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[via press release]

Nickelodeon Crushes on Teen ‘Idol’ David Archuleta in Pre-Valentine’s Primetime Programming Event, ‘Crush Night,’ February 7

Singing Sensation Archuleta Makes Acting Debut on iCarly, Hosts the Love-Themed Lineup with Nick Star Miranda Cosgrove – and Debuts his Brand-New Single on TV

Two New Love-Songs Debut in The Naked Brothers Band Valentine’s Special True Plays Cupid on True Jackson, VP

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 — Nickelodeon’s pre-Valentine’s “Crush Night” is music to kids’ ears when teen “Idol” David Archuleta takes on his newest challenge: The crush-worthy singing sensation makes his acting debut on the mega-hit iCarly, and helps kick off all-new episodes of back-to-back romance-themed primetime premieres, Saturday, February 7 (8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT). Archuleta, whose hit single “Crush” is topping the Billboard charts, teams up with iCarly headliner Miranda Cosgrove to celebrate teen romance as they host the night from the set of iCarly. Archuleta performs his current hit “Crush” (February 7) and his new single, “A Little Too Not Over You” — debuting the new tune on TV within Nick’s Crush Night encore, Sunday, February 15 — in front of adoring fans, and the duo also unveils premieres of iCarly, True Jackson, VP and The Naked Brothers Band.

Kicking off the New Year right, iCarly and True Jackson, VP are the new number-one and number-two kids’ programs, respectively, on all of television with K6-11 and T9-14, as Nickelodeon ended the month of January as the clear leader with kids and tweens. iCarly averaged 11.1/2.4 million K6-11 and 10.2/2.2 million T9-14. True Jackson, VP averaged 7.8/1.6 million K6-11 and 7.0/1.5 million T9-14.

Archuleta, 17, affirms his first acting gig was enjoyable and came with a couple of perks. “I was nervous and thought I’d be awful, but it felt really comfortable and came pretty easily since I was allowed to play myself. With ‘iCarly’ I got to hang out with kids my own age for a change, and that was a real bonus.” An added plus was the network itself. “I’m a huge fan of Nickelodeon’s, and two of my favorite shows growing up were Kenan & Kel and All That, so it was especially cool to make my acting debut on a Nick show.”

Kicking off the night, at 8 p.m., fellow teen idols/budding pop stars Cosgrove — whose single “About You Now” has charted on multiple Billboard charts including the Hot 100 Singles Chart and the Hot Digital Tracks — and Archuleta converge with comedy on Nick’s convergent hit series iCarly. Season-seven American Idol runner-up Archuleta plays himself in the episode titled “iRocked the Vote.” Archuleta stars as a contestant on an “Idol”-esque show called “America Sings” who gets a huge spike in votes after being cheered on Carly’s (Cosgrove) webcast. When runner-up Wade King tells a sob story about his sick mother, guilt-ridden Carly invites him on her web show, only to discover that he’s an arrogant phony. Carly uses it as an amazing opportunity to welcome nice-guy superstar/heartthrob David Archuleta as a special guest.

As Crush Night continues, there are bumps in the road on the way to love, and Cupid takes turns hitting and missing his mark. At 8:30 p.m., in True Jackson, VP/”True the Matchmaker” True (Keke Palmer) tries to mend Max’s broken heart by fixing him up with her school’s librarian after he learns his ex-fiance is marrying someone else. Meanwhile, Amanda and Oscar bond over their secret love of a ridiculous soap opera.

Next up, on The Naked Brothers Band/”Valentine Dream Date,” Nat (Nat Wolff) grudgingly agrees to appear on a dating game show as a celeb contestant vying for a Valentine’s Day dream date with Victoria Justice (Zoey 101/Spectacular!). But when his absentee girlfriend Rosalina arrives in town for a surprise visit just as he’s prepping for his date, he has some serious explaining to do. Meanwhile, Alex’s (Alex Wolff) attempts to play Cupid backfire, when he helps Jesse reconcile with her long lost love, Abdul, who ends up taking her love for granted. Meanwhile, Nat and the band turn love into a melody when brand-new tunes “Jesse” and “No Night Is Perfect” debut.

Crush Night will encore on Sunday, February 15 as part of Nickelodeon’s Spectacular Presidents’ Weekend, as Archuleta and Cosgrove also answer crush-related questions submitted by the nick.com audience, and Archuleta performs his new single for the first time on TV. Nickelodeon’s multi-platform efforts for Crush Night include a sneak peek of all three premieres and additional footage (“Extra Scoops”) on TurboNick and Nick’s wireless partners, beginning January 26, and the entire Crush Night programming event will be simulcast on Nick Mobile. In addition, TurboNick will offer a post-premiere instant replay. Post-premiere, the three new episodes will be available via iTunes.

Nickelodeon, now in its 30th 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 98 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

SOURCE Nickelodeon