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Media Notes / Kids' Choice Award

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51564e8b48b128c05ab63c3a3e48096e.png
The Kids' Choice Award trophy blimp, as of 2009. As a bonus, it's also a kaleidoscope!

We talk to kids all over the nation (Kids' Choice!)
They told us who deserve nomination (Nickelodeon!)
Kids cast their ballots at their favorite store (Yeah!)
Or send in letters of whom they're voting for (Kids' Choice!)

Nick has the only show where kids could see
Who the winners are in every category (Can you believe it?)
Kids' Choice! Kids' Choice!
Kids' Choice!
—The Jive Five, "The Rules"

The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (or Kids' Choice Award) is an annual award ceremony thrown by Nickelodeon celebrating children's top choices in entertainment media. The nominees are chosen by Nickelodeon and kids vote on the winner of the categories. The awards are generally held in March-April.

The first annual Kids' Choice Award was broadcast in 1987, then known as "The Big Ballot." It technically was not an awards ceremony, but was shown in four episodes of Rated K For Kids By Kids, a Nickelodeon show with kids reviewing movies. Kids voted for the nominees via paper mail, and the winner's trophy was a golden teleidoscope and the winners accepted their awards via a taped video. After that first year, Nickelodeon brought in producers Alan Goodman, Albie Hecht, and Fred Seibert (of Frederator fame) to refresh the awards ceremony to something akin of MTV's Video Music Awards, bringing in a live audience as well as hosts and celebrity presenters. The trademark "orange blimp/kaleidoscope" shape the award would take shape as was introduced in 1990. From that point forward, the Kids' Choice Awards became one of Nickelodeon's flagship programs, airing every year (except 1993) and each year became bigger than the last, with more higher-profile celebrities, musical guests, stunts and tons and tons of slime, which usually finds its way onto at least a few of the celebrity guestsnote .

The Kids' Choice Awards dips into What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids? frequently. Several pieces of non-child friendly media have been nominated and won awards; such as the R-rated Beverly Hills Cop II (won Best Movie in 1988), The Simpsons (won Favorite Cartoon in 2002), Stranger Things (won Favorite TV show and Favorite TV Actress for Millie Bobby Brown in 2018), Riverdale (winner of 2019 Favorite TV Drama, with the TV-MA rated The Walking Dead also being nominated that year), Wednesday (for Family TV Show and Female Star - Family Show for Jenna Ortega in 2023) and the Austin Powers movies (The Spy Who Shagged Me being nominated for Favorite Movie in 2000 and Goldmember winning the category in 2003; they had to be called "Austin Powers 2 and Austin Powers 3" during the live ceremony). The music category is often the worst offender, often honoring artists whose music is far less kid-friendly than their young age would suggest (like Billie Eilish) and now nominates rappers all the time (like Drake, Cardi B, and Kendrick Lamar) whose music even Kidz Bop won't touch. This was taken to the extreme in 2019 where Trap Music rappers Migos were performers to the confusion of all of adults on social media. The Weeknd lampshaded this in his song "Reminder" (with the lyrics "I just won a new award for a kids show/Talking 'bout a face numbing off a bag of blow/I'm like, goddamn bitch I am not a Teen Choice/Goddamn, bitch, I am not a bleach boy") when he was nominated for Favorite Male Singer in 2016 for "I Can't Feel My Face" (a song about doing cocaine that was so non-PG that it was never covered on Kidz Bop). Not deterred, Nickelodeon would nominate him again for Favorite Male Singer in 2017.

In 2014, the Kids Choice Awards spun off into Kids' Choice Sports, a ceremony highlighting athletes. And yes, there's slime there as well. The Kids' Choice Sports lasted until 2020 when it was merged back into the KCA's.

The categories fluctuate from year to year, but generally include:

  • Favorite Movie
  • Favorite Actor
  • Favorite Movie Actor/Actress
  • Favorite Kids' TV Show/Family TV Show
  • Favorite TV Actor/Actress
  • Favorite Music Group
  • Favorite Game
  • Favorite Book (removed in 2018)
  • Favorite Animated Series
  • Favorite Animated Movie
  • Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie
  • Favorite Male Artist
  • Favorite Female Artist
  • Favorite Music Group
  • Favorite Song
  • Favorite Male Sports Star and Favorite Female Sport Star
  • Favorite Male Social Star
  • Favorite Female Social Star
There's usually a "lifetime achievement" award picked by Nickelodeon themselves that's presented as well, with the blimps being a different color. It's gone through different names as the Hall of Fame Award (1991-2000), the Wannabe Award (2001-2008), the Big Green Help Award (2009), the Big Help Award (2010-2012), and the Lifetime Achievement Award (2014). The Generation Change Award (2019-2021) which did feature the regular blimp.

    Assorted Stats and Trivia 
  • SpongeBob SquarePants, both the cartoon and overall franchise, is the top KCA winner overall; since its first nomination in 2003, it has won Favorite Cartoon all but once (in 2008, when Avatar: The Last Airbender won that year). It's also worth noting that the pilot for SpongeBob SquarePants aired after the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards on May 1, 1999.
  • Selena Gomez is the top individual winner of the KCA, winning 11 awards, followed by Will Smith and Adam Sandler with 10 awards each.
  • Whoopi Goldberg is the only EGOT winner to have won a Kids' Choice Award, she won 5 times for Favorite Actress.
  • Rosie O'Donnell has hosted the show the most; a record 8 times.
  • Chris Brown is so far, the only nominee to have his nominations withdrawn (due to personal request); he was nominated for Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song in 2009, but his Domestic Abuse incident with Rihanna happened just a few months prior and he requested to be taken off due to the distraction.
  • The original voting method before the rise of the Internet was by a special 900 number and by paper ballot at select Pizza Hut locations. Voting moved to the internet in the late 90s through the Nickelodeon website, though measures had to been taken to avoid ballot stuffing and adult voting.
  • The 2020 Kids Choice Awards was the first KCAs to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The initial ceremony was supposed to be hosted by Chance the Rapper before it was postponed, and the virtual ceremony was hosted by Victoria Justice. The 2021 ceremony was semi-virtual; there was a virtual crowd of kids at home with their families, but was otherwise presented normally live on stage with host Kenan Thompson and award presenters and with Justin Bieber being the sole performer.
  • Amanda Bynes was the first actress to win blimps for both Favorite Actress in a Movie and Favorite TV Actress in the same year in 2003, Millie Bobby Brown became the second in 2021.

Winners & Nominees (The Winners Are Listed First In Bold Italics)

    open/close all folders 

     Favorite Movie 

     Favorite Movie Actor 

     Favorite Movie Actress 

     Favorite Animated Movie 

     Favorite Voice From An Animated Movie 

     Favorite TV Show 

     Favorite Male TV Star 

     Favorite Female TV Star 

     Favorite Cartoon 

     Favorite Singer 

     Favorite Music Group 

     Favorite Song 
  • 1988: "La Bamba" – Los Lobos
  • 1989: "Kokomo" - The Beach Boys
  • 1990: "Hangin' Tough" – New Kids on the Block
  • 1991: "Ice Ice Baby" – Vanilla Ice
  • 1992: "Jump" – Kris Kross
  • 1994: "Whoomp! (There It Is)" – Tag Team
    • "Again" – Janet Jackson
    • "Hey Mr. D.J." – Zhané
  • 1995: "Creep" – TLC
    • "I'll Make Love To You" – Boyz II Men
    • "On Bended Knee" – Boyz II Men
  • 1996: "Gangsta's Paradise" – Coolio
  • 1997: "Killing Me Softly" – The Fugees
    • "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)" - Quad City DJ's
    • "Always Be My Baby" – Mariah Carey
    • "I Love You Always Forever" - Donna Lewis
  • 1998: "MMMBop" – Hanson
  • 1999: "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" – Backstreet Boys
    • "Are You That Somebody?" – Aaliyah
    • "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" – Will Smith
    • "Miami" – Will Smith
  • 2000: "Wild Wild West" – Will Smith
  • 2001: "Who Let The Dogs Out?" – Baha Men
    • "Bounce With Me" – Lil' Bow Wow
    • "Bye Bye Bye" – *NSYNC
    • "Oops!... I Did It Again" – Britney Spears
  • 2002: "Get The Party Started" – P!nk
    • "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know" – Britney Spears
    • "I'm A Believer" – Smash Mouth
    • "Pop" – *NSYNC
  • 2003: "Sk8er Boi" – Avril Lavigne
  • 2004: "Hey Ya!" – OutKast
  • 2005: "Burn" – Usher
    • "Lose My Breath" – Destiny's Child
    • "My Boo" – Usher Feat. Alicia Keys
    • "Toxic" – Britney Spears
  • 2006: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" – Green Day
    • "1, 2 Step" – Ciara
    • "Hollaback Girl" – Gwen Stefani
    • "We Belong Together" – Mariah Carey
  • 2007: "Irreplaceable" – Beyoncé
    • "Bad Day" – Daniel Powter
    • "Crazy" – Gnarls Barkley
    • "Hips Don't Lie" – Shakira Feat. Wyclef Jean
  • 2008: "Girlfriend" – Avril Lavigne
    • "Beautiful Girls" – Sean Kingston
    • "Big Girls Don't Cry" – Fergie
    • "Don't Matter" – Akon
  • 2009: "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Beyoncé
  • 2010: "You Belong With Me" – Taylor Swift
  • 2011: "Baby" – Justin Bieber Featuring Ludacris
    • "California Gurls" – Katy Perry Feat. Snoop Dogg
    • "Hey, Soul Sister" – Train
    • "Mine" – Taylor Swift
  • 2012: "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO
    • "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga
    • "Firework" by Katy Perry
    • "Sparks Fly" by Taylor Swift
  • 2013: "What Makes You Beautiful" – One Direction
    • "Call Me Maybe" – Carly Rae Jepsen
    • "Gangnam Style" – PSY
    • "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" – Taylor Swift
  • 2014: "Story Of My Life" – One Direction
    • "I Knew You Were Trouble" – Taylor Swift
    • "Roar" – Katy Perry
    • "Wrecking Ball" – Miley Cyrus
  • 2015: "Bang Bang" – Jessie J, Ariana Grande And Nicki Minaj
  • 2016: "Hello" – Adele
  • 2017: "Work From Home" – Fifth Harmony Featuring Ty Dolla $ign
  • 2018: "Shape Of You" – Ed Sheeran
  • 2019: "Thank U, Next (thank u, next)" – Ariana Grande
  • 2020: "bad guy" – Billie Eilish
    • "7 Rings" – Ariana Grande
    • "Memories" – Maroon 5
    • "Old Town Road" – Lil Nas X
    • "Sucker" – Jonas Brothers
    • "You Need To Calm Down" – Taylor Swift
  • 2021: "Dynamite" - BTS
    • "Yummy" – Justin Bieber
    • "Toosie Slide" – Drake
    • "Wonder" – Shawn Mendes
    • "Cardigan" – Taylor Swift
    • "Blinding Lights" – The Weeknd
  • 2022: "Happier Than Ever" - Billie Eilish
    • "Easy on Me" – Adele
    • "Up" – Cardi B
    • "Bad Habits" – Ed Sheeran
    • "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" – Taylor Swift
    • "Take My Breath" – The Weeknd
  • 2023: "As It Was" - Harry Styles

     Favorite Collaboration 

     Favorite Video Game 

     Favorite Buttkicker 

    Occasional / One-Shot / Discontinued Awards 

Slimed celebrities

    open/close all folders 

     Slimed celebrities (by ceremony) 

Alternative Title(s): Kids Choice Award

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