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.
"Vice," the upcoming Dick Cheney biopic, and "The Assassination of Gianni Versace," the true-crime series, led the Golden Globe nominations with six and four, respectively. The nominations were announced in Los Angeles Thursday morning. "Vice," which is slated for release on Christmas Day and has benefited from strong buzz despite reviews still under embargo, was followed by "A Star Is Born," "Green Book," and "The Favourite" with five nominations a piece.
New York is now the first city in the country to set a minimum pay rate for drivers working for ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft, following a vote on Tuesday by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission. Under the new policy, those drivers will make $17.22 per hour. But Aziz Bah, steward of the Independent Drivers Guild, told Cheddar Wednesday it's only the beginning.
The markets rebounded from session lows after news broke the Federal Reserve is considering a new approach to interest rates that could translate to fewer rate hikes in the coming year. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday the Fed is considering a "wait-and-see" mentality for monetary policy, after the anticipated December hike that is by and large already priced into the markets.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018.
StoreMe wants to solve travelers' "schlepping problem." The on-demand app allows travelers to search a location, input the number of bags they have, and make a reservation. That way, as travelers are passing through cities, they can enjoy the sights sans luggage. "This service is convenient, on-demand, and it's totally affordable," Peter Korbel told Cheddar Wednesday.
Medical marijuana is now legal in Utah, but not exactly in the form voters intended. Shortly after the medical marijuana initiative, Proposition 2, was scheduled to go into effect, the Utah state House and Senate swooped in and replaced it with a new law. Wayne Niederhauser, a Republican senator for Utah's 9th district, defended the move in an interview on Cheddar Wednesday.
When Glassdoor debuted its 2019 list of "Best Places to Work," one technology giant was dealt a conspicuous downgrade. Capping off a year of serious scandal, the embattled Facebook fell six spots to number seven on the list. Glassdoor's community expert, Scott Dobroski, explains the weaknesses they saw in employee morale.
Care to watch the original "Star Wars" trilogy? Don't assume Disney's forthcoming streaming service Disney+ will have it. And while AT&T owns "Friends," it won't be streaming it exclusively on its own OTT platform when it launches in 2019 ー viewers will still be able to binge the series on Netflix. "Star Wars" and "Friends" are just a couple of the confusing licensing arrangements viewers should expect as more media companies push to debut their own streaming services to rival Netflix and Hulu.
Not too long ago the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was a major television event, and its corporate parent L Brands had a $100 stock. But the once-hot brand's appeal has suffered amid a rise in new lingerie brands that present a more inclusive and size-diverse view of female beauty. Can the mall staple get woke and win back millennial shoppers?
Thor Björnsson may hold the title of "World's Strongest Man," but even he struggled with filming the final season of HBO's smash hit "Game of Thrones." "This was the hardest season that I've filmed with 'Game of Thrones'," Bjornsson told Cheddar Wednesday.
