice-skating pond. NBC-TV televised the first tree lighting in 1951 on "The Kate Smith Show" and as part of the nationwide "Howdy Doody" television show from 1953-55.
Prior to the network special, WNBC, NBC's New York flagship station, and some other NBC stations will broadcast an additional live hour of the special (7-8 p.m. ET). "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" is produced by Brad Lachman Productions with Lachman serving as executive producer. Bill Bracken is producer.
Emmy nominee and Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski stars as Jenna Maroney, the star of "The Girlie Show," in NBC's three-time Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock." Krakowski is an accomplished actress, dancer and singer with numerous awards and credits to her name in film, theatre and television. She has appeared on Broadway in Nine, Funny Girl, Once Upon a Mattress, Tartuffe, Company, Face Value, Grand Hotel, and Starlight Express. She recently debuted her cabaret show to sold out audiences at the Kennedy Center in DC and Feinstein's in NYC. In 2009, the New Jersey born actress was honored with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Jenna Maroney.
Zachary Levi is currently seen on the NBC hit comedy show "Chuck." Playing the title character, Chuck Bartowski, Levi portrays a semi self-conscious regular guy whose life gets scrambled when he inadvertently has government secrets downloaded into his brain while reading an email sent from a long lost "frenemy." Levi will be seen next in the 20th Century Fox film "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" the follow up to the mega hit 2007 film. Additionally he is the lead role opposite Mandy Moore in Disney's classic story of Rapunzel, slated for a 2010 release. Levi was previously seen starring with Amber Tamblyn in the independent feature film "Spiral." Audiences also remember Levi starring roles in the franchise film "Big Momma's House 2" with Martin Lawrence and the independent film "Shades of Ray" with Sarah Shahi.
Michael Buble has had enormous success over the last seven years as a Grammy winning recording artist and world class entertainer who has sold out concert venues around the globe. His current CD "Crazy Love" debuted recently at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and has remained a Top Ten album for the last severAl Weeks. The Canadian native has sold over 22 million albums worldwide. His current single, "Haven't Met You Yet", co written by Buble is a top l0 record in several radio formats. His previous CD "Call Me Irresponsible" was a number one album in over l5 countries. "It's Time," released in 2005 holds the record as the longest running title to remain on the Billboard Traditional Jazz charts - a full two years. Buble has also written and performed two singles, "Everything" and "Home" which was also a Number One hit for Blake Shelton on the Country charts. He is scheduled to start his "Crazy Love" concert Tour in March 2010.
