Ryan Seacrest has kept an old relic from the early days of ‘American Idol’ in his garage for the last three years. Now, he’s finally getting the chance to use it.
When ABC presents its first quarantine-edition of the beloved music competition show on Sunday, the longtime host will film his parts from home using the desk that original judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson had way back in 2002.
“Hey guys, so we’re rehearsing for ‘American Idol,’ and this desk right here — we’re gonna do the show on Sunday for everyone to be able to vote — this desk is the original desk that Randy, Paula, and Simon had,” Seacrest said in a video posted to his Twitter page Wednesday.
“It was in my garage in storage, but I never thought we’d quite use it again, but it’s coming in handy for this Sunday.”
Starting Sunday, April 26, the singing competition show will shift from pretaped episodes to new installments featuring the three judges, host Ryan Seacrest, mentor Bobby Bones and the top 20 contestants all appearing from home.
The judging lineup has changed over the years since the original eight seasons of Cowell, Abdul and Jackson. Other judges came and went, including stints with Kara DioGuardi, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick Jr. The sixteenth season established the current judges, singers Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan.
Watch the video below.
Kept this in my garage for over 3 years in case of an emergency. The time has come…. @AmericanIdol is going to be HISTORIC on so many levels.
We’re broadcasting from 25 different locations – don’t miss an all-new show this Sunday at 8|7c on @ABCNetwork! pic.twitter.com/JXuVvDod7R
— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) April 22, 2020