Crossing the Blues

Kanye West, Jessica Simpson and Miranda Cosgrove Lined Up for Macy's Thanksgiving


The line-up of this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day has just been announced, ranging from rap mogul Kanye West to pop singer Jessica Simpson to teen singer Miranda Cosgrove. The other stars included for the festivity are Juanes, Arlo Guthrie, Gladys Knight and Big Time Rush.

The decision to mix performers with different musical styles and from different generations is meant to match the diversity of audience who tune in to watch the special celebration in person and on television, a spokesman for the parade Orlando Veras said in a statement.

While outspoken artists like Kanye usually spits expletive verses in his song, Veras assures fans the song choices and all of the performances from their musical guests are carefully decided and planned to be "family friendly." He said, "We want to make sure we are capturing people who are in the zeitgeist."

This year marks the 84th annual parade of Macy's Thanksgiving. Celebrities, performers and giant balloons will flood the streets, starting on Central Park West and ending in front of Macy's on 34th Street. Also appearing on the parade are Victoria Justice, India.Arie, Keri Hilson, the casts of Broadway shows "American Idiot", ''Elf", ''Memphis" and "Million Dollar Quartet".

New balloons which will be floating this year include Kool-Aid Man, Kung-Fu Panda, and animated image of Virginia O' Hanlon, a little girl who wrote to a newspaper asking if Santa Claus was real. Those will join crowd favorites like Buzz Lightyear, Ronald McDonald and Pikachu.