The 21st annual Kids’ Choice Awards 2008 appeared on Nickelodeon on Saturday, March 29.
The biggest screams were for Miley Cyrus, who got famous as Hannah Montana and performed energetically on the show, and the also-musical Jonas Brothers — both affiliated with the rival Disney Channel, ironically enough — though Nick’s Drake Bell and Josh Peck of “Drake & Josh” also got a lot of love. Unlike, say, the Oscars, the audience reaction is an infallible indicator of the winner; whatever nominee was screamed for loudest also won. (Nickelodeon viewers cast more than 88 million votes this year, the network says.)
Presenters included Hayden Panettiere, America Ferrara, Janet Jackson and Ashton Kutcher. Big-kid host Jack Black was in his element, reliably restoring flagging energy and promising “the slimiest, starriest, choicey-ist awards show ever.” “Slimiest” refers to the green goo that is sprayed or poured on guests throughout the show, a Nick signature.
Unlike the grown-up awards shows, there was relatively little thanking of lawyers and managers and God (although Cyrus did mention “my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ”). Some winners seemed not to have thought at all about what to say, and, except for Wannabe Award winner Cameron Diaz — the KCA equivalent of the Oscars’ Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — short and sweet was the order of the day. Jason Lee, picking up an award for “Alvin and the Chipmunks”: “Kids, thank you very much; I love you very much.”
