Times Square Ball Gets Test Run Before Big New Year's Eve Party
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The star of New Year's Eve went through dress rehearsal in Times Square on Wednesday.
The Waterford crystal ball had a successful test ahead of Thursday night's big countdown.
Philips Lighting Americas converted the ball to LED lights in 2007, and company president Amy Huntington said this year's lighting will be impressive.
"Those 32,000 LEDs that are in the ball can be individually controlled by software," Huntington said. "Combined they can produce a palette of over 16 million colors."
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Huntington said the ball is energy-efficient -- it uses only the same amount of power as two household ovens.
Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkins told 1010 WINS' Steve Kastenbaum the rehearsal went well.
"We gotta take care of that baby, so this is our test to make sure that the baby's doing fine; and she's ready to perform tomorrow," he said.
About 1 million people are expected to come in to watch the 11,875-pound ball drop.
The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday.