It's Midtown Manhattan at its most lit.

The Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting, an annual tradition that signals the start of the holiday season, arrived live on NBC and Peacock Wednesday night, complete with performances from Brad Paisley, Laufey and Michael Bublé. Country icon Reba McEntire is serving as host, aided by NBC "TODAY" anchors Craig Melvin, Al Roker, and Savannah Guthrie.

At the center of all is the grand fixture: a 75-foot-tall Norway Spruce from East Greenbush, New York, decorated with 50,000 LED Christmas lights and a Swarovski star on top.

Here's a rundown on the highlights.

How to watch the Rockefeller Tree Lighting

The live broadcast of the tree lighting will premiere on NBC and Peacock on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m. ET.

Gwen Stefani gets the show started

Gwen Stefani opened the ceremony with a pink fit while singing her new track "Shake the Snow Globe."

Host Reba performs 'Let There Be Peace on Earth'

McEntire helped kick off the ceremony with a touching cover of Vince Gill's 1993 classic "Let There Be Peace on Earth." The "Happy's Place" star donned a white fur coat and gloves as she wished the world a Merry Christmas and reminded the public why she is a coach on "The Voice" with her velvety vocals.

Michael Bublé follows up with a Christmas classic

McEntire's "The Voice" colleague and competitor Michael Bublé followed with "Holly Jolly Christmas."

Halle Bailey, Marc Anthony and Brad Paisley channel the holiday spirit

The holiday spirit stayed alive and well with Halle Bailey's rendition of "Last Christmas," Marc Anthony's performance of "Christmas Auld Lang Syne" and Brad Paisley's country version of "The First Noel."

Laufey performs a song from her holiday project

Laufey brought her original song "Christmas Magic" to New York City while sporting a festive red coat, shirt and hat. The tune is off her five-track holiday EP "A Very Laufey Holiday," which she released last year.

In November, the recently Grammy-nominated singer spoke to USA TODAY at a Kate Spade New York holiday event to talk all things holiday must-haves, including her favorite movies and songs to revisit this season.

Contributing: Taylor Ardrey

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rockefeller Tree Lighting kicks off with host Reba, more performances

Reporting by Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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