The Welshman at the core of tonight’s Big Apple blowout
Welshman Ian Hardy will again be playing a key role when America welcomes in the New Year tonight – even if the Covid pandemic means the extravaganza has been scaled down. Liz Perkins reports
AWELSHMAN will be making sure the eyes of the world are on New York when the ball starts rolling on the Big Apple’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Ian Hardy will be at the heart of the action in Times Square as the moment is beamed to news networks globally.
The dad-of-two from Sketty, Swansea, will take up a prime spot – but this year’s Covid crisis means that the iconic square will have a much smaller crowd.
Ian, 54, who is the media producer for the celebration and events at the Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree, said he would never have believed when he was a youngster in Swansea he would be part of such a major event.
He said: “I do the coverage for the tree at the Rockefeller Centre and the New Year’s Eve ball, which are central to American culture.
“These are great things and I would never even dreamt that as a small boy in Sketty.
“The Waterford Crystal ball is spectacular up close – it’s big and you can fit people inside it.
“I also wanted to meet movie stars and have met Steven Spielberg three times in the same week as Saving Private Ryan was out.
“I’ve also met George Lucas, Sean Connery and Jim Carrey.”
Ian said people can expect this year’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza to be quite different.
“There will not be any members of the public in Times Square,” he added.
“We will be taken into a Covid-free bubble and we have to wear a mask and have precautions, but at least it allows you to work.
“I have to look after all the people around me – if one person on that team gets infected, we have to quarantine.
“I have done New Year’s Eve for 20 years. Two years ago was the most challenging because it was like a tropical downpour for eight hours.
“There were no umbrellas allowed. “This year it will be much more restrictive and a smaller audience. Everyone is going to be cautious and super-safe.”
Stars from Lady Gaga to Mariah Carey and Taylor Swift have helped to light up New Year’s Eve and he has been on hand to watch.
But it is expected that this year frontline health workers will be honoured as part of the ball ceremony and will send it rolling on the night.
Former Olchfa School pupil Ian said: “I have seen Christopher Reeve and Muhammad Ali press the button. In recent years, they have deliberately chosen heroes.
“This year, I have a feeling that it will be heroes, first responders and healthcare workers.
“I produce the content for the entire media and will be working 16-18 hours a day.
“It’s a huge responsibility as it’s on national TV and is part of the psyche.”
The former journalist, who worked for the BBC as a TV reporter in the US for 25 years, said after years of rubbing shoulders with big names including US President Donald Trump and former US President Bill
Clinton, he was yet to meet Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Ian said: “I have interviewed Donald Trump many times. He’s always been very good with the media.
“I have met Gerald Ford and photographed and interviewed Bill Clinton and recorded Barack Obama at the UN. I used to interview Rudi Giuliani a lot, he was at the time America’s biggest hero.
“I’ve interviewed Sir Elton John and worked on the David Frost programme, it was an exciting life. I also did an interview with George Michael at the Limelight Club.
“I’ve met the biggest pop stars, but I have never met Catherine ZetaJones. My children are called Dylan and Cerys, so a different spelling but the same names of her children.
“I was just by the Plaza in New York on the day she got married and I saw the Welsh Dragon flag outside.
“I took my children to summer camp and I was told there was another Dylan and Carys there that day – there’s only one other person I knew who had children of the same names. They told me that Catherine had been watching her kids perform there and went around the summer camp.”
It was back in 1992 that he first headed to New York but he has fond memories of his Swansea roots and is currently researching all the Hardys from the city.
Ian was just 14 when he got into hospital radio at Singleton Hospital before working on Swansea Sound and writing a column entitled Team Talk for the Evening Post before going on to work for the BBC.
“I lived in Swansea for 18 years,” he said. “I was in Olchfa Comprehensive and Russell T Davies was a prefect.”
Ian, who lives in Manhattan, said his countdown to the clock was now on.
“For New Year’s Eve I am right by the pool of TV cameras and 15ft away from the stage. I am extremely lucky to do that,” he said.