Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Kristen Stewart, Dwayne Johnson, LeBron James, SpongeBob SquarePants, Johnny Depp, The Hunger Games And More Win Coveted Orange Blimps At Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards

LOS ANGELES, March 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mega-stars including Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Kristen Stewart, Dwayne Johnson, LeBron James and Johnny Depp reigned as this year's favorites, winning top honors at the live telecast of Nickelodeon's 26^th Annual Kids' Choice Awards, Saturday, March 23, 8 - 9:30 p.m. (ET/tape delayed for West Coast).  Hosted by the biggest kid in Hollywood, Josh Duhamel, the awards were broadcast from the Galen Center at USC in Los Angeles where kids honored their favorites from the worlds of film, music, sports and television.  This year, a record-breaking 387 million votes were cast around the world in 22 categories.

"Nothing was off-limits for first-time Kids' Choice Awards host Josh Duhamel, from ziplining across the arena to donning a milkshake costume and SpongeBob's square pants.  This year's host took funny to an entirely new level," said Russell Hicks, President, Content Development and Production, Nickelodeon.

In the spirit of the star-studded slimefest, Duhamel kicked off the celebration by singing a special Kids' Choice Awards version of Pitbull's smash hit "Don't Stop the Party," as he made his way from the dressing room to the main stage.  Experiencing a series of random celebrity encounters along the way, Duhamel thumb wrestled with Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, was tackled by Jerry Trainor dressed as a Yeti, wore the same dress as Fergie, scatted with Steven Tyler and played an elaborate game of Rock Paper Scissors with Megan Fox, only to be transformed into Pitbull himself at the end. 

For the first time ever, a special camera gave the fans a 360-degree view of all the action on stage.  Also a first for the messfest, Nickelodeon debuted the "Kids' Choice Mustache Cam," a take on the popular "kissing cam," which featured kids and celebs including Miranda Cosgrove, Debby Ryan and Bridgit Mendler wearing fake funny mustaches, with Duhamel singling out Judd Apatow for having the best real mustache. In a display of his athletic prowess, Duhamel hit the stage wearing Dwight Howard's LA Lakers uniform and challenged Howard to a "Slime Dunk" contest with the winner, Howard, getting a face full of the green goo.  With the wave of a magic wand, Sandra Bullock and Neil Patrick Harris attempted to create a slime-free zone, but their plan backfired and the two were honored with a dual sliming at the presenters podium.  Duhamel teamed up with Nick Cannon for the Tandem Buttkicking Zipline Sumo Spectacular in a slime-tastic finale thanks to blimp recipient Dwayne Johnson, but Josh Hutcherson and Amanda Seyfried took the prize for the most epic sliming on the show.                                 

In addition to "Don't Stop the Party," global superstar Pitbull performed his explosive hit "Feel This Moment" with Grammy Award-winning vocalist Christina Aguilera and a crew of mini lookalike dancers, and found himself drenched by a massive slime fountain triggered by Aguilera at the end of the song.  International music sensation Ke$ha rocked the stage amid confetti and disco balls, with a medley of "We R Who We R" and her new single "C'Mon."  Not to be outdone, Duhamel, decked out in a milkshake costume, got his groove on with Jaden Smith and kids in the audience during a special impromptu "Kids' Choice Shake" dance party.

Kids paid tribute to their favorites by casting 387million votes Feb. 14 - March 23 in 22 categories. In addition to the Kids' Choice Awards website on Nick.com, families were able to vote via the Nick mobile website (m.nick.com) and through a KCA app for the iPad. Fans were also able to vote for their favorite stars using a Facebook application on the Nickelodeon Facebook page.  Users voted from a tab on the page and, for the first time ever, the entire voting experience could be embedded directly into Facebook wall posts.  Also new this year, fans were able to vote for their favorite nominees on Twitter through the use of custom hash tags and SMS subscribers could vote on a category per day for the three weeks leading up to the event.

Orange blimps were presented to Johnny Depp for Favorite Movie Actor; Kristen Stewart for Favorite Movie Actress and Favorite Female Buttkicker; The Hunger Games for Favorite Movie and Wreck-It Ralph for Favorite Animated Movie. Dwayne Johnson won top honors for Favorite Male Buttkicker and Adam Sandler took home the blimp for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie for his role of Dracula in Hotel Transylvania.  In the television categories, Favorite TV Show went to Victorious; Favorite Reality Show to Wipeout; Favorite Cartoon to SpongeBob SquarePants; Favorite TV Actor to Ross Lynch and Favorite TV Actress to Selena Gomez.  In music, top honors went to Katy Perry for Favorite Female Singer; Justin Bieber for Favorite Male Singer and One Direction nabbed Favorite Music Group and Favorite Song.  Most valuable players LeBron James and Danica Patrick won for Favorite Male Athlete and Favorite Female Athlete, respectively.  The Hunger Games series garnered Favorite Book; Temple Run won Favorite App and Just Dance 4 won for Favorite Videogame.

The star-studded telecast featured additional celebrity participants, including: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, LeBron James, Lucy Hale, Kaley Cuoco, Melissa Benoist, Darren Criss, Big Time Rush, Cory Monteith, Jennette McCurdy, Ariana Grande, Sofia Grace and Rosie, Gabby Douglas, Zachary Gordon, Logan Lerman, Jessica Alba, Kevin Hart, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Cruikshank, Scott Baio and the cast of See Dad Run, Rico Rodriguez and many others.

E! broadcasted live from the Galen Center during an hour-long Live From the Red Carpet: 2013 Kids' Choice Awards pre-show hosted by Terrence Jenkins and Khloe Kardashian Odom.  The special captured all of the action, surprises and fun during arrivals, plus interviews with celebrities and nominees, with select moments airing on Nickelodeon. 

Leading into the awards, special guest correspondents Daniella Monet (Victorious) and the four friends from Nick Studio 10 captured the orange carpet activities in a live stream on Nick.com and multiple platforms -- Android and iPhone smart phones and iPads.  During The "We're Making A Pre-Show" Pre-Show, kids were able to participate in the experience with total access to live event coverage and interact with their favorite stars in many ways.  Fans at home were able to submit questions to the pre-show correspondents for the celebrities and vote on different activities for them to do on the fun fan-filled carpet.  In addition to a trampoline, complete with aerialists, kids got to see celebrities getting silly in the interactive GIF booth where they donned wacky wigs, costumes and props, as requested by kids on Nick's social media platforms.  The stars captured playful photos with life-size cardboard cutouts of SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Fairly OddParents, and received kudos from the fan high five gauntlet.  Also scattered throughout the carpet were "Do Not Touch" buttons that sprayed multi-colored streamers and triggered surprise special effects.

Nickelodeon upped the digital presence of the 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards across a variety of platforms that included cross-platform interactive experiences, before and after the big show, on Nickelodeon websites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and mobile and iOS devices.  Exclusive Nick cameras offered multiple viewing angles and were featured alongside celebrity tweets, interactive polls, real-time updates and photos from the orange carpet and backstage.  Coverage during the event included a live backstage companion stream and interviews during the main show and on Nick.com.  Fans can relive their favorite show moments by watching video highlights from the live show, flipping through orange carpet, live event and performance photos and read through recaps.  The app and website feature clips and photos from past Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards shows, along with promotional spots, dedicated information pages on Duhamel and nominees, a KCA news blog, trivia, personality quizzes and two new KCA-themed online games. 

The live broadcast of Nickelodeon's 26^th Annual Kids' Choice Awards encores Sunday, March 24 at 12 p.m. and 9 p.m. (ET/PT).  Replays of the awards will also air on TeenNick at 10 p.m. (ET) on Monday, March 25, and on Nicktoons at 9 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, March 26.  Nickelodeon's 26^th Annual Kids' Choice Awards will be available on Nickelodeon On Demand beginning Sunday, March 24.

Presenting sponsors of Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards are General Mills, Hasbro Twister Rave Games and Target.  Associate sponsors are Bounty™, McDonald's®, nabi, Wii U from Nintendo, Toyota and Skechers.

The following are Nickelodeon's 26^th Annual Kids' Choice Awards winners:

TELEVISION:

Favorite TV Show 
Victorious

Favorite Reality Show 
Wipeout

Favorite Cartoon  
SpongeBob SquarePants

Favorite TV Actor 
Ross Lynch (Austin & Ally)

Favorite TV Actress 
Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place)

FILM:

Favorite Movie 
The Hunger Games

Favorite Movie Actor 
Johnny Depp (Dark Shadows)

Favorite Movie Actress 
Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2)

Favorite Animated Movie 
Wreck-It Ralph

Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie 
Adam Sandler (Hotel Transylvania)

Favorite Male Buttkicker  
Dwayne Johnson (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island)

Favorite Female Buttkicker 
Kristen Stewart (Snow White and the Huntsman)

MUSIC:

Favorite Music Group 
One Direction

Favorite Male Singer  
Justin Bieber

Favorite Female Singer  
Katy Perry

Favorite Song  
"What Makes You Beautiful" (One Direction)

SPORTS:

Favorite Male Athlete  
LeBron James

Favorite Female Athlete  
Danica Patrick

OTHER CATEGORIES:

Favorite Villain  
Simon Cowell (The X Factor)

Favorite Book  
The Hunger Games series

Favorite Videogame  
Just Dance 4

Favorite App  
Temple Run

Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards will be seen in more than 350 million households around the world and will be translated in to more than 25 languages. Within hours of airing live in the United States and Canada, the show will roll out internationally, providing kids around the world the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show. In many international markets, the Kids' Choice Awards will feature country-specific award categories and nominees, such as Favorite Asian Act and Favorite UK TV Show. Voting for the Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards spanned over six continents across 15 localized voting sites, giving kids practically everywhere the chance to decide who took home a coveted blimp. Ratings for the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards were up double-digits year over year internationally, and the show was rated number-one in its timeslot among kids' channels in key international markets, including the UK, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Singapore and more.

Nickelodeon's 26^thAnnual Kids' Choice Awards is 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 26^th Annual Kids' Choice Awards by logging onto www.NickKCApress.com.

Nickelodeon, now in its 33rd 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 almost 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 18 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

SOURCE Nickelodeon