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.