Host Ryan Seacrest talks 'American Idol'

Idol worship

Seacrest revealed the final results of "American Idol" will be announced just before 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday's two-hour show.

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(CNN) -- Tuesday night, the summer of pop culture suspense comes to its dramatic finale, and either Kelly Clarkson or Justin Guarini will claim the title "American Idol." Viewers will vote for their favorite after the show, and the winner will be revealed on Wednesday.

Regardless of the outcome, it has been an amazing ride for everyone involved, including the hosts, Brian Dunkleman and Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest talked to CNN anchor Daryn Kagan Tuesday morning about "American Idol"'s scheduled live performances from the Kodak theater.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are talking "American Idol." We have one of the hosts, Ryan Seacrest, with us from Los Angeles.

RYAN SEACREST, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN IDOL": Am I here?

KAGAN: Yes, you are.

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SEACREST: "American Idol" [is] down to Justin and Kelly tonight, and they are going to perform together and sing for the first time original music. They will release a single. They are going to both sing the singles that the winner will release, two singles, and tomorrow night, I [will] either say, "You have voted for your 'American Idol' Justin Guarini" or "Kelly Clarkson."

KAGAN: Are they both going to be singing the same song, so we'll hear it twice?

SEACREST: Yes, they are both going to sing the same ones, so you get to actually evaluate based on the performance of those songs.

KAGAN: Ryan, this one is going to be close.

Who will win?

SEACREST: What [do] you think? I know you watch the show, because I watch you all of the time.

KAGAN: You do. We appreciate that. You have turned our whole morning news crew there into total "American Idol" freaks. We have no life on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, not that we had much of a life the rest of the week, but especially on those nights. I picked Kelly weeks ago, and I think Kelly versus Justin. You are the guest, what do you think?

SEACREST: Well, I'll tell you what, if teenage girls go to the phone tonight, then Justin has a very good shot of winning. If they don't, and most of America seems to thinks that Kelly has this incredible vocal quality, and they could vote on that. You know the great thing about this show is those of you watching are the ones who determine it. It's not like a "Survivor" or most other reality shows, where the winner is known and on tape, and we have to hold the secret, because I know I would blow the secret in a heartbeat. Thank God it's live and I don't know the answer.

Will Young is actually going to be on our show. He is the guy that won the pop idol competition in the U.K., and he is going to be on the show performing tonight and tomorrow night. When he won the exact same series in the U.K. six months ago, he had the fastest selling single in the history of the charts in the U.K.

Making a career

KAGAN: So this isn't just about winning some reality show, this really can make a career?

SEACREST: I think it already has made a career for these guys. It's a race, and each of them want to win the race tomorrow night, but I think that both Justin, and Kelly and even Tamyra a few weeks ago have proven themselves talent-wise to this country, and should do well if they put out some music.

Seacrest, left, accompanies former 'Idol' contestant Ryan Starr as she learns she's been voted off of the show.

KAGAN: Ryan, at this point, there is no losers, and you bring up Tamyra. Actually a lot of us were rooting for Tamyra as well. She's been right here in Atlanta, Georgia. She didn't lose. She's out of the competition, but the kind of exposure she got, not just to America, but to producers and entertainment executives out there, that's priceless.

SEACREST: That's the thing, and I think that with Justin and Kelly performing tonight, which we anticipate to be our highest rated show, 20, 25 million people watching, yes, that is pretty good exposure I'd say.

Bandwagon voting

KAGAN: And every week new viewers have [been jumping] on the "American Idol" bandwagon, and you have seen that effect the voting. Some thought that was maybe how Tamyra got voted off. She didn't have a strong night, but those people that came on and watched, they didn't see all those weeks and weeks before of how incredible she is.

SEACREST: Right, there will be people that watch tonight, who will vote, and they won't vote on the tract record of Justin or the track record of Kelly, they'll actually vote on what they see tonight.

I am very excited about the fact. We have had them perform other people's songs to sort of test their skill and their talent throughout the course of this. Tonight, finally, they're going to sing some original music, and then it will be one heck of a moment tomorrow night live. We have a two-hour show. We are going to start with...

Filling two hours

KAGAN: Yes, how do you fill two hours?

SEACREST: We stretch, Daryn, we stretch. Coming up after the break, we will tell you what we're going to come up with after another break, and tell you that after another break, we will have the winner. ... What we're going to do is have a preshow, the first hour behind the scenes, preshow. We're going to show you some of the worst "American Idol" moments, and some of the best. I think you remember some of those singers that were just awful, that remind me of me singing, and then we launch the final results show at 9:00, and just before 10:00, announce the "American Idol."

KAGAN: It's going to be an exciting moment. Before we let you go, I want to find out some behind-the-scenes information. First of all, when they first came and pitched you this idea, they wanted you to be a host, you couldn't have imagined it was going to be the hot blockbuster of the summer.

Who would have guessed it?

SEACREST: No, as a matter of fact, I was excited about it. I thought the show sounded very cool, and I was interested in doing it. And my background is music. I have a radio show on Star 98.7 Los Angeles every day, so I've been in the music world for a long time.

But I remembered sitting down talking with some friends about the show, what if it goes on the air and nobody really watches it? Will it be pulled off the air if it's not successful in two or three weeks, and if it weren't successful, it probably would have been. Now to see it doing so well and to see contestants that we met in Texas, and Justin, who we met in New York (who is from Pennsylvania) to see them now become household names essentially, is this incredible experience that I never would have thought could happen.

KAGAN: So when you were on the road early on, was there anybody picked really early on that either made it or knocked out that surprised you.

SEACREST: I think America is very savvy. I think they've done a nice job in recognizing talent. When Tamyra walked in the room, when Justin walked in the room, when Kelly walked in those audition rooms, we knew they had star qualities, not quite sure if they were going to be the finalists, but I have to say that America has voted like many talent scouts would probably vote.

KAGAN: It sounds the network has picked up "American Idol" as a winner. It's coming back for a second season.

SEACREST: Did you just -- is that for sure? You just got that confirmation?

KAGAN: I read it somewhere today.

SEACREST: Well, this is good news. I need to call and see if I'm involved.

KAGAN: I was going to say, are you coming back?

SEACREST: Let's put them on the spot right now. I think we have how many viewers. Let's call them. Daryn, you be the agent, and negotiate just a favored nations deal like you have, something that you have...

KAGAN: Twelve thousands times what I am getting. It is much bigger for you.

SEACREST: I doubt it. But yes, I think we are planning on coming back with a second season, maybe sooner rather than later. I am excited about it.

KAGAN: Hey, good luck tonight. A lot of people will be watching including all of us here at CNN.

SEACREST: Thank you very much for watching the show. Thanks having me on, Daryn.

KAGAN: No problem, Ryan Seacrest, "American Idol," we are going to be watching tonight. And by the way, it's going to Kelly, at least for the record.