A well-loved tradition at Christmas time in America is the putting up of Christmas lights. Some people like to go all out- Griswold style. Starting on December 7th, ABC will showcase some of those extreme lighted houses in six episodes of The Great Christmas Light Fight, Season 3.
Back by popular demand, last season's opener saw 7 million viewers tune in to see the most festive displays compete against each other. Each episode is one hour long, and will air back-to-back, with two episodes airing each Monday for the first three Mondays of December- making a total of 6 episodes. The singular episodes feature 3 or 4 families or groups across the nation who will have their displays judged by two judges.
This year's judges are Carter Oosterhouse from HGTV's Million Dollar Rooms, and Taniya Nayak from Food Network's Restaurant Impossible. They will judge the displays with three criteria in mind: use of lights, overall design, and Christmas spirit.
An episode consists of a background introduction of the contestants, a big unveiling with a crowd of people welcoming the judges, and a tour of the displays. This is repeated for each contestant, and then finally, the judges will come back- usually driven by Santa in some kind of vehicle, where they award the winner with $50,000 (that might help with the energy bill or the purchase of more lights), and a trophy-which looks like a big Christmas light with actual lights that glow inside. A total of $300,000 will be given out this season.
KITV 4 in Hawaii reported on one of the contestants who will be participating in this season. Keith Yoshida, who has been decorating his house for more than 20 years explains: "We want to really convey the Aloha spirit and really show what Hawaii is all about, what's the meaning about Hawaii, and yeah, we do celebrate Christmas here," said Yoshida. "We have no snow, but that's okay. We'll celebrate in a big way." The judges received a very warm Aloha welcome,
Yoshida added, "When we actually put the show on, that is so much more meaningful than any trophy or any money," said Yoshida. "Those are all very important. We're very competitive. We want to take it and represent Hawaii well, but really it's about giving back."
This year will include a new twist with an entire neighborhood competing. The Lights on Jeter Bend in Celebration (of all places) in Florida. This neighborhood is well-known by locals in the area- with the entire street being synced to music. These lights, as well as the lights in Waipahu, Hawaii, and another house in Gilbert, AZ will be a feature on the December 14th show according to www.disneyabcpress.com.
Will you be joining the 7 million viewers who are looking forward to beautiful and amazing light displays? Leave a comment below!
