‘We had such a great time’
“American Idol” debuted nearly 25 years in the past, and Ryan Seacrest was there from the start.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: Ryan Seacrest attends the twenty ninth Annual UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s “Taste For A Cure” honoring George Cheeks on the Fox Studio Lot on May 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation)
Seacrest spoke with PauseRewind’s Kevin Zelman on the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s twenty ninth Annual Taste for a Cure on Friday, the place he was additionally the host, and revealed his “Mount Rushmore” of “American Idol” icons.
“Well it’d probably be the original team,” he stated. “The original panel. The original winner. Maybe throw Carrie [Underwood] in there too since she’s with us now. But you gotta go OG on Mount Rushmore.”
He added, “We had such a great time. It all began 25 years in the past nearly now.”
HOLLYWOOD – MAY 25: American Idol judges (LR) Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, host Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell are seen in front of the stage at the American Idol Finale: Results Show held at the Kodak Theater on May 25, 2005 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
“American Idol” has gone through changes over the seasons, from switching networks, to switching up the panel of judges from the first line up of Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell, to changing formats for singers and so much more.
But for Seacrest, the biggest difference he sees from year to year is the people who make the show.
“The largest change is the group of contestants yearly. You get a new solid of characters, a new solid of voices, you do not fairly know who’s going to excel, who’s going to make it the space. And that is all the time the spotlight for me,” he said.
As for one standout moment in over two decades of “American Idol,” Seacrest once again has to go back to the original.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: Ryan Seacrest speaks onstage during the 29th Annual UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s “Taste For A Cure” honoring George Cheeks on the Fox Studio Lot on May 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation)
“So many great performances, the contestants used to do those big medleys together, [but] I think when I look back, the history-making first-ever results show where I got to say ‘The winner is Kelly Clarkson,’ that will never ever get old,” I shared.
“American Idol” airs Mondays on ABC.
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