Life after 'American Idol': Ryan Seacrest, Simon Fuller teaser, Carrie Underwood, Simon Cowell

Former Dunwoody resident Ryan Seacrest is the steadiest presence on "American Idol" over 15 seasons.

Former Dunwoody resident Ryan Seacrest is the steadiest presence on "American Idol" over 15 seasons.
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 08: Simon Fuller, manager of Andy Murray of Great Britain watches his men's singles semifinal match against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic on Day Thirteen of the 2012 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 8, 2012 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Credit: Rodney Ho

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Credit: Rodney Ho

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday, September 12, 2016

In the final seconds of the "American Idol' series finale four months ago, Ryan Seacrest, his voice breaking, said goodbye for what will likely be his last time but he added a quixotic note at the end:

"And one more time—this is so tough—we say to you from Hollywood, goodnight America," he said, before adding, "For now."

Simon Fuller, the show's creator, has been very open about bringing "Idol" again at some point in the future. The question: how long is he going to wait?

Accepting the prestigious Governors Award at the Creative Arts Emmys, Fuller joked  that he is thinking of bringing it back as soon as 2018.

"It's been 15 years, and this is the first Emmy we've actually won for the show. Can you believe that?" he said, before cheekily turning to Fox Broadcasting CEO Dana Walden.

"Dana, thank you for bringing the show back in 2018," he said. "We can't wait to make it."

Fuller later told Yahoo that he was just kidding about 2018.

And of course, Fox doesn't plan that far ahead. There is no guarantee management will have any appetite at that point to bring back any incarnation of the show. In fact, if Fuller wants it back that badly in two years, he might have to fish the concept to other networks.

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Former Dunwoody resident Ryan Seacrest is the steadiest presence on "American Idol" over 15 seasons.

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Ryan Seacrest lost the Emmy for outstanding reality show host - again. This time, he fell to RuPaul Charles, who also spent many years in Atlanta and hosts Logo's "RuPaul's Drag Race."

He has been nominated six other times, losing to the likes of Tom Bergeron ("Dancing With the Stars"), Jeff Probst ("Survivor') and Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn ("Project Runway").

This category aired during the Creative Emmys this past weekend.

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Carrie Underwood's "Oh Sunday Football" video has now been fully released. It's based on her song "Somethin' Bad" from 2014.

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Simon Cowell really wants a singer to win his first season as just on "America's Got Talent." Half the 10 finalists happen to croon. Odds are solid one of them will take home the $1 million.

The favorite? Grace VanderWaal. She's a precocious, ukelele-playing 12 year old who sings beyond her years.

Check her out in case you haven't followed the show:

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Remember season 13's Sam Woolf? I thought he could win it - until the live shows began. He has showed some maturity since then if this video indicates. His voice certainly has deepened.