Ryan Seacrest and ringing in the New Year go hand in hand — and the arrival of2023 will be no different.
The multi-hyphenate is once again hosting Dick Clark ‘s New Years Rockin’ EveWith Ryan Seacrest, and will be stationed in New York’s Times Square Saturdaynight with co-hosts Liza Koshy and Jessie James Decker. Duran Duran, NewEdition, J-hope, and Jax will be giving performances from the Big Apple.
But New Years Rockin ‘ Eve will celebrate the new year from all across thecountry and Puerto Rico — with a magical new addition this year: Disneyland!To celebrate the upcoming 100 years of The Walt Disney Company, Ciara will behosting from Anaheim, Calif,, and will perform along with Fitz and theTantrums, Maddie & Tae, Shaggy, Ben Platt, Aly & AJ, Halle Bailey, Tomorrow xTogether, Bailey Zimmerman, and Lauren Spencer Smith.
Billy Porter will host the Central Standard Time countdown from New Orleans,while Roselyn Sanchez will host the Spanish language countdown from PuertoRico with a performance from Farruko. And D-Nice will host an LA party withperformances from Wiz Khalifa, Finneas, Armani White, Betty Who, Dove Cameron,and Nicky Youre.
Below, EW chats with Seacrest about his thoughts on boozy on-air countdowns,former performers showing up late (or tipsy), and his after-party plans.
Dick Clark’s new year’s rockin’ eve with ryan seacrest 2023
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What are you most excited for viewers to see onthis years broadcast?
RYAN SEACREST: Every year, the show gets broader and bigger. For example,we have three ball drops where we only had one for a long time. We’re indifferent places this year. It’s very exciting. Ciara will host at Disneylandwith some of the biggest artists of the year. I will have Duran Duran in TimesSquare, which I’m very excited about because that’s what I grew up with. BillyPorter’s back, Liza Koshy’s back, the show has really grown into amultifaceted live broadcast. And it’s the longest show that I’ve hosted, it’sfive hours plus, live. But that makes it exciting.
Story continues
How do you prepare for your hosting duties the week leading up to thebroadcast?
I get to New York on the 27th and we start going through the show, therundown, the artists and the weather. But it’s all pretty fluid, it changes asthe day goes on. I like that if it’s gonna rain, if it’s gonna snow, if it’sgonna be windy, it kind of changes how we create the narrative. But for me,that’s fun. The artists normally show up on time. There’ve been a few artiststhat almost didn’t make it, very close to midnight, which was a very stressfulmoment for me on the air. But it normally comes together and even the momentsthat aren’t perfect become the moments that people talk about.
Which artists have arrived late before performing live?
I hate to name the person, but it’s a very big pop star who wants to bail outof the show about an hour before her performance at 11:45 pm, because of theweather, which would create a huge problem for us. She didn’t want to go outthere and do her choreography on stage in the rain. Fortunately, we talked herinto it, but it was a pretty big panic. You’ve also seen Mariah Carey on theshow twice. Where she had a performance and then came back to have anotherperformance. I think those moments are what make the show so great.
You ‘ve been hosting Dick Clark ‘s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve since 2006. Whatdoes it mean to you to be a part of a program that’s a tradition in so manyhouseholds around the country every New Year’s Eve?
For me, I’m so grateful that I stepped into this role because it was atradition for me growing up and my family. We would order pizza and watch theshow. I think the idea for us is just to create a big party for people whodon’t want to go anywhere, who want to just relax, be in their homes, be withtheir families, order pizza, order buffalo wings, whatever it is . We canbring the excitement, the energy and the new year to them. That’s what Dicktold me all along. He goes, “we’re talking to people who are at home, but webring the excitement to them through our show.”
This year, CNN has decided that their anchors will need to scale back ondrinking for their New Year ‘s Eve show. What do you think about theirdecision to cut back?
I don’t advocate drinking when one is on the air. I don’t know how thatstarted as a tradition, but it’s probably a good idea [to scale back], CNN.There’s some pretty respectable people or at least one, right? I think there’sa serious journalist and then a friend of mine who has a lot of fun, but it’sprobably a good idea. Although the viewers probably wish they would drinkmore. But I think they had something to say about my show at one point, whichwas I’m sure from the alcohol because, I don’t think they would say what theysaid about our performers if they weren’t drinking. But, you know, I think ourshow’s a bigger, broader show and we won’t drink until 1:05 in the morning.Although, I might send them some Casa Dragones Tequila just to tempt themwhile they’re on the air.
Have any co-hosts or artists shown up to the show tipsy?
Yeah, probably quite a few. I think Post Malone was definitely enjoyinghimself before he went out. But it’s amazing, artists can still hit theirmarks, they can do their songs while drinking. Luke Bryan, who I worked withon american idol , he can have a couple of drinks and still nail it. For me,it’s a little more intense. I prefer not to do that on a live broadcast so Iget the countdown right, I don’t want to screw it up.
What does your after party look like once the show ends?
So, 1:05 am I think I’ve finished. 1:35 am I try to find a restaurant thatwill serve dinner. I’m actually exhausted by the time it gets to 1:35, but I’mstarving cause I don’t eat before the show. And we have a very civilized,eight-person dinner with elevated street food, finger foods, and a greatbottle of Italian wine.
What was it like hosting the show during the pandemic? How has it changedsince?
In 2020 going into 2021, we were out there alone which was very difficult. Iactually thought it would be okay, but to not have anybody out there in theaudience, no energy out there, it was hard. There was no one to talk to, youhad to fill up a lot of time. So I’m happy to see that revelers will be backout there again and enjoying it from all over the world. But it was tough todo during the pandemic, very tough.
Any favorite performances from past years?
For me it’s when my friends perform. Taylor Swift is amazing. J.Lo of course,incredible. I’m always blown away at how great they are on that stage. I thinkit’s one of the most vulnerable performances because you’re outside, you’re onthe stage, the elements are cold or rainy or windy, and you still have toperform. So I give everybody a lot of credit for doing it. For me it’s thepeople that I actually know and hang out with that I love to see perform. Iwas just thinking that one year Lionel Richie should do it because he’sincredible and he’s on idol and he would be such a crowd pleaser. So Ipitched him for a New Year to do it, so we’ll see.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Watch Dick Clark ‘s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2023 Dec. 31at 8pm ET/PT on ABC.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly ‘s free daily newsletter _ to getbreaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with yourfavorite stars, and more._