The annual tree lighting ceremony in New York City’s Rockefeller Center is another chance for UVLD to shine.

A tradition since 1933, today the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is a televised two-hour extravaganza. UVLD’s John Ingram has been lighting the event since 1997. Ingram won an Emmy award for his lighting of the event in 1999 and another for the same event in 2000.

The 2004 tree lighting ceremony, was similar in format and pressures to previous year’s events. “It is definitely a big event,” comments Ingram. “You have a large audience at the event itself and millions more watching on television. You also have big-name performers and other VIPs like the mayor. With an event like this the challenge is always to make every cent in the budget show up on camera. Having said all that we’ve been doing this for a number of years now, and we know the potential pit falls of this kind of event. All in all, it is fun to do particularly when its warm like it was this year.”

Tishman Speyer properties produced the live event, with executive producer Glenn Mahoney managing the entire project . The broadcast was produced by Trans World International for WNBC and featured performances by Hilary Duff, Clay Aiken, Tony Bennett, Chris Isaak, Vanessa Williams, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.. The lights on the tree itself, a 71-foot Norway spruce weighing nine tons, were turned on by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Olympic gold medal winners Paul Hamm, Carly Patterson and Sarah Hughes.

Ingram made a significant upgrade to the lighting for the 2004 event using a new automated fixture and augmenting the conventional rig. UVLD’s Paul Sharwell programmed and operated the console, which ran all the lighting equipment for the Rink, its related stages, and the building treatments. Ingram also liaised with NBC’s house lighting designer, Jeff Amarol, who was responsible for the lighting of NBC’s on-air talent.

Although the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center has become an annual event for UVLD, associate designer Gregory Cohen sees the show as a chance to excel rather than to take things for granted. “You can’t rest on your laurels when you are doing shows of this caliber,” remarked Cohen. “We strive to keep each show fresh in our minds even if it is an annual event for us. That is one of the strengths of our partnership, as we are always bouncing new ideas around and learning from the shows that each of us undertakes.”

The Tree remained lit from November 30th, 2004 until January 6th, 2005.