THE LOOP — Ryan Seacrest has been on many big stages, from hosting "American Idol" to ringing in the New Year in Times Square, but there was still something magical about lighting the Great Tree at Macy's Saturday afternoon.
"I know it's such a big tradition, so it's cool to see all the families come together and usher in the holiday season, which I can't believe is already here," said Seacrest, who oversaw the tree lighting with Chase, a 4-year-old Make-A-Wish Foundation child.
Helping Chase's dream of pressing the gigantic novelty button while hundreds of children and parents gazed down from the second floor of the Walnut Room at the Macy's, 111 N. State St., come true was second to none, said Seacrest, 39.
"[The best part was] just hanging out here getting to meet everybody and seeing Chase and the smile on his face when he got to light up that tree," said Seacrest, adding that the Chicago tradition compares to Times Square on New Years Eve.
"New Year's, I've done it for a decade or so, obviously, it's happened for a long time and this is one of the longest standing traditions at 107 years, and a lot of incredible people have been on this stage, so I'm honored to be here in Chicago for it," he said.
Seacrest teamed up to ring in the holidays with Mount Prospect native Lee DeWyze, who won the ninth season of "American Idol." After carolers brought season's greetings to the hundreds gathered at Macy's, DeWyze performed three songs for those gathered, which included his own family.
"It feels good. I've done a lot of events but this one is special. This is in my hometown. My family was here. There's something special about this for me," DeWyze said after the performance.
DeWyze, who played shows at various venues around the city as an aspiring young musician, including Lakeview's Schubas, attended the event with family as a child, making the moment even more magical, he said.
"My dad, my uncle and I, we'd always come down here because my uncle used to love it Downtown. We'd come down here, we'd be a part of this. It's just crazy to now be here performing at it. It's pretty awesome," said DeWyze.
"It's the best because not only do I get to do what I love up there, which is perform, but also kids are singing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' and with Make-A-Wish and everybody here. This is all positive and good energy. It's all about good things. I love being home for me it's like a double whammy," he said.
The Great Tree, which features 3,000 silver ornaments and 6,000 LED lights has been a Chicago tradition for 107 years. The tree is hangs from the ceiling of Macy's Walnut Room, and is assembled from the top down with the star installed first. The tree takes about two days to assemble and features a one-hour light show broken into 15-minute segments with a finale every hour on the hour, according to Macy's officials.
The tree lighting kicked off the holiday season at the department store, which includes the holiday windows display. This year's theme is "The Journey of a Christmas Wish," which follows a little girl's letter to Santa as his elves build toys in their North Pole workshop. The journey concludes with Santa and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer checking their list in front of the Macy's clock on State Street.
Children can also visit with Santa on weekends until Thanksgiving and then daily through Dec. 24 at Macy's SantaLand.
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