Ryan Seacrest and his first-time co-host Liza Koshy helped usher in 2022 as they hosted Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on Friday night.
The hosts held down the forst in Times Square in Manhattan, where cast and crew were being kept in separate locations as part of the show’s strict COVID-19 protocols amid a surge in cases due to the Omicron variant.
Ciara was helping to run things across the country in Los Angeles, while Pose’s Billy Porter was offering a Southern tinge from New Orleans.
Happy New Year! Ryan Seacrest and his first-time co-host Liza Koshy helped usher in 2022 as they hosted Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on Friday night. The hosts held down the forst in Times Square in Manhattan
In addition to the three main urban locations, Roselyn Sánchez was hosting from Puerto Rico, where Dady Yankee would be performing ahead of a Spanish-language countdown.
As the special started this evening, Seacrest made sure to remind the audience at home that everyone on stage had been following strict COVID procedures leading up to the big night.
‘The crowd might be scaled back,’ Seacrest said, referring to the audience, which was only about a quarter as large as pre-pandemic crowds, but he promised that the ‘energy and enthusiasm are as big as ever.’
In order to keep the performers and crowd as safe as possible, the entertainers were all required to take daily COVID-19 tests.
The precautions had led to one drop out already, with rapper LL Cool J skipping the show after he tested positive.
Stacked cast: In addition to Seacrest in New York, Ciara was helping to run things across the country in Los Angeles , while Pose’s Billy Porter was offering a Southern tinge from New Orleans. Mariah Carey arrived looking glamorous in white fur and gold sequins
Chloe Bailey, half of the duo Chloe X Halle, had also dropped out of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, though she didn’t give a reason for her absence.
Seacrest and his New York co-host Liza Koshy revealed to Variety on Thursday that the cast and crew were being kept in separate ‘trailers and pods’ across New York City in order to cut down on the chance of coronavirus transmission, especially with the new Omicron variant, which appears to be more contagious than previous variants of the virus.
The satellite shows in Los Angeles and New Orleans are also keeping the cast and crew separated in a similar manner.
Prior to Carey’s entrance, OneRepublic delivered the first performance of the night with a rendition of their song Counting Stars.
Next up was Big Boi of Outkast fame, who rapped his 2003 hit The Way You Move with his regular collaborator Sleepy Brown in Los Angeles.
The grooving track was originally featured on the double LP Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which featured a solo disc for both Big Boi and André 3000.
Glamorous: For Mariah’s dramatic performance, a replay from 2018, she took to the stage covered in a white fur coat atop a gold sequined dress
For Mariah’s dramatic performance, a replay from 2018, she took to the stage covered in a white fur coat atop a gold sequined dress.
Following her dramatic performance, the action switched to Los Angeles, where French Montana performed his hit Unforgettable.
He was dressed in a multicolored holiday-appropriate sweater as he laid out bars.
