Ryan Seacrest and his American Idol team have a very tough job this year. There’s a problem with this season, and it is both good and bad. It’s good because there are more than just ten good singers in the group but it’s also bad because someone needs to leave to show; only ten of the Top 15 American Idol finalists survived this week and everyone is concerned.
Seacrest and the judges talked a lot about this being the most talented group they’ve ever seen, which makes their jobs a whole lot harder. After so many fantastic performances, it was difficult to choose; were Riley and Laine everyone’s favorites? Has Uche gone too far? Did Alejandro make a final mistake and was Ashley playing it safe on the piano? These were the questions many of us were asking but only the judges (and Ryan Seacrest!) knew the answers.
While this wasn’t the final week, it was clear that it’s going to get more and more difficult as the time goes by because more than one person is going to leave the show every week. With so many talented contestants, it’s inevitable to get disappointed.
But there’s a bright side to all this American Idol drama! Katy Perry decided to cheer things up a bit before the competition’s Top 10 reveal on Monday night, so she rocked a pink wig, just like she used to when she started her career. Perry wore a silver sequin Pucci dress matched with blue PVC opera gloves and Lady Grey earrings. The outfit and her silver Escada platform heels were selected by stylist Jamie Mizrahi, while her hairstylist, Chris Appleton created the dark-rooted hairpiece.
As a reminder, the bride-to-be recently joked with Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa that she wanted to enlist Lionel Richie to sing at her wedding to Orlando Bloom “for free.” “By the way, I don’t mind that,” Riche responded. The famous actor proudly posted an image of Perry at a music festival, gushing that she is “my 365 24/7 [heart emoji].” According to a source, Katy and Orlando want a small and intimate wedding and they “look forward to starting a family together as well.” The couple first got together in January 2016 and they rekindled their romance last year.
But let’s get back to American Idol and the tough decisions that were upon the judges and audience. The viewers were responsible for seven of the singers who will go further while the judges chose three of the Top 10. When Ryan Seacrest asked Perry if she had a favorite this season, she said, “Yes, I have 14 favorites.’” She also added, “We’re so invested in these kids and we want the world for them, it’s really up to the stars aligning.” One thing is for sure though, all contestants were singing and they did a great job!
The first contestant of the night was Madison VanDenberg, whom the judges and many fans compared to Kelly Clarkson. Fortunately for Madison, she became the first contestant to make it to the Top 10! Madison sang You and I by Lady Gaga, and America loved it!
Next on the stage was Evelyn Cormier and, unlike Madison, Evelyn didn’t make it to the Top 10. She sang the Kansas classic, Dust In the Wind, and judges shared their thoughts with her. Lionel wanted her to know that this was just the beginning for her and that he loved her voice. “You were such a pro. You were graceful, you’re beautiful, I’m a huge fan of you, and I think you’re on your way to becoming a spectacular artist,” Perry added.
Then it was time for Walker Burroughs to join Ryan Seacrest on stage (IMBd). But before we learned anything about Burroughs staying in the show, the young singer told Ryan that his local Bruster’s ice cream shop named a flavor for him! That’s right, the Honey Nut Cheerios, peanut butter, vanilla ice cream combo earned the name “Good Heavens.” Walker sang Lovebug by the Jonas Brothers and it was official – America voted that Burroughs is good enough to go to the Top 10!
Seacrest then went to the contestant’s lounge to deliver the news to Riley Thompson who wasn’t automatically advanced. Riley sang to stay in the show and she chose the Don Williams classic It Must Be Love. “Great song choice. As we keep saying, we can see where your confidence was a little shaken, and I don’t blame you one bit for that. But I love the song choice. It embodies what you’ve given us throughout this competition. You’ve really picked some great songs,” Luke Bryan said.
Back in the lounge, Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon and Ryan Seacrest walked together to the main stage to hear his verdict. But before they shared the news, they discussed the fact that Elton John tweeted about his performance of We All Fall In Love Sometimes. It was obvious that Elton loved his performance and he wasn’t the only one; America decided that Jeremiah is talented enough to go to the Top 10.
After Harmon, it was time for Alyssa Raghu to shine. For those who don’t know, this was Alyssa’s second try at American Idol. Although the viewers weren’t sure if she belonged in the Top 10, she sang her heart out with her cover of Katy Perry’s The One That Got Away. Raghu spoke to Ryan Seacrest and, with tears in her eyes, she told him she felt super grateful. “How dare you come out and sing that song a hundred times better than me. Alyssa, that was so beautiful and you have just grown into a gorgeous young woman. I think this has been a really important master class. I think you’ve learned so much and you’ve got so much time. It’s gonna happen if you do like Luke said. Keep applying yourself,” Katy was honest.
As always, there’s no break for Ryan Seacrest, which means he wasted no time sharing with Wade Cota that he made it to the Top 10. He performed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s hit, Simple Man.
It was time for Dimitrius Grahm to rock the stage. While the judges loved him, the viewers weren’t so sure, so they didn’t put him in the Top 10. Grahm delivered a rendition of When the Party’s Over by Billie Eilish. “Tonight was your performance that told us all that there is more to you. If I can get you to just believe in you, you were born enough. Stand on top of your emotions,” Riche said.
Next was Laci Kaye Booth who took a bold risk with her performance of Blink 182’s I Miss You. As it turned out, the risk paid off and she took her victory lap with As Long As You Follow by Fleetwood Mac.
Unfortunately, Eddie Island didn’t win the hearts of the voters. As it turned out, his cover of Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody seemed too much in his comfort zone. “I just really know what kind of artist you are and yes, this is a singing competition, but no, it’s not a singing competition, it’s an idol competition. I think you do still have some room for growth and that’s OK. You need to keep growing every single day. I thought last night’s performance wasn’t your best and I think you get nervous, that’s all,” Katy said.
Ashley Hess was one of the biggest surprises of the night when she discovered that the American Idol viewers didn’t vote for her. Ashley then sang for her life as she performed Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke. “Let me tell you what fearless is. We have told you time and time again, stay behind the piano. And then you walk up here, fighting for your life, and you give your most comfortable, natural performance without your piano,” Luke Bryan was honest with her.
On the other hand, Laine Hardy and his performance of That’s All Right made it to the Top 10 which was great news because viewers got to hear him deliver his version of Levon Helm’s Hurricane.
When it comes to time and organization, there’s no one better than Ryan Seacrest. That’s why the famous host brought both Alejandro Aranda and Uche on the stage so they can learn who would claim the final spot from America’s votes. Not many people were surprised to hear that Alejandro was continuing in the competition, but it was a surprise that Uche was competing to stay. Alejandro sang an original song, Cholo love, before Uche took the stage to perform Rihanna’s Diamonds.
After Uche’s performance, Lionel went to the stage to hug him, which brought Uche to tears. “We are not in the singing business. We are in the entertaining business. You are a performer. A lot of people can sing. Very few can sing and perform. This is an entertainer. And where an entertainer belongs, follow me, young man,” Lionel said. Richie then led him to the Top 10 side and used his “save” on him.
Seacrest asked Bobby Bones who he would put into the remaining two place and Bones chose Dimitrius and Riley! With one spot left, Katy got very emotional, “All things considered, everyone that is standing on stage is fantastic. I’ve seen so much growth from all of you. I hate doing this. I have to pick one and you better fight for your life the next time you sing, Alyssa Raghu.”
Finally, the season 17 American Idol Top 10 are Madison VanDenburg, Walker Burroughs, Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, Wade Cota, Laci Kaye Booth, Laine Hardy, Alejandro Aranda, Uche (saved by Lionel), Dimitrius Graham (saved by Luke), Alyssa Raghu (saved by Katy).
Ryan Seacrest Has Been Hosting American Idol for 17 Years and These are His Favorite Moments
He is the host of American Idol, the annual Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and the co-host of Live with Kelly and Ryan. He continues to host On Air with Ryan Seacrest on iHeartMedia’s KIIS-FM and the weekly American Top 40 countdown show. When he’s not on air, he’s flying back and forth between New York and Los Angeles. He is running The Ryan Seacrest Production and Ryan Seacrest Foundation. And that’s not all he’s doing. In short, he’s Ryan Seacrest, and he can do anything (and much more).
Ryan has been hosting American Idol since 2002. When he was hired for the position, he never dreamed that the show would become so popular. He also never thought that it would last this long.
“I remember two things: One was hearing about the success of the show in the UK, so we thought maybe it would be a show that people might tune into. In no way did we think it would be as popular as it was,” Seacrest was honest. “The second thing that made an impact was that friends of mine who couldn’t care less what I do were watching the show and calling me to say, ‘This is really cool and fun and different and my friends are talking about it.’ So at the initial stage, you felt that there was impact. But I do remember Randy [Jackson] and I wondering in the first couple weeks of the first season, ‘Do you think we’ll get a second season? When will we know? When will we get the pickup?’ Because you’re so used to one and out, we were anxiously awaiting the pickup for season two and then it began to snowball.”
American Idol is in its 17th season now, and although it’s as popular as ever, Seacrest admits that there was the time when he wasn’t sure about the show’s future, especially when Simon Cowell left. After all, American Idol was Cowell’s project. “That’s when I thought about, ‘How long will the show go on? Can it go on and what will its reincarnation be?’ And then the franchise built and the strength of it built and you saw that you could put different judges in and the machine would work. And so I think it could have a life for a long time, 17 more seasons,” Ryan said.
American Idol has been around for so long that, for the first time in the show’s history, there’s a finalist who wasn’t born yet when Kelly Clarkson won in the first season. That’s right, Riley Thompson was born in October 2002, one month after the first season finale was finished. In other words, everything is changing, but Ryan Seacrest is forever. “I can’t believe I’m that guy who is hosting a show where that can be possible,” Seacrest said and added, “I remember feeling like a kid when I started hosting the show at age 27. Now the songs I think are so cool, the contestants tell me, ‘My dad loves that song too.’”
But what is Seacrest’s secret? Many people wonder how he manages to stay so fresh season after season. Apparently, to Ryan Seacrest, staying ahead of the hosting game is never a problem, “It’s easy. The judges are the same for many, many years, but the cast of contestants is always new and there are always different personalities, different characters, different anxieties, different nervousness, different energy and different vibrations. All of those different sensibilities create something new every year to play off of.”
After 17 years of hosting the music show, it’s natural that Seacrest has fun at work. He also has a favorite moment, and it goes way back in the days when it all started. “The greatest moment was probably the first finale because of the energy in the nation rooting for Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini and us not knowing what the show was really all about yet. There was still a naivety about it all for us and I remember how pure and how simple that was,” Ryan said. “I think back to those early days. We always have fun, but we really pushed the limit of fun with Randy, Paula Abdul and Simon in the beginning and many times we were told to cool it down a little bit. But I enjoy each year standing on the end of the stage when the finalists are there and getting to say, ‘The winner of American Idol is…’”
Of course, there were unusual moments like that time when Ryan was about to pronounce the winner of the show and there were two Davids – David Cook and David Archuleta. It was 10 PM sharp when Seacrest said “The winner is David…” and everyone’s DVR stopped. Ryan recalled this moment. “If you were writing a movie about this series and that was to be a scene, I don’t know if you could write that scene so perfectly. It was a live television moment. It was David and David. I remember the outrage, and I think some people thought there was a conspiracy there, that we planned to do that.”
One of the most frequent questions about Ryan Seacrest is how does he have time to do it all. As always, Seacrest was kind enough to share his recipe to success, “I should come up with an answer for that. I love each individual thing and I’ve always been busy. I’ve always had so many things to get done in the course of a day, and I try to be as efficient and as thoughtful as I can with everything I do. And now I only look at one day at a time. I used to look at the week and I would feel the anxiety in me building, and now I just take it day by day.” Well that’s easy, right?
Actually, it’s not easy to do what Ryan Seacrest does for decades, but it’s his job to make it look easy. “Dick Clark’s advice to me was, ‘Try to make everyone who’s in their living room on their couches think they can do your job, and if they say they can do it, then you’re doing a good job of making it look easy.’”
Read more at https://thenewsversion.com/2018/08/ryan-seacrest-ma…aid-entertainers/
