Tom Cruise, Lady Gaga, Tim Tebow, Johnny Depp, Big Time Rush, Daniel Radcliffe and Other Top Stars Receive Nominations for Nickelodeon's 25th Annual Kids' Choice Awards Hosted by Mega-Star Will Smith

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon announced today the nominees for the milestone 25th Annual Kids' Choice Awards, helmed by international superstar Will Smith and airing live from USC's Galen Center in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 31, at 8 p.m. (ET/tape delayed for West Coast). A star-studded line-up will be vying for the coveted Kids' Choice Blimps at this year's show, as kids honor their favorites spanning the worlds of film, music, TV and sports, including Jessica Alba, Antonio Banderas, Justin Bieber, Big Time Rush, Jack Black, Ty Burrell, Jim Carrey, Miranda Cosgrove, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Victoria Justice, Bruno Mars, Taylor Lautner, Danica Patrick, Katy Perry, Michael Phelps, Daniel Radcliffe, Adam Sandler and Kristen Stewart. Beginning March 1, kids will be able to cast their votes in 20 total categories across all of Nickelodeon's digital outlets, including Nick.com, Nick Mobile app as well as Nickelodeon's Facebook page and Twitter feed.

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Wizards, Smurfs and a martial arts panda dominated the movie categories, with the Harry Potter franchise conjuring up top nods with four nominations for Favorite Movie, Favorite Book (the Harry Potter series), Daniel Radcliffe for Favorite Movie Actor and Emma Watson for Favorite Movie Actress. The Smurfs nabbed three nominations, including Favorite Movie, Sofia Vergara for Favorite Movie Actress and Katy Perry for Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie. The mega-hit Kung Fu Panda franchise ate up nominations for Favorite Movie, Favorite Cartoon and Jack Black for Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie.

This year's dual nods include The Muppets for Favorite Movie and Amy Adams for Favorite Movie Actress and the Twilight franchise for Favorite Book (the Twilight series) and Kristen Stewart for Favorite Movie Actress. In the music categories, international superstars LMFAO, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift go head-to-head all receiving two nods for Favorite Group/Female Singer and Favorite Song.

In television, the stars of Nickelodeon's hit comedy iCarly - Jennette McCurdy, Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor - duke it out as they dominate the Funniest TV Sidekick category. Additionally, American Idol grabs its eighth nomination for Favorite Reality Show up against returning contenders, America's Funniest Home Videos, America's Got Talent and Wipeout.

The complete list of nominees for Nickelodeon's 25th Annual Kids' Choice Awards is as follows:

TELEVISION

Favorite TV Show

• Good Luck Charlie
• iCarly
• Victorious
• Wizards of Waverly Place

Favorite Reality Show

• American Idol
• America's Funniest Home Videos
• America's Got Talent
• Wipeout

Favorite TV Actor

• Tim Allen
• Ty Burrell
• Alex Heartman
• Jake Short

Favorite TV Actress

• Miranda Cosgrove
• Selena Gomez
• Victoria Justice
• Bridgit Mendler

Funniest TV Sidekick

• Nathan Kress
• Jennette McCurdy
• Jennifer Stone
• Jerry Trainor

Favorite Cartoon

• Kung Fu Panda
• Phineas & Ferb
• Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated
• SpongeBob SquarePants

SPORTS

Favorite Male Athlete

• Derek Jeter
• Michael Phelps
• Tim Tebow
• Shaun White

Favorite Female Athlete

• Kelly Clark
• Danica Patrick
• Serena Williams
• Venus Williams

FILM

Favorite Movie

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
• The Muppets
• The Smurfs

Favorite Movie Actor

• Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper's Penguins)
• Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
• Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2)
• Adam Sandler (Jack & Jill)

Favorite Movie Actress

• Amy Adams (The Muppets)
• Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1)
• Sofia Vergara (The Smurfs)
• Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2)

Favorite Animated Movie

• Cars 2
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Puss in Boots
• Rio

Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie

• Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots)
• Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda 2)
• Johnny Depp (Rango)
• Katy Perry (The Smurfs)

MUSIC

Favorite Music Group

• Big Time Rush
• Black Eyed Peas
• Lady Antebellum
• LMFAO

Favorite Male Singer

• Justin Bieber
• Toby Keith
• Bruno Mars
• Usher

Favorite Female Singer

• Lady Gaga
• Selena Gomez
• Katy Perry
• Taylor Swift

Favorite Song

• Born this Way (by Lady Gaga)
• Firework (by Katy Perry)
• Party Rock Anthem (by LMFAO)
• Sparks Fly (by Taylor Swift)

OTHER CATEGORIES

Favorite Book

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
• Harry Potter series
• Hunger Games series
• Twilight series

Favorite Videogame

• Just Dance 3
• Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Mario Kart 7
• Super Mario Galaxy

Favorite Buttkicker

• Jessica Alba
• Tom Cruise
• Kelly Kelly
• Taylor Lautner

In addition to Nick.com, fans can vote for their favorite stars beginning Mar. 1 using a Facebook application that will live on the Nickelodeon Facebook page. Users will be able to vote from a tab on the page and, for the first time ever, the entire voting experience can be embedded directly into Facebook wall posts. Also new this year, fans will be able to vote for their favorite nominees on Twitter through the use of custom hash tags.

This year, kids not only pick the winners, but they get to help host Will Smith pull off the greatest slime event in KCA history. Through a brand-new iPad, iPhone and iPod app, and the KCA website, kids need to find slime hidden throughout the photo galleries, news, and videos. If kids collect enough slime, Will Smith will pull off the biggest slime event ever in this year's show. Aided by weekly mission videos featuring Jennette McCurdy, Jerry Trainor, and Nathan Kress, kids will have the chance to earn digital rewards and move up the slime operative ranks. 

Leading up to the show, the apps and website will also feature daily KCA news, video updates, photo galleries and videos from past KCAs, behind the scenes video of this year's preparations, and dedicated information pages on the host and nominees. In addition, the entire Orange Carpet pre-show will be streamed live through the apps and website, followed by a live backstage companion stream during the main show.

Last year, Nickelodeon's 2011 Kids' Choice Awards, hosted by actor/comedian Jack Black, ranked as basic cable's top telecast for the week (March 28, 2011–April 3, 2011) with 7.3 million total viewers. The show also ranked as the week's top telecast with kids and tweens on all TV, averaging a 9.8/3.5 million K2-11, 12.7/2.7 million K6-11 and 11.7/2.5 million T9-14. The star-studded telecast also scored the most votes in the show's history—a record 200 million (+70%, over 2010) votes were cast across Nick.com, Nick's mobile site, an iPhone application, an iPad-optimized site, TeenNick.com and Nick's Facebook page. Nick.com celebrated its highest trafficked day ever on April 2, earning 42 million page views (+9%) and reaching over 2.2 million visitors across its website, mobile and tablet sites (+14%).  Additionally, the audience for the live simulcast of Countdown to Kids' Choice across these digital platforms posted double-digit increases (+39%) over the previous year.

Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards is more global than ever in 2012, seen in over 300 million households around the world. Within hours of airing live in the United States and Canada, the show will roll out in additional international markets, providing kids around the world the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show faster than ever.  In many international markets, the 2012 KCAs will feature country-specific award categories and nominees, such as Nickelodeon Italia's Favorite Star and Nickelodeon UK's Favorite Show. Voting for the 2012 KCAs will span over six continents across 13 localized voting sites in 11 different languages, giving kids practically everywhere the chance to decide who takes home a coveted blimp.

Presenting sponsors of Nickelodeon's 2012 Kids' Choice Awards are General Mills, Hasbro, Honda and Target. Associate sponsors are Bounty™, Nintendo and Skechers.

Nickelodeon's 25th Annual Kids' Choice Awards is being produced by Nickelodeon Productions in association with Bob Bain Productions.  Bob Bain, Marjorie Cohn and Paula Kaplan are Executive Producers. Media outlets can reference the most up-to-date information on Nickelodeon's 25th Annual Kids' Choice Awards by logging onto www.NickKCApress.com.

Nickelodeon, now in its 32nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

SOURCE Nickelodeon