LOS ANGELES (AP) – Dakota Fanning won favorite female movie star, the Black Eyed Peas won favorite musical group and host Justin Timberlake was sprayed with green slime Saturday at the 20th annual Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

Timberlake rode over the crowd and on to the stage on Nickelodeon’s signature orange blimp, and sang, Broadway-style: “You’ll never get a drop of slime on old J.T.”

A fountain of the green stuff spewed up from the stage and soaked Timberlake and his tuxedo in the song’s final notes.

“This wasn’t what we rehearsed!” he yelled.

Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and Mandy Moore were also doused in the green stuff during the opening number.

Fanning, 13, the star of “Charlotte’s Web,” won the night’s first award, presented by “Blades of Glory” stars Will Ferrell and John Heder.

“I consider all of you my friends!” shouted Fanning, who beat out Halle Berry, Keira Knightley and Sarah Jessica Parker for the award.

Two members of the hybrid hip-hop Black Eyed Peas were joined by a cardboard cutout of band mate Fergie as they accepted the award for favorite musical group, and got the already-shrieking crowd to scream even louder.

The Kids’ Choice Awards are Hollywood’s messiest, most raucous celebration honoring kid viewers’ personal picks for best movies, music and TV shows.

Among the front-runners for later awards was Johnny Depp, poised to collect two awards should he win for favorite actor and his film “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” take the prize for favorite movie.

Depp helped establish himself as a Kids’ Choice favorite at the 2005 show when he was the celebrity sliming victim during the popular ritual in which gallons of green goo rain down on someone during the festivities. Other past recipients of the honor have included Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey, Mike Meyers and Pink – but when she was slimed, she fittingly got a rosy-hued goo instead.

“It was the first thing on my rider when I took this job,” Timberlake, who is also a nominee for favorite male singer, told the AP before the show. “We have to use more slime than we’ve ever used. Ever! I made a promise that we would.”

Other front-runners included last year’s favorite TV actor, Drake Bell, nominated in that category again. Also nominated was his popular teen comedy, “Drake & Josh,” which won the favorite show award in 2006.

In the favorite cartoon category, the venerable “SpongeBob SquarePants” was in the running for a fifth consecutive trophy.

Grammy winners Gwen Stefani and Maroon 5 were scheduled to perform during the show, which was to include appearances by kid favorites Hilary Duff, Queen Latifah, Mike Meyers, Jamie Lynn Spears, Emma Roberts and Zac Efron.

The show is carried live to the East Coast from UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on the Nickelodeon cable network, and taped for broadcast on the West Coast and Europe, Russia, Israel, Asia, Australia and Latin America.

Kids vote online to select the winners in each category. Approximately 25 million votes were cast last year, according to Nickelodeon.