Fireworks team getting ready to dazzle New Year’s crowd — if the wind cooperates

By Pashtana Usufzy

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014 | 8:30 p.m.

A year of music arrangements, discussions and rooftop preparations will culminate in a 7-minute, 11-second midnight show.

Of course, that's only if the wind takes a cue from the theme of the night: “Don’t Stop the Party.”

More than 80,000 fireworks are scheduled to be launched into the sky above the Strip as part of the America's Party 2015 midnight celebration on New Year’s Eve.

Crews spent Tuesday setting up pyrotechnics at each hotel.

Fireworks by Grucci is preparing to launch aerial shells, flashes and more at the MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, Venetian and Stratosphere.

However, while snow and rain wouldn't affect the New Year's spectacle, gusty winds could cause the show to be postponed or canceled.

"Tomorrow is a day of wait and watch," said Phil Grucci, president and creative director of Fireworks by Grucci, as crews readied shells Tuesday on the roof of Treasure Island.

Clark County codes prevent the fireworks from being launched if winds reach 10 mph.

The National Weather Service has predicted winds of 10 to 15 mph Wednesday evening that will decrease to between 5 and 10 mph just before midnight, meteorologist Jim Harrison said.

Grucci said the show could be canceled or delayed within seconds of the clock striking midnight if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

For the moment, however, crews are concentrated on finalizing preparations.

Technicians unwound green wires from shells atop Treasure Island and attached the wires to a box, which is then connected to a module.

Those modules communicate with computers to synchronize the fireworks launching from each hotel.

The entire process is spearheaded from the command center at the Rio, but each hotel has a crew of pyrotechnicians carefully working away until the final moments before the big finale.

"It's like having a heart attack," chief pyrotechnician Anthony Magno said, laughing as he recalled past shows.

Magno has worked the Strip celebrations for eight years and promised that if the show goes as planned, it will dazzle the crowd.

“It’s going to be the best year I’ve ever seen in Vegas,” he said.

The theme for the celebration, "Don't Stop the Party," is also the title of a song by rapper Pitbull that will play during the display.

The star-studded soundtrack will also include a Frank Sinatra rendition of "Swinging on a Star" and Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire."

Because 2014 marked the 200th anniversary of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Grucci said, a portion of Whitney Houston's rendition of the national anthem will also be included in the soundtrack.

After the show is over and the crowds have cleared, 2016 will be on Grucci’s mind.

“We literally start talking and brainstorming the day after the show,” he said.

Until then, however, the crew and Grucci are waiting for that countdown, hoping 2015 can kick off with a big bang like in years past.

"Las Vegas Boulevard is just shoulder to shoulder people, and the fireworks go off,” Magno said. “You hear the roar from those people and what a thrill.”