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Star-Studded Ceremony Kicks Off Light of the Angels at L.A. Live

By Eric Richardson
Published: Thursday, December 04, 2008, at 08:29PM
Lighting the Tree Eric Richardson []

AEG CEO Tim Leiweke, Adam Carolla, Britney Spears, City Councilwoman Jan Perry, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and USC football coach Pete Carroll pull the lever the "light" the L.A. Live tree.



DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A little after 7pm this evening, "superstar celebrity" Britney Spears joined AEG's Tim Leiweke, Adam Carolla, Councilwoman Jan Perry, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and USC football coach Pete Carroll in flipping the candy cane lever to start L.A. Live's first Light of the Angels show.

Carolla MC'ed the event, and expressed equal surprise in the rise of both Downtown and Spears.

The tree, a silver metal frame featuring 11,000 LED spheres, was displaying color throughout the ceremony. The lever-pull's timing was slightly off, leading to a delay before the tree dimmed and then entered into the seven-minute "Light of the Angels" show.

Spears came on stage for a short bit of banter by Carolla before the rest of the guests came back up for the lever-pull.

The show, featuring the tree, video boards, sound and lighting, will run at 7pm, 8pm, 9pm and 10pm daily through December 31.

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Eric Richardson
Eric Richardson

Brass players open the L.A. Live lighting ceremony on Thursday evening.

Eric Richardson

AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke welcomes the crowd to L.A. Live.

Eric Richardson

Mayor Antonio Villaragosa speaks at the L.A. Live tree lighting.

Eric Richardson

Councilwoman Jan Perry and Councilman Greig Smith, both USC alums, give a hard time to Senator Gil Cedillo and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, both UCLA grads.

Eric Richardson

Natalie Cole performs at the L.A. Live tree lighting ceremony.

Eric Richardson

Host Adam Carolla and Natalie Cole.

Eric Richardson

USC football coach Pete Carroll and Adam Carolla talk about the USC-UCLA game before discussing Carroll's charity efforts.

Eric Richardson

Host Adam Carolla tries to figure out what comes next is the L.A. Live tree lighting program.

Eric Richardson

Singer Britney Spears makes her way onto the stage at the L.A. Live tree lighting.

Eric Richardson

Singer Britney Spears answers a question from host Adam Carolla.

Eric Richardson

After flipping the candy cane switch, the guests on stage seemed not quite sure what was happening next.

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Topic:
L.A. Live

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Conversation

Guest 1

Claude on December 04, 2008, at 10:37PM – #1

And... a cool sounding Christmassy brass section kicked thigs off nicely, Natalie Cole sang The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...), and the show was broadcasted LIVE on channel 5.

The light show did not blow me away, though the cannon sound almost did, literally. And, they shoulda got a host with a little class; Carolla sucked!


Guest 2

Naturallawyer on December 04, 2008, at 10:56PM – #2

Couldn't agree more re Carolla, Claude. I watched the telecast, and Carolla was embarassing. I honestly wondered at the time if he had been drinking. He was remarkably rude, calling Phoenix a "crappy city" and remarking that Natalie Cole-- singing in the background-- should "shut up" during his interview with KTLA. He also forgot Jan Perry's name. It was a mistake to hand him the mic.

Pete Carroll was cool, though, and Britney didn't say much, which was probably a good thing.


Guest 3

Brian on December 04, 2008, at 11:12PM – #3

While the vibe of something exciting in the air was cool to experience, everything else was a disappointment.

The light show isn't anything to write home about, Carolla was embarrassing and I can't stand the Mayor and Councilwoman Perry as they both act like celebrities more than elected officials.

I'm pulling for LA Live and hope it all works out, but tonight's opening was less than 'grand'.


Guest 4

skidrowdude on December 05, 2008, at 05:47AM – #4

B wrote: "I can't stand the Mayor and Councilwoman Perry as they both act like celebrities more than elected officials"

DITTO ON THAT, B. I stopped by the City Hall tree lighting ceremony but as soon as Tony Villar arrived I left... and to think we may have 4 more years of him.


Guest 5

Susana on December 05, 2008, at 08:07AM – #5

The cocktails and appetizers inside the ESPN ZONE were great! They have an arcade section and they had turned on all of the video games on Free mode so you got to see a lot of dressed up people running around like little kids. It was fun. I took some pictures but I was pretty generous on the wine consumption so they weren't that great. Overall I thought it was a nice event. Nothing wow'ish about it but each restaurant is having its own opening so I though they did a good job as a grand opening for the center. The tree light show was ok, it had been so hyped up, I expected more. Britney looked great and she was short and sweet. I wonder why no one advertised Natalie Cole would be there, I think she had more presence than anyone else. Carolla was funny, even if he was rude, that is his persona.


Eric Richardson () on December 05, 2008, at 08:18AM – #6

Susana: Natalie Cole was a late addition to the lineup, added to the media info at the end of the day on Wednesday.


Guest 6

JM on December 05, 2008, at 08:49AM – #7

What a joke.


Guest 7

Mark on December 05, 2008, at 09:05AM – #8

I thought it was cool. Lots of action. Streets were crowded, was a nice night.


Guest 8

Greg on December 05, 2008, at 09:27AM – #9

I'm sure I was in bed and I'm also sure Britney shined.


Guest 9

James on December 05, 2008, at 04:22PM – #10

The whole event was less than stellar...and most people couldn't even see or hear what was going on. The sound system was also terrible. They need to work on a lot of things to make this more memorable next time.


Guest 10

Lindsay Theel on December 06, 2008, at 11:32AM – #11

Aw, I'm sad I missed Britney! I love her coat...



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