The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has always been the perfect setting to see the most cherished characters in pop culture displayed on a grand scale. From the very first float—Felix the Cat—in 1927 to Mickey Mouse in 1934 and Popeye in 1957, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has always been a festive event with an eye on what’s hot—even while standing in the cold. One of the coolest things about the parade—beside the larger-than-life floats—is the chance to see some of the year’s most popular stars sing and dance while making their way through Midtown.

Nick Stars Perform at the Parade

The 84^th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will see several Nickelodeon stars offering “mini concerts” at the event. Big Time Rush will perform on the Hess’s Bridge to the Future float and Victoria Justice—from Victorious fame—will perform on the Build-A-Bear Workshop’s International Cele-bear-ation Clock Tower float. Grammy Award-winning India Arie will even belt out her Emmy-nominated song “”Nochebuena” on the Dora the Explorer float.

What’s New?

Although they won’t be singing as far as I know, the Samurai Power Rangers will make their first public appearance at the parade when they walk with the Planet Earth balloon. Additionally, Po the Panda, from Kung Fu Panda, will make his balloon debut.

—Mackenzie Allison

It’ll be a blue Christmas this year as the Smurfs usher in the season at Macy’s. Ahead of the feature film next year, Macy’s Parade & Entertainment Group and Sony Pictures Entertainment have announced that the Smurfs will serve as Macy’s 2010 Holiday Ambassador as an exclusive plush available only at Macy’s.

As the featured character for Macy’s holiday initiatives, the collectible Smurfs plush will be available at more than 800 stores nationwide and online at macys.com. The plush will be touted by a robust marketing campaign that will showcase the Smurfs in a variety of outlets, from dedicated advertising and collateral to special events including the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Marketing support for the plush includes up to half-a-million custom-designed Macy’s shopping bags that will be distributed throughout the holiday season at Macy’s flagship location at Herald Square in New York. In addition to the 47-foot tall giant helium Smurfs balloon and Smurfs float that will return to the line-up of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, the Smurfs will also become a coldair inflatable that will adorn a marquee entrance at Macy’s Herald Square on 34^th Street. The promotion of the collectible plush extends to Macy’s Herald Square store windows, jumbotron, signage in all 800-plus Macy’s locations nationwide, in-store events at high-traffic stores in key major markets, dedicated ROP and Magazine advertising in local and national publications, and a feature television spot that will run on major network affiliates in select top 10 markets.

Haven’t we all, at some point, wished we could be like Madonna? Wished for her poise, her looks, her fame, her style? (I don’t mean just women, either–my older brother dressed up as Madonna for Halloween one year when he was 10. I’ve got pictures to prove it).

A new licensing deal has given Madonna fans the opportunity to emulate her fashion style, which may be as close as we’ll all ever come to knowing what it’s like to be the Material Girl.

MG Icon, the newly formed joint venture between Madonna and Iconix Brand Group, Inc., announced its first direct-to-retail license agreement with Macy’s, Inc. for the Material Girl collection. Material Girl is a newly created, fast-fashion junior collection that will launch exclusively in approximately 200 Macy’s stores and online in August 2010 for the back-to-school season.

As part of the direct-to-retail agreement, Macy’s will have the opportunity to launch additional brands with MG Icon in the future.

The Material Girl collection was inspired and designed in collaboration with Madonna and her daughter Lourdes, along with Iconix Brand Group’s in-house fashion department. In addition to the back-to-school apparel collection, Material Girl will also launch in multiple categories including footwear, handbags, and jewelry.

The strategy for growth will include additional categories in the lifestyle and beauty sectors including fragrance beginning 2011, as well as a rollout into additional Macy’s stores.

What celebrity did you want to be like when you were younger? Which celebrity’s style do you admire now? Leave us some comments and let us know!

And for your entertainment, we present the music video for Material Girl: