Ryan Seacrest will ring in the New Year without a familiar face by his side. As the ball drops to ring in 2013, Seacrest will be without his mentor and "New Year's Rockin' Eve" co-host Dick Clark, who died this past April.

"Surreal is probably the most appropriate word," Seacrest said when asked about hosting the show in Clark's absence to US Weekly. "You think back 40 years ago he started the tradition. I not only watched him, I used to watch him and study how he hosted these shows."

Seacrest and his colleagues are planning on honoring Clark before the ball drops during the tribute portion of the show.

"He was kind of like my guidance counselor," said Seacrest, of Clark to US Weekly. "He'd always make you feel like you were his good friend. He was like that in person as well."

Later in the evening, popstar Fergie will co-anchor the broadcast from Los Angeles while Jenny McCarthy is expected to help Seacrest out in Times Square.

Musical acts like Taylor Swift and Korean rapper PSY are expected to perform as well.

"I definitely will say something about him, and it will be from the heart," said Seacrest in a press statement. "But the night will be, as he would want, a celebration of what's to come: Dick was always one to say, 'The show must go on.'"

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