Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
2012 Kids' Choice Awards
The Jonas Brothers performing at the 2009 show
Presented by	Nickelodeon
Country	United States
Reward	KCA Blimp
First awarded	April 18, 1988
Official website	http://www.nick.com/kids-choice-awards
Television coverage
Network	Nickelodeon
Runtime	Approx. 90–120 min. including commercials

The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, also known as the KCAs or Kids Choice Awards, is an annual awards show that airs on the Nickelodeon cable channel, which airs live and is usually held and telecast live (though with a three-hour time delay for those watching in the Pacific Time Zone or on the Nick 2 feed on digital cable that simulcasts the Pacific time zone feed) on a Saturday night in late March or early April, that honors the year's biggest television, movie, and music acts, as voted by Nickelodeon viewers. Winners receive a hollow orange blimp figurine, a logo outline for much of the network's 1984–2009 era, which also functions as a kaleidoscope.^[1]

The show features numerous celebrity guests and musical acts. In recent years, slime stunts have been incorporated into the show. The KCAs also host live entertainment. It has also been known to overwhelmingly cover people with the network's trademark green slime. Will Smith has won the most KCA awards (10), followed by Miley Cyrus and Amanda Bynes (6), Britney Spears and Selena Gomez (5) and Hilary Duff (4).^[2] Whoopi Goldberg is the only person to have won a Kids' Choice Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. Rosie O'Donnell (8) and Jack Black (3) have hosted the show the most times.

History[link]

Alan Goodman, Albie Hecht and Fred Seibert started the awards show as The Big Ballot^{[3][4][5][6][7]} in 1986, named for the ballots kids voted with. To vote, the viewers would send in ballots and then before the show, the ballots would be counted and the winners would tape a thank you video that would be shown during the program.

The award was configured into the current blimp shape/kaleidoscope in 1990. The only change to the award since that time has been to change the embossed logotype on the side of the trophy for 2010 to fit the network's new logo typeface.

As the Internet came into widespread use, the voting eventually moved from a combination of 900 number telephone voting and ballots either mailed or completed at Pizza Hut locations, to moving exclusively online to the network's website and by 2007, text messaging. Early years of Internet voting had the early adoption complications of ballot stuffing and even adults voting before a new system where only one vote per Nick.com account became the procedure for voting on the awards (although it is probable adults still cast votes via the texting option, which is connected to a phone number only rather than a screenname, or by creating an account with a false age or having their children vote for a chosen subject instead). In 2010, an iPhone application and mobile browser voting was also added.^[8]

The 2009 KCAs featured a new award called "The Big Green Help Award" which goes to the celebrity who goes above and beyond to help the Earth. The inaugural award was presented to Leonardo DiCaprio. For the 2010 awards, the "The Big Green Help" award was renamed "The Big Help" award, with First Lady Michelle Obama winning the first award under the rename.

Unlike traditional awards shows, the Kids' Choice Awards uses other items to announce an award winner rather than a traditional envelope. The show sometimes uses balloons, T-shirts, models, giant letters, stickers (1999, where Amanda put a "Kick Me!" sticky on the model's back and somebody else put a sticker showing the winner's name). and even a foot (2008). In contrast to the trend of declining ratings for awards shows, the Kids' Choice Awards has gone from strength to strength, setting new ratings records each of the past four years (2005–2009).

Voting for Canadians became available for the 2010 ceremony with the inauguration of Nickelodeon's Canadian service in November 2009.

In June 2010, Nickelodeon Latin America announced a Kids' Choice Awards for Mexico.^[9] Other countries with their own Kids' Choice Awards: Brazil, United Kingdom, Australia, and Indonesia.

In August 2011, Nickelodeon Latin America announced a Kids' Choice Awards for Argentina.

Awards[link]

This table shows the awards from the past.

Locations[link]

Finishing up with the "Orange Carpet" for the Kids' Choice Awards outside of Pauley Pavilion, UCLA campus

The Kids' Choice Awards are typically held in Los Angeles, California. They have been held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, the Hollywood Bowl, the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, and Universal Studios in Universal City, California, but mostly at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. Due to renovations at Pauley in 2011 and 2012, the show was held at the Galen Center at USC.^[10]

Timeslot and lead-out programming[link]

Typically the program airs for 90 minutes from 8:00 PM (ET/PT) to 9:30 PM. Since 1996, either a high-profile program or series premiere takes place after the KCA broadcast (9:30 PM (ET/PT)), the network's equivalent to the post-Super Bowl time slot. Both SpongeBob SquarePants and Victorious are the only series to air on this timeslot twice. Victorious is the only series to air on this timeslot for two consecutive years.

The following are list of programs that have aired at the 9:30 PM timeslot:

Hosts[link]

There was no host in 1987 because by this time, it was The Big Ballot.

Hosts after 2003[link]

After Rosie O' Donnell's final show as host in 2003, Nickelodeon started picking other celebrities to host, mainly based on child appeal and upcoming film projects targeted at a younger audience. Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz hosted the show in 2004, coinciding with their upcoming film, Shrek 2. In 2005, Ben Stiller was the host, as Madagascar was released a month later. Justin Timberlake hosted in 2007 to promote Shrek the Third. In 2006, Jack Black hosted the show to promote Nacho Libre and once again in 2008 to tie in with Kung Fu Panda, then in 2011 for the latter film's sequel. Dwayne Johnson hosted the 2009 ceremony, ahead of the release of Race to Witch Mountain. Kevin James hosted the 2010 show to promote Grown Ups. Will Smith hosted the 2012 ceremony ahead of the May 25 release of Men in Black 3.

To host twice or more[link]

Jack Black hosted in 2006, 2008, and the 2011 shows and so far the first host after Rosie O'Donnell to host the show at least twice. Candace Cameron and Whitney Houston were the first hosts before O'Donnell to host at least twice (Cameron 1990 and 1994, Houston 1995 and 1996).

Special colored awards[link]

These blimps are not orange like the regular blimps and the winners are chosen by the Nickelodeon staff. There is the gold Hall of Fame Award (1991–2000), the silver Wannabe Award (2001–2008), the green Big Green Help Award (2009) and the silver glitter Big Help Award (2010–present). The blimps sported a new Nickelodeon logo, which was shown to viewers late 2009.

The Hall of Fame Award[link]

The Hall of Fame Award (a gold version of the Blimp award) was presented to those whose accomplishments, fame and popularity set them above everyone else. Initially, the award was chosen by the kids from a slate of nominees. Actors, athletes and singers were all eligible for the award, with ballots containing nominees from multiple categories.

Hall of Fame Award winners[link]

The Wannabe Award[link]

The Wannabe Award (a silver version of the Blimp award) is presented to the best celebrity role model or inspiration (or the person whom the kids want to be like). The winner is determined prior to the awards, and is not voted upon by the kids. As of 2009, the only person to have won the Wannabe award and the Hall of Fame award is Will Smith. These awards replaced the Hall of Fame awards following the show in 2000.

Wannabe Award winners[link]

The Big Help Award[link]

The Big Green Help (The Big Help) Award (a green version of the Blimp award, a silver blimp in 2012 ) is presented to the celebrity who goes above and beyond to help the environment. This blimp was first featured on a KCA update promo with Lily Collins announcing the new award.^[37] Originally, Cameron Diaz's award was supposed to be a Big Green Help award because she was to have received hers for helping the environment. Instead it was postponed until the following year when this award replaced it and Diaz presented the first award to Leonardo DiCaprio.

Big Green Help (The Big Help) Award winners[link]

Slimed celebrities[link]

The final slime at the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards

During a Kids' Choice Awards, sometimes a celebrity might not know when they are going to be slimed onstage or offstage. Hosts have also been slimed, mostly in the finale of the show. Below is a list of all the celebrities that have been slimed over the past years at the Kids' Choice Awards. It does not mention any celebrities in 1992 because the audience was slimed instead. Regardless, "Sliming Is An Honor" and never used as a penalty.

Slime stunts[link]

Started in 2002, the show began its annual World Record Slime Stunts. Olympians, extreme sports superstars and daredevils participate in special stunts performed live on national television—often involving landing into the trademark green slime.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards – Official Site
• KCA Fun Facts
• Indonesian Kids' Choice Awards – Official Site
• Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards at the Internet Movie Database
• Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards at TV.com