Multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Katy Perry will break the sound barrier at USC’s Galen Center with her first live performance at Nickelodeon’s 2012 Kids’ Choice Awards on Saturday, March 31, at 8 p.m. (ET/tape delayed for West Coast).  Perry, topping the number of Kids’ Choice Award nominations by an individual this year, will join host Will Smith and a powerhouse roster of celebrity presenters, including Chris Rock (What to Expect When You’re Expecting), Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man), Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man), Zac Efron (The Lucky One), Heidi Klum (Project Runway), Victoria Justice (Victorious), Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly), Big Time Rush, Chris Colfer (Glee) and Cee Lo Green (The Voice) as well as recently announced performers, UK pop sensation One Direction. Kids can cast their votes until March 31 in 20 total categories across all of Nickelodeon’s digital outlets, including Nick.com, Nick Mobile app as well as Nickelodeon’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.

“Katy Perry has doubly earned her position as kid favorite — through her music of course — but also for reveling in an outrageous sliming on the show two years ago,” said Marjorie Cohn, President, Original Programming and Development, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group and Executive Producer of the show. “She works hard and plays hard and that’s what makes her performance on the KCA’s one to look forward to.”

A global superstar whose two albums have generated a record-breaking string of #1 hit singles and multiplatinum sales during the past four years, Katy Perry has just concluded her sold-out “California Dreams Tour” with124 arena performances internationally. The special edition Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection will be in stores March 27th and features three new songs, including “Part Of Me,” which debuted at #1 on iTunes, with over 400,000 downloads in its first week, after an electrifying performance at this year’s Grammy Awards. Perry is nominated for three Kids’ Choice Awards this year, including Favorite Female Singer, Favorite Song (“Firework”) and Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie for her role on The Smurfs.

Fans can now vote for their favorite stars on Nick.com and via a Facebook application that will live on the Nickelodeon Facebook page. Users will be able to vote from a tab on the page and, for the first time ever, the entire voting experience can be embedded directly into Facebook wall posts. Also new this year, fans will be able to vote for their favorite nominees on Twitter through the use of custom hash tags.

This year, kids not only pick the winners, but they get to help host Will Smith pull off the greatest celebratory silver anniversary slime moment. Through a brand-new iPad, iPhone and iPod app, and the KCA website, kids need to find slime hidden throughout the pH๏τo galleries, news, and videos. If kids collect enough slime, Will Smith will pull off the biggest slime event ever in this year’s show. Aided by weekly mission videos featuring iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy, Jerry Trainor, and Nathan Kress, kids will have the chance to earn digital rewards and move up the slime operative ranks.

Leading up to the show, the apps and website will also feature daily KCA news, video updates, pH๏τo galleries and videos from past KCAs, behind the scenes video of this year’s preparations, and dedicated information pages on the host and nominees. In addition, the entire Orange Carpet pre-show will be streamed live through the apps and website, followed by a live backstage companion stream during the main show.

Last year, Nickelodeon’s 2011 Kids’ Choice Awards, hosted by actor/comedian Jack Black, ranked as basic cable’s top telecast for the week (March 28, 2011–April 3, 2011) with 7.3 million total viewers. The show also ranked as the week’s top telecast with kids and tweens on all TV, averaging a 9.8/3.5 million K2-11, 12.7/2.7 million K6-11 and 11.7/2.5 million T9-14. The star-studded telecast also scored the most votes in the show’s history—a record 200 million (+70%, over 2010) votes were cast across Nick.com, Nick’s mobile site, an iPhone application, an iPad-optimized site, TeenNick.com and Nick’s Facebook page. Nick.com celebrated its highest trafficked day ever on April 2, earning 42 million page views (+9%) and reaching over 2.2 million visitors across its website, mobile and tablet sites (+14%).  Additionally, the audience for the live simulcast of Countdown to Kids’ Choice across these digital platforms posted double-digit increases (+39%) over the previous year.

Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards is more global than ever in 2012, seen in over 300 million households around the world. Within hours of airing live in the United States and Canada, the show will roll out in additional international markets, providing kids around the world the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show faster than ever. In many international markets, the 2012 KCAs will feature country-specific award categories and nominees, such as Nickelodeon Italia’s Favorite Star and Nickelodeon UK’s Favorite Show. Voting for the 2012 KCAs will span over six continents across 13 localized voting sites in 10 different languages, giving kids practically everywhere the chance to decide who takes home a coveted blimp.