Who has the better party? Dick and Ryan or Carson?

Looks like the battle for best televised New Year’s Eve party is heating up.  We had previously reported on both Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest and NBC New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly.  Well, now, both shows are furiously working to add additional talent.

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve has just announced the addition of the Jonas Brothers, country star Taylor Swift, and Lionel Richie to the line up in Times Square, New York. And, as previously announced, Natasha Bedingfield, Fall Out Boy, Jesse McCartney, Ne-Yo, Pussycat Dolls, Solange and Robin Thicke will perform during the Hollywood Party segments, which will be hosted by Fergie.

Not to be outdone, Carson Daly has added rap star T.I. to his guestlist.  T.I.’s latest album debuted at #1 and featured two hit singles “Whatever You Like” and “Live Your Life.” And, as previously announced, Katy Perry and Ludacris are also performing.  No word on whether 50 Cent is still on the bill or not.  Helping with the live reporting from Times Square will be Saturday “Today” co-anchor Amy Robach and NBC News correspondent Luke Russert.

So, are we in an all out war?  We’ll have to see who pulls in the better ratings…  To us, Dick Clark still seems to have the edge.

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009

Looks like Ryan Seacrest is back for another year of co-hosting Dick Clarke’s New Year’s Eve special on ABC. Seacrest has co-hosted the show since 2005, and this year marks the first time the show’s name has been changed to include him in the title – “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”

Fergie returns to co-host and perform at the West Coast party portions of the special, while Kellie Pickler has her first year as the Times Square correspondent. Full details are in the press release below.

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“DICK CLARK’S NEW YEAR’S ROCKIN’ EVE WITH RYAN SEACREST 2009″ AIRS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 LIVE ON ABC

Fergie Will Host West Coast Party and Perform; Kellie Pickler is Times Square Correspondent

For the 37th consecutive year, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009″ will lead America into the New Year when Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest host specials starting at 10:00 p.m., ET, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 on the ABC Television Network.

Singer/songwriter Fergie returns to perform and host the West Coast party portions of the specials, and for the first time country star Kellie Pickler will be the Times Square correspondent, reporting on other happenings in and around New York City. This year will include performances from both New York and Hollywood, and the American tradition of Dick Clark counting down to midnight will once again take place during the three-and-a-half hours of specials from Times Square in New York City.

The festivities will kick off with “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009″ from10:00-11:00 p.m., ET, featuring performances live from New York’s Times Square.

During “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009, Part 1″ (11:35 p.m. – 1:05 a.m., ET), in addition to reporting on the final minutes of 2008 and the traditional Times Square countdown to midnight, the show will feature music performances from both Hollywood, California and Times Square in New York.

Wrapping the night’s activities will be “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2009, Part 2″ (1:05-2:05 a.m., ET), when musical acts will continue the party into the early hours of the New Year with additional performances from Hollywood.

Multi-platinum, three-time Grammy award-winning, international superstar Fergie, who joined The Black Eyed Peas in 2002, released her solo debut, “The Dutchess,” in 2006. “The Dutchess,” which spent an astounding 94 weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, sold over 6 million copies worldwide and achieved triple-platinum status in the United States. Its success was propelled by the hit singles “London Bridge,” “Fergalicious” (#1), “Glamorous” (#1), “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (#1), “Clumsy (#2)” and “Finally.” Fergie is the first artist since Christina Aguilera (in 2000) to score three #1s from one album.

Singer/songwriter Kellie Pickler continues to entertain us since her debut on “American Idol” in 2006. Her first album sold more than 800,000 copies, and she made history with her self-titled, sophomore album upon its release in October this year, when she became only the sixth country artist to have her first two albums debut at #1 on the Billboard Country Album Chart. The multi-nominated and awarded Pickler’s current single is “Best Days of Your Life,” which she wrote her friend and fellow artist, Taylor Swift.

“New Year’s Eve with Dick and Ryan is a time honored tradition and all of us at dcp and ABC are delighted that Fergie will once again host our West Coast event, and thrilled that Kellie Pickler will be amidst the revelry and party goers at Times Square,” said Orly Adelson, president of dick clark productions.

The specials are presentations of dick clark productions, Inc. Executive producers are Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest and Orly Adelson. Larry Klein produces.

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Glad to see that Dick Clark will be up and around for another New Year’s Eve!

Carson Daly to Get Primetime New Year’s Eve Spot with 50 Cent, Ludacris & Katy Perry

Big news for Carson “I’m Not a Tool” Daly as NBC is reporting that the host of “Last Call With Carson Daly” is getting a primetime spot for his “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” show that will feature performances by 50 Cent, Ludacris, and Kate Perry. It will all be broadcast in HDTV as well.  You can read the full press release here:

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LIVE PERFORMACES BY CHART-TOPPING ARTISTS 50 CENT, LUDACRIS AND KATY PERRY RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH CARSON DALY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31 ON NBC

Fifth Annual Live “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” To Be Broadcast For the First Time With 1 Hour Airing in Primetime and 1 Hour in Late Night All in High Definition

Universal City, CA – November 3, 2008 – “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” will once again feature the biggest names in music with this year’s performers Ludacris, 50 Cent and Katy Perry bringing their unique sound to New York City as Carson Daly rings in the New Year on Wednesday, December 31. The show promises to give viewers the experience of being in the middle of the world’s most famous New Year’s Eve destination, Times Square, and for the first time will be broadcast beginning in primetime from 10-11 p.m. (ET) and continuing in late night from 11:35 p.m. – 12:35 a.m. in high definition. The announcement was made today by Rick Ludwin, Executive Vice President, Late Night & Primetime Series.

“NBC’s Carson Daly New Year’s Eve tradition has increased its rating each year it’s been on the air,” said Ludwin. “Viewers clearly like what Carson is doing. The additional hour in prime time makes our audience even more a part of this New Year’s Eve party.”

Perry, whose smash hit “I Kissed A Girl” was the #1 single in 20 countries including the US where it dominated the Billboard charts at #1 for seven weeks, and whose follow up single “Hot N Cold” is Top 5 in both sales and airplay as well as the #2 most viewed video premiere of all time on MySpace, will perform songs from her RIAA gold certified album One Of The Boys. 50 Cent, who has sold more than 22 million albums and has received numerous awards and 11 Grammy nominations throughout his career, will perform songs from his upcoming fourth studio release, Before I Self Destruct. Ludacris is a multi-platinum Grammy Award winning rap artist and actor. He will be performing his single “One More Drink” featuring T-Pain from his long-awaited release Theater of the Mind, which comes out Nov. 25th. Theater of the Mind follows up Grammy-winning RIAA platinum Release Therapy #1 debut of 2006, with #1 singles “Runaway Love” featuring Mary J. Blige, and RIAA platinum “Money Maker” featuring Pharrell Williams.

In addition to the musical lineup, Carson will have help bringing the celebration to the home audience with Saturday “Today” co-anchor Amy Robach giving live reports from Times Square. Along with Robach, NBC News correspondent Luke Russert will join the broadcast this year.

“The network gave us a huge vote of confidence by asking us to expand into primetime,” said Daly. “We’ve got great music with 50 Cent, Katy Perry, Ludacris. It’s gonna be a huge show, bigger than the Beijing Olympics and if it’s not, I apologize.”

In 2007, 8 million viewers tuned in to watch “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly.” It was the highest rated NBC New Year’s Eve special in six years, continuing the yearly upward trend for the special.

“NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” is executive-produced by Daly (”Last Call with Carson Daly”) and David Friedman (”Last Call with Carson Daly”, “Last Comic Standing”, “Rosie Live”) through Universal Media Studios. Guy Oseary (”Last Call with Carson Daly”) also serves as co-executive producer.

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The NBC New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly page has not yet been updated with this information but we expect it to be shortly.  Watch out Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest!