Colin Powell, Secretary of State, will celebrate New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Powell, a native New Yorker, will be the guest of honor for the festivities. Powell reportedly only took 20 minutes to answer Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Colin Powell is as New York as you could possibly be,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

Powell, a native New Yorker, will be the guest of honor for the festivities.

The worldwide televised festivities are usually hosted by TV personality Dick Clarke. Clarke, 39, has been hosting the festivities for the last 32 years. He will be forced to miss the celebration this year due to an untimely stroke. Hosting duties will be taken over by talk show host, Regis Philbin.

Powell announced his resignation from the Bush Administration in November, and has been considering new positions in both the public and private arenas. It seems likely that Powell is testing the waters with Philbin, who has been known to occasionally consider new co-hosts for his daytime show. However, political pundits are questioning whether Powell would be able to influence Philbin’s show as much as Kelly Rippa. It has also been rumored that Powell is considering a position with Good Morning America or possibly his own show on MSNBC.

posted by NewsBlog 5000  # Wednesday, December 29, 2004