By Mark Kennedy
Cher is obviously a superstar but even a superstar can be the opening act when it comes to Santa.
Organizers of this year's Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade have nabbed the Oscar-, Emmy- and Grammy Award-winner for their 97th annual event. Cher will make her appearance just before the parade's end, signaled by the arrival of Santa’s sleigh, parade organizers said.
This year’s parade will feature 16 giant character balloons, 26 floats, 32 novelty and heritage inflatables, 12 marching bands, 700 clowns and eight performance groups.
It's a busy time for Cher, who is preparing to release a 25th-anniversary edition of her Grammy-winning album “Believe” and just dropped her first new album in five years, “Christmas.”
For the first time in its long history, the holiday tradition will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, half an hour earlier than previous years, kicked off by multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-winner Jon Batiste.
There will be appearances by Bell Biv DeVoe, Brandy, Chicago, En Vogue, ENHYPEN, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, Jessie James Decker, Ashley Park with some Muppets from “Sesame Street,” Pentatonix, Paul Russell, Amanda Shaw and Alex Smith, and Manuel Turizo.
U.S. Olympic gymnastics silver medalist Jordan Chiles, U.S. track and field Paralympian Ezra Frech and U.S. Paralympic swimming gold medalist Jessica Long and Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke will also join the festivities.
Seven new balloon giants will join the lineup: “Beagle Scout Snoopy,” “Blue Cat & Chugs,” “Kung Fu Panda’s Po,” “Leo,” “Monkey D. Luffy,” “Pillsbury Doughboy” and “Uncle Dan.”
Broadway will be represented by performances from “& Juliet,” “Back to the Future: The Musical,” “How To Dance In Ohio,” “Shucked” and “Spamalot,” with an appearance by Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells of “Gutenberg! The Musical!"
Returning giant balloons include “Bluey,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “Paw Patrol,” “Ryan's World,” “Pikachu,” “Ronald McDonald,” "Stuart the Minion" and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
The Macy’s parade has been a traditional holiday season kickoff and spectators often line up a half-dozen deep along the route to cheer the marchers, floats, entertainers and marching bands. The parade has lately asked icons to be the last guest before Santa, with last year Mariah Carey fitting the bill.
A marching band from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the scene of one of the nation's worst school shootings, will represent Florida. Other marching bands this year will represent Alabama, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas.
Floats include ones from brands like Lego, “Peanuts,” “Baby Shark,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Sesame Street.”
The parade airs on NBC and streams on Peacock. Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker from “Today” will host and a Spanish language simulcast on Telemundo will be hosted by Carlos Adyan and Andrea Meza.
Securly is a start-up with a simple mission: to keep kids safe online. And the artificial intelligence company has just raised $16 million in series B funding to expand the reach of its social media tracking capabilities to more parents and schools. “We are going to take this money and invest in research and development and scaling up sales and distribution across America,” CEO and co-founder Vinay Mahadik told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018.
Subscriber boxes beware. The business model made popular by companies like Blue Apron, Stitch Fix, Birchbox, and Dollar Shave Club is being put to the test as it tries to prove to investors is it a sustainable strategy.
Facebook can add another problem to its tally: a disappointing update to a civil rights audit the company posted on Tuesday, just hours before The New York Times published an explosive report on the company's mishandling of user data. The audit has been a "black box," according to Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, one of the groups that has strongly criticized Facebook over civil rights issues on the platform.
This year marked the first voyage for Cheddar's weekly series Cheddar Rides, covering the changes happening in transportation and the future of getting from here to there. To celebrate the last episode of its inaugural year, Rides is looking at the road ahead.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo may have radically changed his stance on marijuana ー but his former Democratic primary opponent Cynthia Nixon shouldn't be congratulated for his shift, according to New York State Assembly Health Committee chair Richard Gottfried. "On this particular issue, I don't think she gets any credit," Gottfried, who has been working on marijuana policy reform since the 70s, told Cheddar Wednesday.
What started with a joke on Twitter two years ago finally became a reality on Tuesday, as The Boring Company unveiled its first tunnel to the public under the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. The big reveal of the 1.14-mile-long tunnel reflected both Musk's eccentric nature and the glitz and glam of Los Angeles, living up to the billionaire's promise that the event would be "more than a tunnel opening." Cheddar's Alyssa Julya Smith got a test ride in the first section of tunnel underneath L.A.
Facebook is doing damage control again after a New York Times report claims the company gave big tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft more access to user data than previously disclosed. Plus, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve today, as the central bank is poised to raise interest rates for the fourth time this year. And Big Sean tells Cheddar what motivates him to give back to his community.
Whether you're paying off student debt, a car loan, or a cell phone bill, this father-daughter duo wants you to remember there's a "Millionaire Within," and it's your job to find it. Such is the wisdom ー and title ー of a book by Walter Wisniewski and Allie Vanaski, the owners of Arcadia Wealth Management who are preaching their family's financial advice for millennials, which revolves around saving, saving, and more saving.
For the CBD-loving friends on your holiday shopping list, Eaze Wellness has stocking stuffers. Eaze Wellness, which launched in November as a CBD marketplace, released a holiday gift guide for both CBD devotees and first-timers.
