The 37th Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards were held Saturday at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The annual awards ceremony saw a parade of celebrities walk the red carpet as many worthy contenders competed in the top categories.
Serena Williams was recognized primarily for her status as a tennis icon and was awarded the Legend Award.
Extraordinary singer Kelly Rowland gave the four-time Olympic gold medalist an enthusiastic introduction.
At this year’s annual awards ceremony, Renée Rapp also took home the award for Breakout New Artist, as well as the gift of being covered in green slime during her speech.
The 37th Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards were held Saturday at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. Serena Williams was notably recognized for her established status as a tennis icon and was honored with the Legend Award
“I am so excited to be here tonight to present the Kids’ Choice Legend Award to the one and only, my friend, Serena Williams,” the Destiny Child member began.
‘She has been advocating a cause of legendary status her entire life, ever since she was a child. She started training on public tennis courts in Compton, California [and] breaking into the professional ranks at just 14 years old. How many 14 year olds are there?
‘As a friend, I’ve watched her evolve from the tennis world to the cultural icon she is today, an icon that encompasses fashion, entrepreneurship and activism.
“Throughout her journey, she has always pushed herself to be the best she can be,” Rowland continued. “But it’s not just her dominance on and off the court — it’s the way she supports those around her and invites others to share her success that makes her an inspiration to us all.”
The 23-time Grand Slam winner then took the stage.
“I have so many people to thank for this amazing honor,” she began. “First of all, thank you, Kelly, for giving me this.
“This is so cool to have an incredibly special award made even more special by my amazing friend giving it to me. Thank you, I love you so much.”
Williams excitedly told her fans in the audience: “Oh my God, this is so cool. You guys are the best crowd ever. I needed you at Wimbledon.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner then took to the stage to thank Rowland for presenting and her fans for awarding the flower
Instead of being smeared with slime, Williams was honored on stage with gold confetti
Singer Kelly Rowland gave the four-time Olympic gold medalist an enthusiastic introduction
“I have to thank my whole family for believing in me,” she continued. “I look out at the crowd of so many little legends, but I want you to know that no matter where you come from, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.
“If you can do it, I can do it,” she said. “So, receiving the Legend Award from all of you is truly a gift and it means the absolute world to me, so thank you all so much.”
Earlier in the ceremony, Rapp won the Breakout New Artist award.
In this category she competed against other nominees: Tyla, Victoria Monét, Coco Jones, Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Tate McRae and Teddy Swims.
The singer-songwriter, who rose to fame as Regina George in the Broadway musical Mean Girls, recounted watching the awards show as a child and thanked her fans for the honor.
“Hi guys. Hi, how are you guys? Okay, you guys are so cute and so loud and yet so sweet,” she began.
“Thank you, very sweet. It’s really nice to be here, I used to watch this all the time when I was growing up, so this is really a treat. And you all look so cute and very well dressed. So thank you, I love you.”
In the category of Favorite Male Voice from an Animated Movie, TikTok sensation Bella Poarch and music producer Benny Blanco presented the award to Adam Sandler for his role in Leo.
At this year’s awards ceremony, Renée Rapp took home the award for Breakout New Artist
She was given the gift of being covered in green slime during her speech
The singer-songwriter, who rose to fame for her role as Regina George in the Broadway musical Mean Girls, recounted watching the awards show as a child and thanked her fans for the honor
For Favorite Male Voice from an Animated Movie, TikTok sensation Bella Poarch and music producer Benny Blanco presented the award to Adam Sandler for his role in Leo
The actor, who has won the second most Kids’ Choice Awards, 11 in total, in history, closely followed by Selena Gomez with 12 career honors, won for voicing the titular lizard
Nominees for the category included Chris Pratt for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, both Brady Noon and Jackie Chan for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Justin Timberlake for Trolls Band Together and Shaimeik Moore for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The actor, who has won the second most Kids’ Choice Awards in history (11 total), just behind Selena Gomez with 12 honors in his career, won the award for voicing the title lizard.
Nominees in the category included Chris Pratt for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, both Brady Noon and Jackie Chan for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Justin Timberlake for Trolls Band Together and Shaimeik Moore for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Jack Black also received two nominations for The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Kung Fu Panda 4.
While Black didn’t win the award for Best Male Voice in an Animated category, he did receive his flower as Favorite Villain for his role as Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
For his voice acting for the popular villain who kidnapped Princess Peach, he won the award over his fellow nominees.
Roles included Rapp as Regina George in Mean Girls, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Keegan-Michael Key as the police chief in Wonka, Amy Schumer as Velvet in Trolls Band Together and Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two.