Los Angeles, April 3 – Nickelodeon’s 17th annual Kids’ Choice Awards, broadcast live on Saturday from UCLA’s Pauley Pavillion, was a dignified affair. A smiling Jennifer Lopez, in see-I’m-not-a-diva casual attire, backed out of being slimed, so Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen volunteered instead. Mike Myers was also coated with the green batter, but co-host Cameron Diaz remained clean. In 2001, Diaz won the celebrity burp-off, but Hugh Jackman took the belching prize this year. Avril Lavigne and OutKast performed and Queen Latifah, Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Garner, Kirstin Dunst, and Ellen DeGeneres participated. Jennifer Love Hewitt was with actor Will Estes, fanning the rumors that they’re an item.

The favorites of 17 million kids voting online included actors Jim Carrey and Amanda Bynes, cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, musical acts OutKast, Nelly and Hilary Duff (who rushed out to catch a plane), and TV actors Frankie Muniz and Raven. The “Wannabe” award, for the celebrity role model kids most want to be like, was bestowed on Adam Sandler, whose movies fit right in with the gross-out/bodily function humor theme here. Surprisingly, the event wasn’t black tie.

Photos by Jen Lowery