Ryan Seacrest Jumping Ship to NBC – Is This His Last Season on American Idol?

Ryan Seacrest - Hollywood Power House

It goes without saying that Ryan Seacrest is one of the hardest working men in Hollywood and has amassed a career that spans radio, television, producing, and along the way has become a household name.

In fact, the Hollywood Reporter has named him the most powerful man in Reality TV today.

But change might be in the air for Seacrest.

Ryan appeared on the NBC “Today” show to chat with Matt Lauer and make a much anticipated, and hyped big announcement.

The big news turned out to be that Seacrest was joining the NBC family and his first project will be participating with the network for coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

But there may be more below the surface that has not been flushed out to the public yet.

Watch Matt and Ryan on the Today Show


E! Entertainment and Ryan have been working together for years and American Idol is on the FOX Network and now Ryan’s working with NBC/Comcast – awkward?

With Seacrest joining the NBC team some have speculated that Seacrest may take over the Today Show from Matt Lauer.

The two even joked about that conversation in the video above but we don’t see it happening anytime soon.

Related: Sacha Baron Cohen dumps ashes on Ryan Seacrest - Video

The big news now is what happens with Ryan’s upcoming contract negotiations with the executives at FOX and American Idol for next season. Will he say?

Seacrest says he is unable to comment on his contract with Idol but an announcement will be coming soon.

We suspect he can stay as long as he wants.

And in case you’re not aware, thirty-eight year old Seacrest is also the executive producer of the TV shows “Melissa and Tye”, “Shahs of Sunset”, “Food Revolution”, “Kourtney and Kim Take New York”, “Khloé and Lamar”, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, “On-Air with Ryan Seacrest”, and just about every red carpet or awards show presented on the E! Network.

But for now we know he is not taking Matt Lauer’s job away and suspect he will remain on American Idol for as long as he wants.

Follow @InfoStar on Twitter – Dim the lights!

VIDEO - Sacha Baron Cohen Dumps Ashes on Ryan Seacrest During 2012 Oscar Red Carpet

Sacha Baron Cohen prepares to dump ashes on Ryan Seacrest

While we think Sacha Baron Cohen is funny in his movies, we think he went too far last night at the 2012 Academy Award Oscars red carpet.

After all the hype last week about Sacha appearing in his full “Dictator” costume, Cohen arrived not only in full costume but he proceeded to dump an urn of fake ashes on host Ryan Seacrest.

The urn of ashes was labeled “Kim Jong il”, the dead dictator from North Korea, and you could tell that Seacrest was not expecting the stunt – and was not happy.

Sacha Cohen tells Ryan Seacrest,

"I love it here because it gave me an opportunity to bring my dear friend and tennis partner, Kim Jong-il. It was my dream to come to the Oscars and be sprinkled over the red carpet and Halle Berry's chest. Now when people ask who you are wearing, you will say Kim Jong-il!"

After Sacha was escorted away Seacrest had to complete his live broadcast covered in ashes.



So, Cohen did exactly what the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn’t want him to do. What a douche.

For his part, Ryan Seacrest seemed to take things in stride but you can tell from the video he was not happy.

You can also see in the video that Academy staff basically had to drag Cohen away by force in front of the cameras.

Now we all know that Hollywood is a whore for publicity but we got to say this was just stupid, in bad taste, and will not endear Sacha Baron Cohen’s fans to his movies.

Follow @InfoStar on Twitter

American Idol’s Chris Medina Not Invited to Finale Show – Shame on A.I.

Remember Chris Medina from American Idol?

Sure you do.

He was the Milwaukee contestant who told the sad story about his Fiancee Juliana Ramos being in a car accident, suffering life threatening brain injuries, and now confined to a wheelchair.

The story brought Jennifer Lopez to tears. Chris made it through the elimination rounds and made it into the top 40 before he was sent home.

Early on, American Idol seemed to focus on Medina and Juliana's story like a laser beam, even going as far as having Juliana come into the audition room to meet the judges.

It really is a tragic story and the producers at Idol really played it up – some say for the ratings. But how far are they willing to go to show the love now?

Not very far.

Chris says he has not heard from Idol since he was eliminated, and that he has not been asked to be in the audience during the finale show like many of the other contestants.

He does say that the opportunity to share his story has helped get the word out about his fiancee and the incredible medical bills that are mounting.

Since his exit from A.I he has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live with Regis and Kelly, Good Morning America, and On-Air with Ryan Seacrest.

In fact, the day after he was eliminated he released a single on iTunes called “What are words” that has sold over 75,000 copies to date. The song is about his relationship with Juliana and the emotions that erupt with these types of brain injuries.

Even though the producers of American Idol seem to be missing in action, host Ryan Seacrest has done something for the young couple.

In a radio interview with Chris, Ryan announced $35,000 worth of donations for his Juliana’s medical bills. It brought the singer to tears and is really a touching video – it even had actor Topher Grace entering the studio early to say he would match the donation for a total of $70,000.

Watch Ryan Seacrest Radio interview with Chris Medina


Medina’s latest video for his single “What are words” is very touching and we can see why he made it into the American Idol top 40. He really does have a great voice.

Watch Chris Medina Music Video “What are words”


Hopefully, American Idol will get wind of all the press about this and offer Chris and Juliana a front row seat next week during the final show of the season.

So, was American Idol just using Chris Medina for ratings?

Follow InfoStar on Twitter
_