Nickelodeon's The Fairly OddParents Hits a High Note with Its First Fairy Talent Competition 'American Idol-Style' in Hour-Long Special

Nickelodeon's The Fairly OddParents Hits a High Note with Its First Fairy Talent Competition 'American Idol-Style' in Hour-Long Special

'Fairy Idol,' Premieres in Prime Time at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, May 19

Former 'American Idol' Contestant Diana DeGarmo Performs Cosmo's Singing Voice

LOS ANGELES, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon's animated hit series The Fairly OddParents pays homage to the American Idol phenomenon with its very own Idol-like singing competition in "Fairy Idol," a one-hour special premiering Friday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The special features former American Idol contestant Diana DeGarmo, as the singing voice of her biggest fan, Cosmo. The special will repeat on Nickelodeon, Saturday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 21 at 5:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060508/NYM134 )

"Butch Hartman is always looking for creative new ways to incorporate pop culture into his series, so when he proposed an American Idol type of contest for this episode we knew it would be great fun," said Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon. "And, having Diana DeGarmo be a part of it, makes it that much more special."

"I think the reality TV phenomenon has taken on a life of its own and I wanted to do a special episode that would have fun with the genre," said Butch Hartman, creator and executive producer of The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom. "American Idol is a reality show that my kids relate to and is popular with kids everywhere."

Debuting on Nickelodeon in March 2001, The Fairly OddParents' popularity has soared among both kids and adults making it the number two ranked kids' program on broadcast and cable television, second only to SpongeBob SquarePants. The series is a solid hit among teens and adults, who make up 59% of its 54.7 million viewers each week. (Source: Nielsen Cume Data - February 2006)

In "Fairy Idol", Norm the Genie has had enough of being a genie. He's sick of all the annoying masters he's had to serve throughout the centuries so he formulates an evil plan to swap his genie life for the more desirable job of fairy godparent. When he learns that any magical wish-granting creature in the universe may apply for a vacant fairy godparent job, he sets out to trick Cosmo and Wanda into quitting their jobs as Timmy's godparents. Norm creates a clone of Timmy whose purpose is to treat Cosmo and Wanda badly while the real Timmy is off having the time of his life. Cosmo and Wanda are fed up with the way the imposter Timmy is acting and they quit their jobs as his fairy godparents. Norm heads off to Fairy World to enter a talent competition where every wish-granting creature in the Universe has the chance to audition for the role of the next fairy godparent.

As the contestants sing their favorite musical numbers and the finalists, including Norm, Cosmo and Wanda (who are convinced by the real Timmy to give him another chance) are chosen, an abundance of obligatory fairy drama goes on behind the scenes including all of the backbiting, backstabbing and back hair that goes along with such a heated competition. The competition also includes a knock-your-socks off number performed by Cosmo (singing voice by Diana DeGarmo) and Wanda.

In conjunction with this TV special, Nick.com introduced a "New Game of the Week" entitled "Fairy Idol!" on May 4th. In the game, Wanda's wand is missing as she is about to go onstage for the Fairy Idol talent competition. Playing as Timmy, gamesters will have to search the entire Fairy Idol studio for the missing wand, avoiding security guards, Jorgen Von Strangle and Cosmo- who has a knack for getting in the way! In addition, kids will be able to vote/take a poll on Nick.com on who they think will "win" the Fairy Idol competition. A sneak peek of "Fairy Idol" is currently streaming on TurboNick.

Butch Hartman began his animation career as an assistant animator on An American Tail. He directed cartoons and created his own shorts for What a Cartoon!, and also wrote and directed episodes of Dexter's Laboratory, Cow & Chicken and Johnny Bravo. Hartman joined Nickelodeon in 1998 where he created and produced several cartoon shorts for the Oh Yeah! Cartoons series, including The Fairly OddParents. Hartman is also the creator of Nickelodeon's hit show, Danny Phantom.

Nickelodeon, in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B).

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Source: Nickelodeon

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