The dance/variety show with a tween twist will feature a mix of today's hottest musical acts, free-style dance competitions and a troupe of young dancers to teach kids the latest moves, while viewers at-home can get in step each week in front of the tube and on a new, complementary website: www.danceonsunset.com....

"We know that music and dance are a big part of our viewers' lives so, in true Nickelodeon tradition, we're giving them their very own destination offering musical performances, dance competitions and their favorite celebrities" said Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Original Programming and Development, Nickelodeon. "In addition to serving up great entertainment, we are also offering our audience the unique opportunity to participate in this show at home."

Stars slated to perform include Ashlee Simpson, Sean Kingston, Akon with Colbie and Menudo. Among the guest-stars on tap are Janet Jackson, Omarion and Nickelodeon's own Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) and The Naked Brothers Band.

The series will feature the "Nick 6," a newly formed troupe of young dancers from around the country who will perform and teach the latest moves and routines to a live audience, led by ace choreographer Tony Testa (Janet Jackson, Aaron Carter). Dance on Sunset will also tap into its live studio audience for contestants to compete weekly for the "Sunset VIP" title through a series of freestyle dance competitions. Viewers at home will be able to participate and learn a new dance in a segment titled, "Fresh Squeezed Dance."

Nickelodeon will also offer home viewers an additional way to participate in Dance on Sunset through a complimentary website, www.danceonsunset.com. Kids can visit the site to learn and practice the week's "Fresh Squeezed" on- air dance segment, including an exclusive, "advanced" version. Viewers may also submit videos online of their own "Fresh Squeezed Dance," check out "Backstage Pass" video highlights featuring guest performances, read weekly blogs, ask questions, post comments, participate in polls and play games.

Wait, there are going to be blogs on the complimentary website? Hey, Viacom, are you hiring, or would a 31-year-old guy commenting on teenage pop be a little creepy? Maybe so, nevermind then.

Nickelodeon Gets Down With Dance On Sunset [PR Newswire]

MediaWorks: Since the Naked Brothers is the first act to come out of the new partnership with Sony Music, what are your goals?

Doug Cohn: There's no previous model to base it on. They did a great job writing great songs, so the company's throwing the whole building behind it. ... As part of the MTV Networks family, everyone's been incredibly supportive of us going in uncharted territory. So we've got the guys going on "TRL," MTV's doing a leak for the record, they even have a page on VH1.com. So there's a lot of family love here. It's an A-list album release for Sony as well — they're the artist of month on AOL, they're on the home page of Yahoo, Nat and Alex [Wolff] have a MySpace page. I've worked at record companies for enough years to see this as an A-level release hitting every target that you would for every A-list artist. We've been in countless meetings saying, "What else can we do? What haven't we done?" And as the meetings get shorter we feel like we've gotten closer to what we set out to accomplish.

Because what they've set out to accomplish is nothing less than pulling the record industry back from the brink by cross-platform pimping another bunch of tweener Monkees until the wheels fall off the "new" business model. Also, you see, instead of the (by now well known) Ballad Of The Jonas Bros.—their first record bouncing off radio, being forced to retreat to Disney-owned broadcasting outlets to find the success they can now rub in the industry's face—the Naked Brothers only stand to benefit out of the gate from Viacom and Sony jointly owning a gigantic fucking chunk of the enertainment industry (and buying their way into the the parts they don't already have control over). I'd make a tired-ass Borg joke here, but I think used up my geek reference allotment for the day on that Coheed and Cambria post.

Nickelodeon Looks For Its Own 'H.S. Musical'" [Advertising Age]