Sliming with the stars

You don't really know Justin Timberlake until you've seen him burp.

Which might mean Nickelodeon fans know Timberlake better than anyone. Twice now, the pop superstar has won the "Best Burp" award at the network's Kids' Choice Awards ; last year, he bested Hugh Jackman with a few dramatic belches, soaked in the whoops of the kid-dominated crowd, and strutted around the stage with a pride that's hard to fake.

It's either the opposite of cool or the epitome, and given his current place in the showbiz pantheon, Timberlake probably thinks it's the latter. Tonight at 8 , he hosts the 20th edition of an awards show that, over the course of two decades, has grown into a celebrity playground -- a festival of orange blimps and A-list talent, a moment when Hollywood stars intersect with Nickelodeon's trademark vats of green slime.

In tonight's show, broadcast live from the Pauley Pavilion at UCLA , Maroon 5 will premiere a new song. Gwen Stefani and Akon will perform. Ryan Seacrest will host the annual "slime stunt," whose past participants have included skateboarder Tony Hawk (who double-flipped into a vat of slime) and actor Nick Cannon (who was shot out of a cannon into slime, as Donald Trump shouted, "You're fired!")

And as Nickelodeon unveils the viewer-chosen winners in 16 categories, from "Favorite Music Group" to "Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie," the stars on hand will include Nicole Kidman , Will Ferrell , Beyoncé , Steve Carell , Hayden Panettiere , and Ice Cube .

The turnout could be a function of award-show fever and the increased spending power of kid consumers. It's also a nod to the ceremony's growing popularity. Kids' Choice ratings have increased every year, and the viewer participation has reached "American Idol" proportions: By mid-week, nearly 33 million votes had been recorded online, a 22 percent increase from last year.

It's all a far cry from the early days of the show, when celebrities had to be begged to take part, and often sent their acceptance speeches on videotape. (For one early show, Whoopi Goldberg filmed her thank-you in a laundry room.) The inaugural show, called "The Big Ballot," didn't even take an award-show form; it featured three kids, reading results from around a mock-diner booth.

In 1988 , Tony Danza -- then the star of "Who's The Boss ? " -- served as the first celebrity host. Actors from "Full House" "Blossom," and "Charles in Charge" dominated the early shows. Slime, the constant feature, was lifted from "You Can't Do That on Television," an early-era Nickelodeon sketch show," says Marjorie Cohn , an executive at the network and executive producer of the award s show.

"It was a breakthrough kind of release for kids . . . the ultimate honor," Cohn says. "We decided if we were going to have an award show, we were going to give the ultimate honor to an adult, as well."

And slime is crucial to the mood, says Tom Ascheim , Nickelodeon's executive vice president and general manager. "It can't feel like a stuffy grown-up show," he said. "For kids, it needs to feel different. It needs to feel more interactive, it needs to feel funnier, and it needs to feel surprising."

In 2001 , when a pre-controversy Tom Cruise submitted to a sliming, some Nickelodeon executives mused that they'd finally hit the big time. And over time, the stunts have grown more spectacular; Pink was covered with pink-colored slime during a musical performance in 2002 , Jim Carrey got slimed and feathered in 2003 , and Jack Black tripped a fountain of slime last year , after a performance of "Saturday Night's Alright for Sliming." (Elton John gave permission to alter his song, Ascheim says.)

By now, Nickelodeon executives know they've hit on something huge. When celebrities are booked these days, they beg to be slimed, Ascheim says.

"It's become sort of a rank of honor in Hollywood," he says.

JOANNA WEISS

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Oops, wrong Beatle . . . wrong gender
"When I was 15, a cabdriver asked me if I was Paul McCartney's daughter."
-Singer-songwriter Sean Lennon, whose parents are John Lennon and Yoko Ono