Ryan Seacrest Ready to Count Down to 2013 on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”
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Michael Buckner/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — On Monday night, as the world looks to New York City’s Times Square, the ball drops and we say goodbye to 2012, something will be missing: Dick Clark. The TV icon died this past April, but his creation, ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, goes on with host Ryan Seacrest.
Seacrest says it will definitely be a challenge for him to host the show for the first time without Clark, especially since he’s never actually counted down to the New Year alone.
“I haven’t really thought about what it’s going to be like in that moment because I’ve never done it myself,” he tells ABC News Radio. “I’ve never done the actual countdown…It’s always, you know…toss it to ‘The Man’ to do it.”
Seacrest says counting down to the ball drop himself for the first time will be “surreal” and “emotional,” adding, “Even though we’ll be celebrating, in my mind, I know that, personally, I miss my friend being here.”
But that doesn’t mean that this year’s New Year’s Rockin’ Evewill be a downer. Seacrest says, “We’ll start the evening, looking back at those great moments because there were so many memorable moments looking at Dick’s career.”
The festivities get under way at 8 p.m. ET with New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Celebrates Dick Clark, a two-hour tribute to the late TV icon who created the show over 40 years ago. Fergie and Jenny McCarthy will host.
Seacrest says of Clark, “He started this 40 years ago with just one camera and one light and one microphone, and now it’s turned into a big celebration, and so we’ll look back, we’ll reflect, and then we’ll celebrate the new year.”
And what a celebration it will be. At 10 p.m. ET, Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy will kick off the official start of the New Year’s party from New York, while Fergie will get things going on the West Coast. The party will keep on going on ABC ’til just after 2 a.m. ET.
Performing live in Times Square this year are Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, Neon Trees and “Gangnam Style” rapper PSY. On the West Coast, there’ll be performances by Justin Bieber, Brandy, OneRepublic, Flo Rida, Karmin, Pitbull, The Wanted, Ellie Goulding and country star Jason Aldean.
As for what Clark would think of this year’s show, Seacrest tells ABC News Radio, “I know he will be watching us from somewhere, making sure that we get it right. You can be certain about that.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio