ROUGH CUT. (NO REPORTER NARRATION).<br/> <br />STORY: In New York, people from all across the world gathered in Times Square for the annual New Year's Eve street party.<br/> <br />Nearly a million people were on hand to watch singers Miley Cyrus and Melissa Etheridge and hip-hop artists Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.<br/> <br />The dropping of the 11,875-pound, crystal-encrusted ball marked the start of the New Year on Wednesday (January 1).<br/> <br />The illuminated, crystal-covered ball began its descent at 11:59 a.m. ET and dropped 70 feet in 60 seconds. The first version of the ball in Times Square descended in 1907 from a flagpole.<br/> <br />People filled pens in the centre of Times Square hours before the end of 2013, as the temperature dipped below freezing point around midnight.<br/> <br />Tons of confetti was released from the rooftops of surrounding buildings in Times Square.
