A birds-eye view of Times Square, where the crowds will gather to usher in the New Year this evening.
The revamped high-tech Waterford Crystal ball that wowed the crowds thronging Times Square when it descended to mark the start of 2009 and 2010 will make a return appearance for New Year’s 2011. Sporting a different color scheme thanks to a change in the programming of its 32,000 individual LED lights and 288 new Waterford crystals in this year’s theme of “Let There Be Love,” the iconic globe will drop 70 feet to mark the moment the calender flips to 2011.
Because the LED lights allow a myriad of patterns and colors, the exact look of the 2011 ball has not been officially released.
In total, the ball sports more than 2,500 individual crystals, a mix of those newly designed for this year’s theme, and crystals from previous years. The crystals are attached to some 672 LED lighting modules which are made up of clusters of individual LED lights. For those who prefer not to pack themselves into the crowd of hundreds of thousands of well-wishers celebrating the event in person, the Times Square festivities will be streamed live starting at 5 PM tonight via the Internet where the view of the Waterford ball will likely be better than in person.
A limited-edition Waterford Times Square 2011 ornament looks nothing like the actual ball that will drop this evening.
For the commemorative-minded, there are two very different official Waterford-branded New Year’s ornaments for sale. One can be purchased for $35 from Amazon, while a “limited edition” somewhat higher quality clear crystal version retails for $75 here. Neither look anything like the LED-festooned version that will be the focal point of the annual ritual tonight.