NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE Announces Puerto Rican Headliner & Co-Host

ABC and MRC Live & Alternative announced TODAY that "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022" will feature Reggaeton superstar and San Juan native Daddy Yankee for the celebration to give a spectacular hometown performance.

The show has also added Puerto Rican actress and singer Roselyn Sanchez as a co-host to oversee the historic New Year's Eve festivities in Puerto Rico. The Island is the inaugural destination for the show's first-ever Spanish language countdown. The new year's bash will take place on the grounds of the Puerto Rico Convention Center at DISTRITO T-Mobile, Puerto Rico's newest entertainment and nightlife complex. The most-watched annual celebration, "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," will air FRIDAY, DEC. 31, live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Sanchez joins the show's previously announced star-studded lineup, including 17-time host and executive producer Ryan Seacrest, in Times Square with first-time co-host Liza Koshy, co-host Ciara heading up the LA Party, co-host Billy Porter from New Orleans, and POWERBALL correspondent Jessie James Decker, who will announce the "POWERBALL First Millionaire of the Year" live from New York. Additional performers will be announced in the lead-up to show night.

The special bolsters Puerto Rico's own monumental year as the capital city of San Juan celebrates its 500th anniversary and continues its world-renowned spirited holiday season, a time of year that vividly reflects the Island's vibrant culture, food, dance, and music through local festivals and celebrations. Puerto Rico's countdown will occur at 11:00 p.m. EST/12:00 a.m. AST.

The No. 1 New Year's Eve programming special each year, last year's program dominated the combined deliveries of its broadcast competitors by 7.0 million Total Viewers and by 63% with Adults 18-49. Soaring by double digits year over year, last year's late-night telecast attracted 18.4 million Total Viewers and ranked as the highest-rated musical special of 2020 among Adults 18-49.

Roselyn Sanchez stars as Elena Roarke in the Fox series "Fantasy Island," taking on the iconic character in the reboot of the classic series. She previously starred in the ABC drama "Grand Hotel," which was the highest-rated summertime drama series to debut in 4 years on the network, and in the hit series "Devious Maids" from creator Marc Cherry. She will make her feature-length directorial debut on "Diario, Mujer y Café" and made her directorial debut with the award-winning short film "Satos." Her other credits include the New Line Cinema blockbuster "Rush Hour 2, the action thriller "Act of Valor" that opened at No. 1, the Dwayne Johnson starred "The Game Plan" for Disney and the hit CBS television series "Without a Trace" that led to her first ALMA award. She also co-hosts the iHeart Radio podcast "He Said, Ella Dijo" with her husband actor Eric Winter and hosted the 2021 Latin GRAMMYs®.

Global music icon Daddy Yankee is known as the "King of Reggaeton" by music critics and fans alike. He is often cited as an influence by other Latin urban performers. In 2004, he released his international hit single "Gasolina," which is credited with introducing Reggaeton to audiences worldwide and making the music genre a global phenomenon. Since then, he has sold around 30 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Daddy Yankee became the most listened artist worldwide on the streaming service Spotify in June 2017, the first Latin artist to do so. The Puerto Rican star has won 102 awards and 310 nominations. He has been named one of the "Most Influential Hispanics" by Time magazine. Most recently, he was awarded Songwriter of the Year for the third time at the 2021 ASCAP Latin Music Awards and was bestowed with the Billboard Hall of Fame Award, becoming the first urban Latino artist to enter. Other global hits by Daddy Yankee include "Despacito" (with Luis Fonsi), "Con Calma" (Ft Snow ), "Dura" and most recently "Problema."

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