Oh Christmas Tree: Rockefeller Center Gets Lit On Wednesday

by BILLY GRAY · November 30, 2009

    The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit up this Wednesday night. The tree lighting is one of those things, like ethnic parades and a Times Square New Year's Eve, that New Yorkers love to sneer at. But admit it: December in the city would be a little less jolly without it.

    I should say that the lighting ceremony is cool as long as you don't spend six hours camping out for it in the cold (as travel sites advise). And it might be cooler if NBC booked entertainers that weren't the squarest musicians this side of a Lawrence Welk Show retrospective. This year's list includes Michael Buble, Barry Manilow and Alicia Keys, all respected talents but about as fresh a holiday offering as your grandmother's fruitcake.

    Still, the awesome Jane Krakowski is MCing the whole shindig. And the tree, all lit up, is pretty. So drop the 'tude, bless the daytrippers for actually bringing a pulse to midtown after dark and enjoy the festive show.