PBS MILLENNIUM 2000, LARGEST LIVE EVENT IN TELEVISION HISTORY, CLAIMS NET **Exclusive** PBS is set to announce the "largest live event in the history of television," the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. On Friday, December 31, 1999, Public Broadcasting Service stations across America will begin airing a 25-hour Millennium-Day exploration and celebration of the world -- a special that has been in the planning stages for 3 years. The network says it plans to broadcast to and from virtually every region of the planet on New Year's Eve. PBS MILLENNIUM 2000 is the most ambitious live television event in history, claims the network. A total of 60 satellite paths, several thousand miles of fiber optic cable, and more than 2000 cameras will be employed for the show, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The unprecedented undertaking is the brainchild of WGBH's executive producer, Zvi Dor-Ner. The program is co-produced by WGBH Boston, the BBC and a consortium of 56 countries. The show will be a "momentous celebration and a reflection on the meaning of this once-in-a-thousand-years transition," says PBS. - On a holy mountain top of New Zealand's East Cape, Maori warriors dance to prepare themselves for the challenges of a new age; - From Robben Prison Island off Cape Town, Nelson Mandela hosts a joyous celebration of freedom and equality; - From the South Pole, an observation on the beginning of the universe; - An acrobatic ballet on the sails of Sydney Opera House; - Love songs from the symbol of love, the Taj Mahal; - The Royal opening of the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, England; - A lot of joie de vivre from the Champs Elysees, lined with dozens of huge Ferris wheels; - A ritual of the sun from Macchu Pichu; - In Europe, nineteen countries will cross into the new millennium together in a vibrant sequence that will combine contributions from Paris, Rome, Berlin, Warsaw and Madrid, among others. According to the network, a sample hour -- for instance, 11 p.m. to midnight ET -- might consist of: 11:00 Link up: Caribbean Venezuela, Nova Scotia Canada. 11:10 Caracas, Venezuela, Downtown party. 11:15 Special ice skating, dance and acrobatic extravaganza in Montreal. 11:21 El Tajin night ceremony in downtown Mexico City. 11:30 Jordan, a Bedouin welcome ceremony in Petra. 11:39 Israel, Bethlehem ecumenical moment. 11:47 Link-up: Times Square, Toronto, Quebec, Montreal, Miami, Niagara Falls, Panama, Easter Island, and Lima, Peru. On and on it will go, until there is no Moet left... The Alhambra in Spain and the French Quarter in New Orleans; an ice ballet on a Christmas-lights festooned Tivoli Lake in Denmark and sunrise over the White Cliffs of Dover; French doctors working in war-devastated Kosovo and the transformation of Vienna into a city-wide, open-air ballroom... Hot air balloon festivals, sky diving, native songs and dance, fireworks, prayers and ritual chants, building dedications, boat races, Las Vegas and Hollywood entertainment extravaganzas. Producers expect to record the "lasts" and "firsts" of the old and new millenniums: the last and first babies - every one of the 70 maternity hospitals in New Zealand, the initial major country to celebrate 2000,will have a "PBS MILLENNIUM 2000" camera on site - the last and first weddings; the final sunset and inaugural sunrise; perhaps even the first reports of a Y2K "disaster." When asked if the network plans to cover The Rapture, if it were to occur, a network spokesman said on Thursday: "Sure, if the satellites are still beaming." ------ raczyl byc pajstowac W.G.
