'The hardest working man in show business,' according to the NYT, AmericanIdol host RyanSeacrest reflects on his lifelong obsession with broadcasting, the weekend decision that changed his life and live TV's uncertain future
Seacrest was born and raised in Atlanta. A chubby bespectacled kid who experienced more than his share of bullying, he found escape in listening to, studying the hosts of and calling in to radio shows from his childhood bedroom. Eventually, he ventured out of his shell enough to become "the voice of Dunwoody," providing his high school with his own radio-like announcements that were piped directly into homerooms each morning.
He went off to study at the University of Georgia, but quickly grew restless, believing that he should be in Los Angeles pursuing a broadcasting career. So at 19, he dropped out, drove across the country and landed a job doing overnight work at a location radio station. Eventually, he graduated to hosting small-time TV shows, one of which caught the attention of the legendary TV host and media mogul, who invited Seacrest to audition to host one of his shows.
In 2001, seven years after heading west, Seacrest received two job offers roughly simultaneously, and had to choose between them over one weekend: the first was to host the long-established TV showAmerican Idol . . "I really, really had a very, very, very difficult weekend not really knowing what to do," Seacrest recalls. Not feeling confident in his ability to be a judge of music, he asked— but were in the market for a second. "I said, 'Can I audition to be the other guy?' And that's how that happened."— appeared to have an easy job. He says that was not unintentional.
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