The longtime host is gearing up for the show's season 21 finale.
Ryan Seacrest never gets tired of announcing the next American Idol. ET's Denny Directo spoke with Idol's host of more than two decades on Sunday, and Seacrest admitted that the novelty of announcing the winner each year has "never" worn off.
"We're looking down to that card and saying, 'The next American Idol is,'" Seacrest said of the upcoming season finale. "I mean, that's the best part for me... I get excited."
That excitement comes from a season of seeing the contestants "grow" and develop, Seacrest said.
"We see them with their normal jobs and they just come in for this audition," he said. "They don't know where it's gonna go. They end up looking like glamour superstars onstage and like they've done it for 20 years."
No matter if Colin Stough, Megan Danielle or Iam Tongi comes out victorious in the finale, judge Lionel Richie is confident that they'll all go on to have successful careers.
"It's not about one, two, and three at this point. The top five, the top 10 can make their careers happen," Richie told ET. "The platform American Idol is just to get you exposed... Right now, the follow-up is the most important thing. What's that record gonna sound like? What's that image is going to be like?... Where do we go with this?"
Luke Bryan agreed, telling ET, "I think when you get down to three, it's anybody's game. When you look at the top three, they're all amazingly talented, they're all amazingly artistic and America gets the voice."
"The beauty of the finale is it's just a big old party celebration," he added. "Everybody's running around, hectic, feels like a big night, so it's gonna be a special show next week."
That special celebration will also have some added star power, as it will feature former judge Keith Urban in a guest mentor role.
"It's very, very exciting," Seacrest said of Urban's upcoming appearance. "He was one of our greatest judges. He's so generous."
"Keith was one of the people that I called when I was thinking about being a judge. He was just so supportive of me," Bryan added. "... He's just what you should strive to be in this business, just a top-notch human. I'm looking forward to seeing him out here next week."
American Idol airs Sundays on ABC.
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