In the spirit of the new year — and staying on theme for the telecast — New Year’s Rockin’ Eve hosts Ryan Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy told Variety that they’re happy Mariah Carey was invited back to perform at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest, despite last year’s disappointment. McCarthy said offering Carey a second chance was in line with this year’s telecast theme of “Unity.â€
“One of the most exciting news stories about New Year’s Eve is giving Mariah Carey that second chance that I think everybody deserves. The theme this year is ‘Unity.’ I had a moment saying, what do I want my New Year’s Resolution to be, and then I thought about the second chance that we are giving Mariah and I thought that is a really good thing to be an example of on this TV show and carry it forward. I am cheering her on and hoping that she nails it and I think she will.â€
McCarthy and Seacrest hope this kind of gesture carries into the new year. “Good stories get overshadowed by our anger at the administration or who is not taking a knee and who is standing up,†she said. “I am really looking at 2018 as a time for all of those things to balance out and we can listen to one another.â€
“We always say when we stop talking at midnight, and you watch the atmosphere and you see the energy and feel the vibrations of Times Square, the one word to describe that moment is unity,†Seacrest said.
“I think it would be great to continue throughout the year to have more of that feeling.â€