People News

Dick Clark's crown: Seacrest or Daly?

By Stone Martindale Dec 30, 2006, 19:02 GMT

Carson Daly and Ryan Seacrest have different ideas on their roles as the most likely pegged to succeed iconic Dick Clark, when he decides to relinquish his King of New Years Eve crown.

Both Daly and Seacrest share similar vitals, they are both known in pop culture circles, with like-minded work skills: Daly as host of Last Call and TRL, and Seacrest host of American Idol. They are in their early 30s, and style themselves in a metrosexual bent. "Dick Clark is a huge inspiration for the huge success he's achieved," Carson Daly said in a recent interview in the Los Angeles Times. "But that's where I stop. The world is changing. I'm young; I have my own thoughts as a producer. I'm not trying to keep his tradition. I'm trying to do my own."Daly and Seacrest will be back New Year's Eve Sunday night for their second annual programming contest for ratings and viewers, while America's favorite New Years Host and legendary American music show television producer Dick Clark continues his recovery from a debilitating stroke suffered in 2004.Ryan Seacrest is Simon Cowell's foil on American Idol, and is also scheduled to be in the booth for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2007, ABC's 3 1/2 -hour show. His competition will be NBC's New Year's Eve With Carson Daly.Last year's Rockin' Eve was Clark's first national TV appearance since the stroke, and it was hard for Clark's fans to see the struggling, eternally youthful Clark, who managed to pull it off despite great difficulty.Why the hoopla for a television show on the biggest party night of the year? As the American population gets older, the urge to party and drive while drinking, due to life altering consequences of potential car accidents and DUI arrests, makes it less and less appealing to venture out on what is dubbed "amateur night for drinkers."So we stay home, and crack open the bubbly and eat favorite goodies, and watch television avoiding crowds, crashes and cops. Sunday's ABC roster includes Christina Aguilera, Rascal Flatts and Black Eyed Peas Fergie. Daly is trying a different route for talent on his New Year's Eve show, alternative rockers Panic! at the Disco and OK Go, are scheduled to be featured acts."I mean, how many times have I heard Fergie sing Superlicious, or whatever she sings?" said David Friedman, Daly's executive producer reported the Los Angeles Times.Daly's NBC show is the ratings underdog to ABC's Rockin' Eve. "It's about us staking a claim," a pragmatic Daly said to the LAT, "and trying to build a tradition."