Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000
1999 Irish TV series or programme
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Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000 was RTÉ's coverage of the end-of-millennium celebrations from 31 December 1999 into 1 January 2000. Part of the 2000 Today programming in Ireland, a series of well-known broadcasters presented various stages of the nineteen-hour broadcast.
| Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | New Year's television special |
| Presented by | Miriam O'Callaghan Mark Little Geri Maye Pat Kenny Liz Bonnin Joe Duffy |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Noel Curran |
| Production locations | RTÉ Television Centre, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 |
| Original release | |
| Network | RTÉ One |
| Release | 31 December 1999 – 1 January 2000 |
Development
2000 Today was conceived as part of the Millennium celebrations, given the numerical significance of the change from 1999 to 2000.
The programme was produced and televised by an international consortium of 60 broadcasters, including RTÉ and headed by the BBC in the United Kingdom and WGBH in the United States. It also included ATV in Hong Kong, RCTI in Indonesia, RTM in Malaysia, CCTV in China, TCS and Singapore Television Twelve in Singapore, ABC in Australia, TV Asahi in Japan, MBC in South Korea, SABC in South Africa, TVE in Spain, Rede Record in Brazil, GMA Network in the Philippines, RTL in Germany, RTP in Portugal, TV3 in New Zealand, Televisa and Once TV in Mexico, TVN in Chile, Radio-Canada in Quebec and the rest of the country, TF1 and France 2 in France, RAI in Italy, NRK in Norway, SF in Switzerland, El Trece in Argentina. (The program was nonetheless consistently promoted under the same name). The BBC provided the production hub for receiving and distributing the 78 international satellite feeds required for this broadcast.
Production
RTÉ launched their millennium eve programming on 30 November 1999. At the time the programme was described as the largest, single television show in Irish history. Up to 5,000 staff worked on the 2000 Today project worldwide, with 500 workers based at the RTÉ Television Centre. In all three television studios were utilised while four outside satellite units, forty cameras in twenty Irish locations worked to pull together an array of images from around both the country and globe. As part of a Reconciliation 2000 theme RTÉ and BBC Northern Ireland co-operated on several events during the broadcast.[1]
Programming
The first midnight celebrations in the South Pacific and reports from Jerusalem and Nazareth featured.[2]
| Time | Programme | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30am | Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000 | Miriam O'Callaghan began the international countdown on RTÉ. |
| 1:10pm | RTÉ News and Weather | |
| 1:20pm | Millennium Chorus | A special concert featuring Michael Crawford, Jennifer Holliday and Kathie Lee Gifford. |
| 2:25pm | Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000 | Mark Little and Geri Maye presented further coverage from around the globe. |
| 4:05pm | Millennium Bells | A special broadcast from St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh, County Cork. |
| 4:10pm | Last Lights Ceremony | Live coverage of the lighting of the special millennium candles, beginning at Áras an Uachtaráin. |
| 5:00pm | Celebrate 2000 | A programme of song and reflections from the Abbey of Multyfarnham and Áras an Uachtaráin. |
| 6:30pm | RTÉ News and Weather | The main news stories by Bryan Dobson and Úna O'Hagan. |
| 7:20pm | Celebrate 2000 | Pat Kenny, Liz Bonnin and Joe Duffy presented a gala programme of music and chat from Studio 4. |
| 9:00pm | RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock | The evening main news. |
| 9:20pm | Celebrate 2000 | Pat Kenny, Liz Bonnin and Joe Duffy presented the final leg of the countdown to midnight. |