Christmas in Rockefeller Center 2013: Ariana Grande, Leona Lewis, and Kelly Clarkson to perform

We are right in the middle of what we like to call “Rockefeller Week,” mostly in that this is one of the only weeks on TV in which most Americans actually think of Rockefeller Center. First, you have the Rockettes performing during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and it carries over here to Christmas in Rockefeller Center. This special airs Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, and it is going to be an hour of mostly music, holiday festivities, and a chance to see the crew from “The Today Show” after 6:00 p.m., just in case you ever had a desire to do that.

So who is actually performing on the show this year? In addition to some folks in Kelly Clarkson and Lauren Alaina who you know well from “American Idol,”  you also have “X Factor” UK alum Leona Lewis, former “American Idol” judge Mariah Carey, Nickelodeon star Ariana Grande, and some non-TV folks including Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Goo Goo Dolls, Jewel, Audra McDonald (who will actually be on Thursday in “The Sound of Music Live!”), and of course the Rockettes.

All in all, this has the potential to be a heck of a fun show, complete with big performances, a massive tree lighting, and enough NBC product placement that you may start to feel as robotic as some of those Amazon Prime drones that have been advertised on “60 Minutes.”  But seriously, it is a holiday tradition, and we’re never one to complain too much about that. So long as this is the sort of special you’re into, you will not be disappointed.

Are you looking forward to this special airing, or are there some other holiday traditions that you are looking forward to instead a little bit later in the year? Share some of your thoughts below!

Photo: NBC