Pop diva Lady Gaga, tenor Placido Domingo and rock veterans Chuck Berry and Patti Smith will join a star-studded line-up to ring in the New Year Saturday in New York. As with every December 31, the main celebration will be held at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan, where more than a million people are expected to gather to watch the New Year’s crystal ball drop at the stroke of midnight. The party, first held in 1908, is one of the biggest in the world to ring in the New Year. Lady Gaga and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will press the button that drops the giant glittering ball at one minute before midnight. Ahead of midnight, the indefatigable Berry, now 85, will perform at a club near Times Square, while rocker Smith will give three concerts on the Lower East side of Manhattan. Domingo, 70, will perform at The Metropolitan Opera, while the New York Philharmonic will offer a concert at the Lincoln Center. Separately, a local company is making a big splash by selling a patch it claims can prevent hangovers. The “Bytox Hangover Prevention Remedy” is an “all-natural specially-formulated” patch containing “a powerful blend of antioxidants, vitamins and amino acids”. Bytox claims the ingredients “have been shown to reduce and prevent hangovers”. If the patch works, it may help save lives: according to the New York Department of Health, alcohol-related emergency department visits more than double on New Year’s Day compared to the daily average.
Big-name stars to perform on New Year’s Eve
