Lights and Fireworks on the Circle!

Friday night, I was hanging out on Monument Circle with my family, friends and thousands of other Hoosiers braving the big crowds and cool weather. 

We were all there for the Circle of Lights presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and the Electrical Workers of IBEW Local 481.

I had the good pleasure of watching it up close and behind the scenes. Dozens of RTV 6 staffers worked most of Friday and Friday night to bring the LIVE digital widescreen presentation to tens of thousands of homes across Central Indiana.

This year’s crowd downtown on the Circle seemed a little bigger (warmer weather helps…if you call upper 30s warmer.)

But really, it was a perfect night for the festivities.

I asked Tom O’Donnell from IBEW Local 481 to share his thoughts on one of downtown’s biggest nights. 

If it wasn’t for the electricians, the Circle wouldn’t shine each holiday season.

Here’s what Tom had to say:

It’s officially the holiday season in Central Indiana!

Close to 100,000 spectators were Downtown on Monument Circle Friday night to ring in the holiday season at the 46th annual Circle of Lights® presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and Electrical Workers of IBEW 481 celebration.

As the presenting sponsors, Quality Connection and IBEW 481 have an enormous amount of pride in this annual tradition.

 Our electricians have been involved from the start, volunteering their time for 46 years now to install and maintain the lights. And each year we’re always thrilled to see the joy this free event brings to so many residents and visitors.

Our IBEW 481 electricians and Quality Connection contractors have helped build the Indianapolis skyline for years - from Circle Centre to Lucas Oil Stadium to the new Indianapolis International Airport. These permanent city fixtures have a special place in our hearts; knowing we were involved in monumental milestones.

With that said, being a part of the Circle of Lights® presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and Electrical Workers of IBEW 481 is equally gratifying. This is our way of giving back to the community.

We enjoy the opportunity to be a part of your amazing holiday traditions.

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Tom O’Donnell
Business Manager IBEW Local 481

Thanks Tom!

And if you didn’t make it downtown to see the Circle of Lights, it will be repeated on RTV 6 on Christmas Day. (Perfect programming to open your presents!)

Happy Holidays!

We’re kicking off the 8th annual RTV 6 Toy Drive this week. And a new tradition we started last year is back…anchors singing!

This year Trisha Shepherd is joined by Good Morning, Indiana’s Grace Trahan and the rest of the 6 NEWS anchor team for a rendition of “I Saw Three Ships.”

RTV 6 Producer/Director Ken Scheidler and his wife Karen did the arrangement. And the anchors did the rest!

Check it out in the YouTube clip.

The video goes fast. In addition to Trisha and Grace, you’ll see and hear Kevin Gregory, Dave Furst, Todd Wallace, Dan Spehler, Tom Davis, Paul Poteet, Stacia Matthews, Crystal Wicker, Erica Flye, Brad Brown and Rafael Sanchez.

Okay, full disclosure. Rafael actually doesn’t sing…he just directs.

Enjoy the video!

You can see the much higher quality version airing on RTV 6 and 6 NEWS 24/7 beginning November 26 through the holiday season.

And of course, make a donation to the RTV 6 Toy Drive. You can drop off toys at The Circle of Lights on Friday night, next Wednesday at Ashley Furniture Home Store in Greenwood, or any AAA Service Center or FedEx location (previously Kinkos.)

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

This year, watch it in WIDESCREEN!

I love this time of year.

A short work week. The anticipation of Thanksgiving. And the annual tradition of tens of thousands of families getting together to turn on thousands of lights on Monument Circle.

The 46th annual Circle of Lights presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and the Electrical Workers of IBEW Local 481 is Friday night!

And as part of the tradition, RTV 6 is kicking off the holidays carrying the lighting festivities LIVE beginning at 7PM. But this year, the TV telecast is going to look a little different. And it’s all good. 

This year’s Circle of Lights will be bigger and better because this year, for the first time ever, the Circle of Lights will be presented in digital widescreen!

That means if you are watching on an HDTV, you’re going to see a lot more lights (and many more faces in the throngs of people downtown!)

Kurt Swadener, RTV 6’s Operations Manager, says the widescreen format will add a lot to the telecast. “I’m very excited that we are able to present the Circle of Lights in digital widescreen for the very first time,” Swadener says. ”The widescreen format enhances the experience of the audience by giving a more panoramic view of the event. It has always been a challenge to convey the size of the event to our television viewers. Digital widescreen gives us that opportunity and will take the beloved televised event to a whole new level.”

Of course, one thing that won’t be changing is the fantastic talent that will be performing at this year’s ceremony.

Auditions for this year’s show were held in September and October. Hundreds tried out for the chance to perform. And the talent is terrific.

Julia Watson from Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. confirms it’s going to be a good show:

“We have such a great group of performers this year! The thrill of national talent like “The Lion King” joining with talented people right here in Central Indiana is a great combination. We have everything from a high energy band to a very talented 9 year old! This is going to be a great show!”

Kevin Gregory, Todd Wallace and Trisha Shepherd will host LIVE from Downtown this Friday night starting at 7PM on RTV 6. And if you are going to be out of town, you can still watch the ceremony in a LIVE stream right here on TheIndyChannel.com.

Happy Holidays!

*****

Okay, confession time.

Gotta go with Brooke Burke!

In case you didn’t know, I’m a double blogger.

In addition to doing an entertainment blog, I also free-lance producing a “Dancing with the Stars” blog (available on the special Dancing with the Stars page here at TheIndyChannel.com.)  And this week, this season winds down to the finale. 

At the beginning of this season I had picked Misty May-Treanor to win. But she left the competition several weeks ago with a ruptured achilles tendon (it still hurts just writing that.)

So now it is down to model/host Brooke Burke, football great Warren Sapp and N’Sync’s Lance Bass.

Gotta go with Brooke and her partner Derek Hough. They’ve dominated all season and truly are the best couple in this competition though Warren and Lance are going to be good competition. Besides, Hough and his little sis Julianne are the most popular dancers on the show. (FYI - Julianne announced last week she’s leaving to concentrate on her singing career. I’m bummed she’s leaving…she’s certainly my favorite dancer.) 

Finally, Brooke, an amazing mother of FOUR has every mom in America rooting for her. So go with Brooke.

Since I called out my good friend Sandwich as part of a RANT, I feel it only fair I give him a chance to respond. So here it goes…

Rebuttal from Sandwich:

I think Paul is a bit confused about my opinion of Pixar movies…..in the beginning, I was blown away by Toy Story and to its better counterpart, Toy Story 2. TS2 is my definition of a classic or, a solid 9 or 9.5 on the “Sandwich Scale”. Great stuff.

That’s my benchmark for a Pixar movie….if you’re going to create great product, I will hold you in a different league.

“The Incredibles” and “Wall-E” are NOT classics….they are GOOD flicks but not “9″’s….”The Incredibles” deserves a “7″ or as high as an “8″ (one could argue) but frankly, “Wall-E” is a 6…..good animation (Pixar has that down) but a slow, sloggy, story. I didn’t feel the “love connection” in the storyline….it felt a bit contrived.

MY RANT:

If you’re going to make an average movie, give it to me in 90 minutes or less. There is nothing worse than going to a movie and having to sit thru 120 minutes….FOR NO GOOD REASON. Very rarely do I say, “I wish that movie were longer”. Rare occasions do pop up…..”Titanic” was long but worth it (a “9.5″ on the Sandwich Scale”).

MY RAVE:

The “Lio” cartoon that Paul alluded to is quirky, bizarre and worth the time. I FULLY AGREE with Paul on this one.

You see, I can get along.

-sandwich-

Imagine that...the IMA on the cover!

Okay, you ever have those days when you just want to get things off your chest? 

It’s time for some RANTS AND RAVES!

See if you agree…

A RANT…

The Indianapolis Star.

Why am I still paying to get this paper? It’s literally shrinking every week. Some entire sections are only two pages…that’s it. One piece of paper!

There are fewer and fewer local articles and bylines. 

And is it just me, or does there seem to be an article, feature or something about the Indianapolis Museum of Art every week!? Seriously, it seems the IMA is in the Sunday feature supplement on a regular basis. The IMA is impressive, but give me a break.

To top it off, I get a letter this week telling me the rate is going up…wonderful. Less for a whole lot more.

A RAVE…

Lio...an inspired new comic strip

But this same paper also has introduced me to a new comic strip called “Lio” that is so halfway bizzare and yet inspired. It almost makes the paper worth it.

Almost.

I got to fly into the brand new Indianapolis International Airport last week after spending a week in New York. Only problem is, I spent two and a half hours on the tarmac in Newark, New Jersey.

So my first flight into the new Indy jewel…happened in the middle of the night, arriving after midnight! Welcome home to a closed down and very quiet facility.

A RAVE…

But it still looked pretty impressive.

A RANT…

Word is that ABC is probably going to pull the plug on “Pushing Daisies,” one of the more innovative and original series in recent years. Darn…I really liked this one. Too bad not enough other people did.

Kicking the holidays off far right

A RAVE…

This Sunday night at 10pm Comedy Central will kick off the holidays right…(or is that far right?) with a Christmas special from Stephen Colbert! 

It’s called, naturally, “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All.”

Colbert started playing the Stephen Colbert character of a right wing blow-hard (take that Bill O’Reilly) for laughs beginning on “The Daily Show” and eventually taking on his own daily show following that Daily Show.

Jon Stewart, Toby Keith, John Legend and Elvis Costello are guests.

I’ll be watching.

ANOTHER RAVE…

The DVD of Disney/Pixar’s “Wall-E” is outstanding.

A Best Picture contender?

I think this ecological animated story of a little robot should get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, it’s that good. (It WILL win best Animated Feature.) Cool feature in many of the new DVD releases…a digital copy you can download into a computer or I-Phone or other digital player so you can take the movie with you, in whatever format you want.

 PIXAR has yet to make a movie me and my kids didn’t enjoy.

PIXAR is the best.

A RANT…

One of my buddies, Sandwich, the guy that created the Sandwich scale for rating movies, way way way underappreciates the PIXAR movies. What is wrong with this guy that he can’t appreciate great art? I hope he reads this and gives me a good answer. (And if he doesn’t read this, that’s a whole other rant!)

Later