Pat Dollard | Young Americans

NEW YORK (AP) - More than a million revelers in Times Square cheered as the giant crystal ball made its 100th drop on Monday night and a ton of confetti rained down on the urban canyon, ushering in the new year.

University of North Carolina junior Reid Medlin, 21, attended the celebration with his friends Rachel Rand, 20, and Jeremy Crouthamel, 20. They were in the city for the first time and planned to stay up all night because they had no hotel.

“I think the best part is being here with friends,” Medlin said as confetti floated down on him and people kissed around him. “This was beautiful. It makes you appreciate everything.”

Rand said it didn’t matter that they didn’t have a place to sleep.

“I’m too happy to go to bed,” she exclaimed.

The Times Square new year’s ball tradition began a century ago with a 700-pound ball of wood and iron, lit with 100 25-watt incandescent bulbs. This year’s event featured an energy-efficient sphere clad in Waterford crystals, with 9,576 light-emitting diodes that generated a kaleidoscope of colors.

Organizers said well over a million people attended the festivities.

They were treated to an entertainment lineup that included Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest handling the countdown to 2008 and musical performances by Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus and other acts. Even New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez showed up, shaking hands and posing for photos as he waited for midnight.

Milwaukee resident Jennelle Joset and her mother, Wanda Bowers, arrived at the scene around 1 p.m., wearing hats with big plastic wheels of cheese to show their Wisconsin pride.

“It’s on my bucket list,” Bowers said. “I had to do this once, to see it once before I die.”

There were strict rules for revelers: no alcohol, large bags or backpacks—and no re-entry after leaving the viewing area. The few public restrooms were closed by the afternoon.

The first celebration in the area, in 1904, was held by New York Times owner Adolph Ochs, who was building a new headquarters in the neighborhood.

The city had just renamed the oddly shaped square in the newspaper’s honor, and at midnight Ochs had pyrotechnists illuminate his building at 1 Times Square with fireworks shot from street level.

Three years later, when the city banned fireworks, Ochs brought in the iron and wooden ball, to be lowered from the building’s flagpole at midnight.

A different sort of light show was set in Brooksville, Fla., where the ball being dropped was a 200-pound fiberglass tangerine, with light bulbs inside. And in downtown Miami, the Big Orange was to slowly climb to the top of the Hotel Inter-Continental, followed by a laser and fireworks show.

About a million people were expected for the 32nd First Night celebration in Boston. The party lineup included a half-dozen ice sculptures around the city, each weighing 30 to 45 tons, performances by hundreds of artists, and a midnight fireworks display over Boston Harbor.

Authorities in several cities including Phoenix, Dallas and Detroit pleaded with residents not to ring in the new year by shooting bullets skyward. Emergency Medical Service technicians in New Orleans even planned to don combat helmets made from the same fiber used in bullet- resistant vests for the second straight year.

The Chicago Transit Authority continued its New Year’s Eve tradition of offering penny fares on buses and trains as thousands were expected to head to the city’s fireworks shows on Navy Pier. Philadelphia also had a huge fireworks display planned, with 4,000 fireworks shells scheduled to explode over the Delaware River.

More than 300,000 people were expected to crowd the Las Vegas Strip and downtown resorts for the countdown to midnight. They were expected to spend more than $200 million in restaurants, theaters and clubs—with a big chunk of that going to the hefty door charge, usually around $250, at the Strip’s slick nightclubs.

For that much money, patrons could see pop star Avril Lavigne, booked to host the party at the new Prive Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The Luxor’s LAX scored both Hilton sisters—Nicky and Paris—for its bash.

“It’s a party city, it’s wild out here!” said Stephanie Smith, 21, of West Covina, Calif., as her friends polished off yard-long margaritas and walked the sidewalk outside the Wynn Las Vegas resort.