Last night was the most important awards show of the weekend. No, not the Grammys — those are tonight — but the 2021 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. (You should know we judge “importance†by “gallons of slimeâ€.) Nickelodeon’s crown prince, Kenan Thompson, hosted the event, and in doing so, he may have given the best awards-show opening in years. Thompson performed a kooky, catchy musical number called “Let’s Go Everywhere,†which was surely meant to cruelly mock Nickelodeon’s audience of housebound, virtually schooled children. And boy, did he sell it. In the high-energy number, which uses some Tim & Eric–level special effects, Thompson pilots the Nickelodeon blimp all over the world and into outer space, interjecting the lyrics with things like, “Blimp force! Check in!†and “There’s the Kids’ Choice Awards, but we’re going too fast! Abandon ship!†His commitment to the bit is astounding, and the whole shebang ends with Thompson emerging, triumphant, onto a stage surrounded by bubbling slime moats, where he nails the last line like it’s “What Up With That?†Consider this his audition tape for hosting the Emmys. He’d crush it.
Every Awards Show Should Open With Kenan Thompson Singing a Song
