January 14, 2005
Mark: Our next guest hosts the very popular tv show American Idol. The much anticipated fourth season starts this Tuesday night on Fox. Here�s Ryan Seacrest. [Ryan walks out, shakes Mark�s hand, kisses Kelly on the cheek, waves to the audience, and sits down]
Kelly: Seacrest in the chair!
Ryan: Seacrest in the stool! Wazzup!
K: I love that. Did you start that own catch phrase yourself?
R: No there was another guy that was signing off his show �Seacrest out.� [everyone laughs]
K: No, but did they tell you to say that or you just like, one day you said it?
R: One day I said it. Ya know, when you�re doing a live television show all of a sudden you realize there�s only 3 seconds left at the end of the show and there�s a bunch of other things you�re supposed to say and I got to nothing like the plug for the next show that was coming up. I just said, �That�s Idol, Seacrest out!� And they were like, �Whew, you just made it.� So it just stuck. I don�t even know what it really means. I�ll walk down the street and people will go, �Seacrest out!� and I�m like [making a scared face], �What�d you read?� [everyone laughs]
K: I say that, I�ll be in the grocery store, I�m weighing grapes, and I�m like, �Seacrest out!� [Ryan laughs] It�s like one of my favorite catch phrases, like, �I see dead people.� It�s the new, �I see dead people.�
R: Interesting dichotomy there, Kelly.
K: So now the fourth season, what is left for American Idol? Haven�t you found all the terrible singers? �Cause I think the terrible singers make the show.
R: Exactly we thought when we started this time. Haven�t we seen all of the na�ve, all of the disillusioned?
K: Yes, where are you getting these disillusioned people?
R: America has more to offer. [everyone laughs] America has more to bring us. We saw this gentleman by the name, you probably forgot about him, but by the name of William Hung last year.
K: Yes! �She Bangs!�
R: �She Bangs,� yeah. [Kelly starts imitating William Hung�s singing and dancing] You can�t just, you have to move.
K: You have to do the dance too.
R: What�s scary, you realize you�re just too caught up in your own show when that video comes on television and you�re at home getting ready for work in front of your mirror doing whatever you do, [gesturing to Mark] moisturizing� [audience laughs]
K: I didn�t tell him that you moisturized, he figured that out all on his own.
R: I have an eye for that. [Mark laughs] You realize that you�re doing the dance too, like the William Hung video. It just caught on.
K: It�s no longer Ricky Martin�s song, it�s William Hung�s song! [singing and dancing] �She bangs, she bangs!�
R: The point is we did find a lot of people that still have, what I like to say, a different voice in their head, different than the voice we hear when they actually sing to us.
K: I have that too.
M: Me too.
K: We all have that.
M: Are you and Simon gonna get along this season?
R: I hope not. I hope not. He can�t stand to be around me.
K: Yes, because you�re the good-looking one and that upsets him. [audience �ooohhh�s]
R: Well, I won�t argue. [audience laughs] I think the whole age thing actually. He�s a very, and he�ll never hear me say this, right?
M: Old?
R: He�s a very old, insecure, egotistical, pompous, acerbic television personality.
K: Right, I know all about that. [everyone laughs] Regis will never see this. He�s sleeping one off in Tahoe!
R: We�re safe! But I think we have an interesting relationship. He, with all due respect, he�s a very good judge, but he drives me absolutely crazy.
K: Right, well, he�s mean. He�s really mean.
R: He is. He doesn�t like for me to be around, so when he�s on vacation, I will just send 8x10s. I sent my bobble head doll to his hotel over the holidays to be delivered right at his bed so when he got back with his girlfriend I would be laying on his bed in the form of a bobble head doll.
M: We have a surprise for you, actually Simon�s here. [audience cheers and Ryan looks around, eventually realizing that Mark was kidding]
R: [running into the audience] For a second I was going waaaaaaaaaay over here. [sits on a woman�s lap and then returns to his stool]
K: I have lost control again! We�ll be right back with Ryan Seacrest. Don�t go away.
R: Sorry!
[commercial break]
K: We�re back with Ryan Seacrest, who hosts a little known show, you�ve probably never heard of it before. It�s called American Idol. So you had a birthday December 24th, right?
R: Christmas Eve, yes.
M: Happy birthday.
R: Thank you very much, thank you.
K: Christmas Eve, happy belated. [audience claps] Did the judges of American Idol, did the fans send you anything? Did you get anything or do you get one large gift because it�s�
R: My parents, the judges didn�t really send me anything, but my parents would always separate the socks and the underwear because I would get the socks on Christmas Eve, and then oh, what�s gonna be my gift tomorrow? [crossing his fingers] I can only hope, briefs. [audience laughs]
M: The only thing worse than having a birthday on Christmas Eve would be having a birthday on Christmas, right?
R: I would imagine. At least it�s like one is over then there�s not the total depression because there�s another day of opening presents and having sausage balls. [Mark laughs] We have quite a tradition at my house. I just love to eat. It�s my favorite thing in the world. I have a passion for food. I love it. So my mother has quite a tradition when it comes to food at the house. We fondue on Christmas Eve and then we make sausage balls for breakfast on Christmas day.
K: What are sausage balls? I�ve heard of patties, I�ve heard of links, tell me about the sausage balls.
R: Well they�re man-made, you actually have to make them.
M: Man-made sausage balls. [audience and Ryan laugh]
R: Yes, it�s sausage, a product called I think called Bisquick, cheese� [to a woman in the audience who made a comment] You know Bisquick, don�t you? You�ve made sausage balls? [woman in the audience says something about New Year�s Eve] Oh they made sausage balls for New Year�s Eve? Well maybe they�re great with champagne. I have them with orange juice.
K: She is lying! She just wants to talk to you! [everyone laughs]
M: Where did you grow up? Where do they make sausage balls?
R: I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. So anyway, I love tradition too, so it�s always the same routine. You can�t deviate from the routine over the holidays.
K: [pointing to Mark] His mom makes ravioli. You probably never heard of that in Sausage Ball Land. [Ryan laughs]
M: Ya know what�s funny is that I rolled the balls. That was my job. So I guess they were man-made sausage balls too.
R: You were the ball roller. Alright, well, we�ve come so far. [Ryan pats Mark�s arm and audience laughs]
K: If you weren�t working on radio and television and hosting so many different things, do you think you�d go to culinary school? Would you be a chef?
R: I would love it. Every time a go to a restaurant, doesn�t matter if it�s a fancy one or just a neighborhood spot, I always want to take a tour of the kitchen. I would love go to culinary school. I would love to do it someday.
K: Why don�t you be� everybody in Hollywood opens a restaurant, why don�t you open Seacrest�s?
R: Seafood, right? Right on the beach.
K: You could offer seafood and then like Crest toothpaste at the end of the meal [everyone laughs] and that would be your gimmick.
R: I am a partner in sushi places in Los Angeles. There�s a place called Sushi Roku, also a place on Sunset called Katana, and a steakhouse that we�re opening in Santa Monica called Boa.
K: So you�re already 10 steps ahead of us.
M: You�re in.
R: I�m in, but I�m not a trained professional chef. I just have a passion for food and the restaurant biz.
K: That�s terrific! We�ve gotta go over to his house for some dinner.
R: Yeah, you can come over. We�ll make a steak and I do a little rub on the steak, like a garlic rub or a blue cheese rub or something like that right on top.
K: What do you mean, a rub? With your hands? With your fingers?
R: I�ll use gloves. But it adds to the flavor of the meat.
K: Well speaking of meat� [laughing]
R: You guys don�t eat meat?
M: No, we eat meat.
K: We eat meat, are you kidding?
R: Oh ok, alright, I was like huge faux pas on the show. They�ve talked about for years how they don�t eat meat.
K: Huge faux pas on this show?! Have you not realized there is no such thing? Ok, speaking of meat, we have people�
M: People.
R: [laughing] Segway.
K: �a sample of some of the people who have auditioned in this season 4�
R: The raw talent
K: �of American Idol, fresh meat, take a look at this.
[clip of AI4 auditions]
M: Now those are the people who made it through right?
R: [sarcastically] Yeah, those will be your top 12. You�ll be choosing your favorite soon. [rolls eyes]
K: Don�t you feel people in this society have received too much encouragement in their lives?
R: It�s bad parenting!
K: We can�t wait to watch it. Good luck.
R: Thank you.
K: Season 4 of American Idol starts Tuesday at 8 pm on Fox. Ryan, great to see you.
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