IT'S SLIMING TIME AGAIN KIDS RULE AT NICKELODEON KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

SANTA MONICA - What if they held a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards show and nobody got slimed?

That possibility clearly disappointed the hundreds of 6- to 14-year-olds in Santa Monica Airport's Barker Hangar on Saturday where the 16th annual ceremony of slop and silliness was held. A menacing character dubbed the Sliminator had run off with all the green goo.

But the kids triumphed, and there was enough slime for stunt skateboarder Tony Hawk to have a splashy landing and some left over for surprise guest Jim Carrey to hose down several rows of fans in the audience by the show's end. As if the stickiness were not enough, they were finished off by a shower of white feathers and colorful confetti.

There were the usual awards, decided by votes cast on www.nick.com, such as favorite movie to ``Austin Powers in Goldmember,'' favorite movie actress to Amanda Bynes, favorite movie actor to Adam Sandler and favorite TV show to ``Lizzie McGuire.''

Then there were the Nick-centric categories, such as favorite female butt kicker, to Jennifer Love Hewitt of ``The Tuxedo.''

``I've never been a female butt kicker before, and I hope to live up to it in the future,'' said Hewitt, clutching her orange blimp-shaped prize.

The celebrity burp award, a category voted by viewers during the show based on a pre-show soda-chugging belch-off, went to singer Justin Timberlake.

``I take a lot of pride in my burping, and I'm really good at it,'' he boasted. ``And you guys better be glad it wasn't a farting contest, 'cause I would have won that, too.''

No such luck. That honor went to Matthew Lillard's posterior performance in ``Scooby-Doo,'' besting similarly malodorous, low-brow scenes from ``The Master of Disguise,'' ``The Crocodile Hunter'' and ``Austin Powers in Goldmember.''

Will Smith received the Wannabe Award, given annually to a celebrity role model. He said there are three rules to live by for anyone hoping to enjoy his kind of success.

``Rule No. 1, you've got to read at least 20 minutes a day. Rule No. 2, you've got to work really hard,'' Smith said. ``And Rule No. 3, never, ever let somebody tell you you can't do something, that you're not smart enough or you're not pretty enough. You do exactly what you want to do.''

Hip hoppers B2K, winner of the favorite music group honor, and Timberlake performed. The wattage of stars - Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mike Myers, Britney Spears, Sylvester Stallone and Damon Wayans among them - demonstrated Hollywood's appreciation of the buying power of an audience whose main sources of income are baby-sitting, lawn-mowing and allowance.

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jim Carrey is ``slimed'' at the finale of Nickelodeon's 16th annual Kids' Choice Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday.

(2 -- color) Michelle Pfeiffer and Brad Pitt measure the crowd noise during their stint at presenting an award.

(3 -- color) Will Smith arrives on stage to accept the Wannabe Award for presenting a good role model for kids.

(4 -- color) Justin Timberlake performs a song during the awards show.

Chris Pizzello/Associated Press