NICK NEWS WITH LINDA ELLERBEE to Present 'Webstars II,' 12/30

Kids who've become online sensations share their stories in the brand-new Nick News with Linda Ellerbee special, "Webstars II: More Kids Who Are Online Hits," premiering Monday, Dec. 30, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. Benjamin "Lil P-Nut" Flores Jr., star of Nickelodeon's hit live-action comedy series, The Haunted Hathaways, is featured in the special discussing how he became a viral hip-hop sensation.

"Our 2009 special, Webstars: The Kids Behind the Hits, looked at kids seeking fame online," says Ellerbee. "Now, just a few years later, the Internet has morphed into the world's biggest stage."

"If I hadn't posted those videos, I still would've been okay," says Memphis, Tenn. native Flores Jr. "But this made me see my dreams."

Sylvia of Auburn, Calif. turns her passion for science and making things into Sylvia's Super Awesome Maker Show. "I want to think that I'm inspiring other girls to do what they want to do and be what they want to be," she says.

15-year-old singer Dwayne Cooke of Camden, N.J. told his story through a song that went viral internationally "It's just been amazing, shocking, spectacular," he says. Cooke's videos have garnered over a million views.

"If I hadn't done the blog and posted videos...I probably would just be cooking at home and I wouldn't have the cookbooks and the radio show," says 13-year-old chef Eliana de Las Casas of New Orleans, La.

13-year-old sisters Brooklyn and Bailey of Dallas, Texas, host the Brooklyn and Bailey web series, where they share fashion ideas, DIY projects and other lifestyle tips with nearly 300,000 weekly viewers. "I just imagine this going on forever," says Brooklyn. "...us just doing the same thing 'til we're old and wrinkly."

Nick News, produced by Lucky Duck Productions, is now in its 22nd year and is the longest-running kids' news show in television history. It has built its reputation on the respectful and direct way it speaks to kids about the important issues of the day. Over the years, Nick News has received more than 21 Emmy nominations and recently won its 10th Emmy Award for Forgotten But Not Gone: What You Still Need to Know about AIDS and You in the category of Outstanding Children's Program. Additional Emmy wins for outstanding children's programming include: Under the Influence: Kids of Alcoholics, The Face of Courage: Kids Living with Cancer (2010); Coming Home: When Parents Return from War (2009); The Untouchable Kids of India (2008); Private Worlds: Kids and Autism (2007); Never Again: From the Holocaust to the Sudan (2005); Faces of Hope: The Kids of Afghanistan (2002) and What Are You Staring At? (1998). In addition, in 1995, the entire series won the Emmy. In 2009, Nick News was honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award for best Network News Documentary for Coming Home: When Parents Return from War - the first-ever kids' television program to receive this prestigious award. Nick News has also received three Peabody Awards, including a personal award given to Ellerbee for explaining the impeachment of President Clinton to kids, as well as a Columbia duPont Award and more than a dozen Parents' Choice Awards.

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