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Puerto Rico will host show's first Spanish-language New Year's Eve countdown

This year's “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” will include its first-ever Spanish-language countdown.
2021 Times Square New Year's Eve Celebration
The New Year's Eve ball drops in New York's Times Square on Jan. 1, 2021.John Lamparski / Getty Images

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Spanish-language countdown will be included for the first time in the “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” show this year, the Puerto Rico governor announced Thursday.

The segment will be broadcast from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, where thousands are expected to gather at the island’s main convention center in the capital of San Juan, according to Gov. Pedro Pierluisi.

The countdown will occur an hour ahead of the one in New York because Puerto Rico does not implement daylight saving time.

Officials said the event will cost an estimated $3.6 million and will be paid for with federal funds aimed at offsetting the blow of the pandemic. Pierluisi defended the use of those funds, saying it is an economic development event designed to promote Puerto Rico.

The ABC special is broadcast from Times Square in New York City. It is the show’s 50th anniversary.

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