Upcoming Nickelodeon Star Rachel Crow Sings The North American National Anthem At The White House's 2012 Annual Easter Egg Roll

From the Huffington Post UK:

Rachel Crow, White House: 'X Factor' Contestant Belts Out National Anthem



She's back! Rachel Crow, the cherubic 13-year-old "X Factor" contestant who charmed the socks off Simon Cowell but left everyone devastated with her crushing, drop-to-the-floor elimination, sang the national anthem Monday at the White House to kick off the annual Easter Egg Roll. In classic Crow spirit, she hugged President Obama before belting out a seriously powerful rendition in front of the first family.

It's been a roller coaster of a year for Crow, now 14, who was eliminated from Cowell's U.K. import singing competition in December 2011. In February, Crow inked a deal to develop a musical comedy series for Nickelodeon and signed a contract with Columbia Records. Crow has also guest-starred on several episodes of Nickelodeon's "Fred."

[Tweets by upcoming Nickelodeon Star Rachel Crow that she posted on her official Twitter profile page (@iamrachelcrow):]

I just had the best time!!! #WOW - 4:15:07pm (UTC) Monday 9th April 2012

So amazing meeting you today @ForestWhitaker pic.twitter.com/MMkMXtpd - 11:53:28pm (UTC) Monday 9th April 2012

Merger Of The Australian Pay TV Operators Foxtel And Austar Approved By The ACCC

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Pay TV merger approved

AFTER protracted negotiations with the competition watchdog, the $1.9 billion merger of Foxtel and Austar has been approved, after pay TV companies agreed to extra concessions to free up online rights to movies and other content for the fledgling internet television market.

More than 60 channels provided by Foxtel, including Disney, Nickelodeon [Nickelodeon Australia] and Sky News, will be available to IPTV players, with Foxtel committed to refrain from seeking the online rights under an undertaking with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [ACCC] announced yesterday.

While internet and content competitors argue that Foxtel and half-owner Telstra still have too much market power - particularly since Foxtel's exclusive rights to key local sports content was not on the agenda - ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the agreement could not consider competition concerns that existed before the merger was proposed.

But Optus said it was disappointed with the decision and remained concerned Foxtel's continued access to some key premium content would help Telstra lock in customers with bundled television, telephony and internet products.

''We still have deep concerns that these proposed changes do not go far enough to address the significant control the combined Telstra/Foxtel group are likely to have on access to premium content,'' Optus said. ''This is important to ensure Australians are not locked into paying prohibitive prices for premium content.''

Optus regulatory spokesman Andrew Sheridan said popular sports content had been targeted by regulators in other jurisdictions after complaints by rivals, citing a 2010 decision by UK broadcast watchdog Ofcom to force BSkyB to allow rivals access to premium sports content at a cheaper rate.

But the undertakings provided by Foxtel to the ACCC were ''not intended to resolve competition or structural issues that may already exist in the relevant markets and are unrelated to the proposed acquisition'', the ACCC chairman said.

Mr Sims said the commission was well aware of competition concerns in emerging and existing markets and would continue to monitor them, ''including consideration of whether exclusive content arrangements have the purpose or effect of substantially lessening competition or involve a misuse of market power''.

''The ACCC will also continue to consider whether there is a need to advocate for regulatory intervention in these markets,'' Mr Sims said.

However, the undertakings agreed to by Foxtel would lower barriers to entry for new competitors, including IPTV players, he said.

The agreements, which last for eight years, include a ban on Foxtel buying exclusive video-on-demand content and exclusive mobile rights to TV shows and movies when those rights are being sought by competitors to combine with IPTV rights.

Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein said: ''We will now be able to create a company of scale that will deliver innovative new digital products and services, and parity for regional and city customers.''

Also, from The Australian Financial Review:

Optus, iiNet raise Foxtel competition fears

Optus and iiNet have attacked the approval of Foxtel’s $1.9 billion merger with Austar, calling it a blow to competition and a failure by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that will leave ?customers worse off.

The comments came as Telstra, which owns 50 per cent of Foxtel, welcomed the move, saying it was looking forward to offering its internet television (IPTV) to customers in regional areas.

Optus general manager Andrew Sheridan said the telco was disappointed by the decision and had deep concerns about the merger. But he added that the ACCC was limited in what it could cover.

“You can see this potentially from Telstra’s perspective as a pre-NBN land grab to lock away customers on triple-play services with fixed line, broadband and now IPTV services,” Mr Sheridan said.

“Those customers are going to be very difficult to unlock when the NBN swings around.

“There’s certainly a key debate we need to have on [increasing the scope of the ACCC’s powers] and Graeme Samuel certainly recognised the need for changes in this area in some speeches he made before he left the chair,” he said.

Mr Sheridan said that Sky in the UK had proven that telcos were turning to live sports and premium content to drive customers into high-speed internet services and valuable bundles of services. “Access to premium content on an exclusive basis has the potential to create some competition concerns in a number of markets, particularly in a high-speed broadband environment,” he said.

iiNet chief regulatory officer Stephen Dalby said the ACCC had failed in its duties to promote competition and that it had done nothing to address the monopoly market power Foxtel would gain from the merger. “It means the high 90 per cent of the market will be held by one provider and there will be no real competition,” Mr Dalby said. “The ACCC’s main role is to foster competition and it’s failed that test.

“The entertainment industry is converging with the telecommunications market and broadband delivery yet the ACCC has seen fit to approve this without really considering what the impact is ... and I think they’ve ignored the Telstra issue completely,” he said.

Mr Dalby said that even though Foxtel had promised not to renew its exclusive rights on a range of “linear” channels like Nickelodeon, many of the contracts would take years to expire, giving Telstra a valuable leg-up.

“Some of those exclusivity contracts will run for eight years,” he said. “It might be good for the long term ... but we’ve got to be competitive today and we certainly don’t have eight years.” But he added worse would come for customers in regional areas where telcos like Optus and iiNet were already hamstrung by Telstra’s ownership of infrastructure such as ?telephone exchanges.

“This decision will mean less choice and lead to higher prices, and if you look at Foxtel today compared to the rest of the world they’ve got the lowest penetration and the highest prices,” he said.

“We’re going to fight hard to offer attractive bundles with what we have access to ... but without access to some of that desirable content it’s going to be a challenge.”

FetchTV is the rival internet television service used by Optus, iiNet, Internode and several other providers. Its chief executive Scott Lorson welcomed the decision while admitting it would further cement Telstra’s dominant position in the telco market.

He said while Telstra’s rivals would be hit by the decision, FetchTV would benefit in the long term as Foxtel’s exclusivity contracts gradually expired. “The transaction certainly strengthens Telstra’s position in the market in the short term,” he said. “But we’re playing the long game here.

“The focus is always on premium sports because there’s a lot of interest there but it’s a very expensive proposition and more than three-quarters of households are satisfied with free-to-air content.

“That means the remainder of the market [78 per cent] have elected not to take up those services and so we can reach those audiences with an alternative.”

Also, from C21Media:

Foxtel, Austar $2bn merger goes ahead

The Australian competition watchdog has okayed Foxtel’s A$2bn (US$2.1bn) move to acquire rival pay-TV platform Austar.

The development puts to an end speculation the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) would veto the deal on anti-competition grounds.

Under terms of the greenlight, pay-TV market leader Foxtel has agreed to relinquish exclusive IPTV rights on TV and movies, spanning its 60-strong independent linear channels bouquet and subscription VoD rights for current and past TV series from independent providers.

Significantly, this caveat extends to arrangements with premium channels such as Nickelodeon and National Geographic.

On the feature film side, the deal blocks Foxtel from gaining exclusivity of movie content from more than half of the major US studios and eight independents. It also blocks some SVoD rights.

Furthermore, Foxtel will not be able to acquire a movie on an exclusive transactional VoD basis, and significantly stops the paycaster from taking exclusive mobile rights attached to IPTV deals.

The ACCC hopes these measures will end fears the deal will give Foxtel’s joint-parent Telstra the opportunity to offer Austar’s mainly regional telephony and broadband customer base sweetened triple-play deals and impair competition.

It also said it hoped the merger would positively impact the country’s developing telecommunications networks and “create opportunities for new and existing competitors to develop differentiated more affordable television offerings” for customers.

“By reducing content exclusivity, the undertakings will lower barriers to entry and promote new and effective competition in metropolitan and regional telecommunications and subscription television markets,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.

“Taking into account the undertaking which has been offered by Foxtel, the ACCC is satisfied that the proposed acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition,” he added.

Telecoms firm Telstra owns 50% of Foxtel, with News Corp and Consolidated Media Holdings taking two other 25% stakes each. On completion of the deal, Austar’s 54% majority owner, Liberty Global, will exit.

A Public Competition Assessment on the merger will now follow.

The ruling is a welcome boost for News Corp’s Australian business, which is under fire after Fairfax Media’s Australian Financial Review (AFR) published allegations last month claiming that News Corp part-owned pay-TV encryption specialist NDS facilitated piracy against its rivals in the 1990s. News Corp has strenuously denied the claims and alleged that rival Fairfax was seeking to damage its local newspaper, The Australian.

Jesse Whittock
10-04-2012
©C21Media

Also, from Delimiter:

ACCC approves FOXTEL and Austar merger

news The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced it will not oppose the proposed acquisition of AUSTAR by FOXTEL, greenlighting the multi-billion dollar merger of the two pay TV giants and paving the way for Australia’s digital TV sphere to be re-shaped.

In a media release issued yesterday, the ACCC announced that to aid with its approval, it would accept court-enforceable undertakings from FOXTEL, which will prevent FOXTEL from acquisition of exclusive Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) rights for popular programs and movie content.

ACCC had earlier announced that it had initiated a consultation on a proposed undertaking by pay TV giant FOXTEL regarding its proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of Austar, a major pay TV company. Following extensive market feedback and discussions with FOXTEL, the non-exclusivity provisions of the draft undertaking were broadened to address the likely harm to competition arising as a result of the acquisition.

The undertaking is for 8 years and includes more than 60 linear channels supplied by independent content suppliers, internationally broadcast channels including those currently not carried by FOXTEL, movie linear channels, Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) rights to current/past seasons of television programs and SVOD rights to movies. The merger highlights include:

* Prohibits FOXTEL from acquiring exclusive rights for movies delivered on a Transactional Video on Demand (TVOD) basis.

* Prohibits FOXTEL from acquiring exclusive mobile rights for content where rights are sought by competitors to combine with IPTV rights.

* Prohibits FOXTEL from acquiring exclusive SVOD rights for a broad range of television programs and movie content, including Nickelodeon and National Geographic channels, and companion mobile rights to relevant IPTV content.

* Aims to lower barriers by requiring FOXTEL to provide necessary signal access to linear channels distributed by independent content suppliers.

* Extends FOXTEL’s Special Access Undertaking which makes it possible for content suppliers to gain access to more than 2.2 million FOXTEL and Austar subscribers.

*Does not prevent FOXTEL from acquiring exclusive rights in relation to individual sports, which is considered independent of the acquisition.

The main areas of concern with the proposed acquisition of the two major pay TV giants in Australia were in the national market for retail supply of subscription television services, especially related to IPTV, and in the regional markets for fixed broadband and telephony. The merger would have meant that Telstra, a major shareholder of FOXTEL, would be a superior player in fixed voice, broadband and IPTV services.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said “By reducing content exclusivity, the undertakings will lower barriers to entry and promote new and effective competition in metropolitan and regional telecommunications and subscription television markets.” He added that the undertaking offered by FOXTEL is unlikely to substantially reduce competition.

As telecommunication networks develop, the ACCC expects that the undertaking will create more opportunities for competitors to develop differentiated and consumer-friendly subscription television offerings combining IPTV services with other telecommunication services. The undertaking however, does not prevent acquisition of exclusive rights to individual sports.

“The proposed undertaking has been offered by FOXTEL to address the harm to competition which is likely to arise as a result of the proposed acquisition,” Sims said. “However it is not intended to resolve competition or structural issues that may already exist in the relevant markets and are unrelated to the proposed acquisition.”

Sims added that the ACCC will remain conscious in regard to competition concerns and misuse of market power, and whether there is a need to advocate for regulatory intervention in existing and emerging media markets.

The move was immediately welcomed by FOXTEL part-owner Telstra. Rick Ellis, Group Managing Director Telstra Digital Media, said the decision was a win for consumers:

“The merger between FOXTEL and AUSTAR will create a pay TV company that will be able to provide innovative content for customers across Australia,” he said. “It will also enable Telstra to expand its FOXTEL on T-Box offering into some AUSTAR areas over time, enabling regional Australians in those areas to enjoy the same high quality IPTV services as those who live in metropolitan areas. Telstra will provide further detail on its plans to expand the availability of FOXTEL on T-Box at a later date.”

However, not everyone is happy about the ACCC’s decision on the matter.

Greens communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the ACCC should have delayed its decision in light of the allegations of commercial piracy levelled by the Financial Review newspaper against News Corp subsidiary NDS. Foxtel is part-owned by News.

“The competition impacts of the takeover were troubling enough, and were made infinitely more troubling by the piracy allegations,” said Ludlam in a statement. “This takeover will exacerbate the one-way trend towards monopoly in Australia’s pay-TV sector, and the ACCC should have put any decision on hold until these serious allegations against News Corp entities are resolved.”

“I wrote to the ACCC on March 28th to request a hold on the decision and asked that the ACCC review all relevant material pertaining to the allegations of commercial piracy by News Corp against rival subscription television vendors before coming to a conclusion on the proposed $1.9billion takeover. On that same day it was revealed that the Australian Federal Police are assisting UK police investigating the News Corporation phone hacking scandal. Regardless of the court-enforceable undertakings from FOXTEL designed to limit the acquisition’s negative impacts on competition, the gravity of the pay-TV piracy allegations should have put the decision on hold until they are resolved.”

In addition, Telstra’s telco rivals Optus and iiNet have also publicly repeated their concerns about the merger.

opinion/analysis

To be honest, as a technology industry commentator the merger of FOXTEL and AUSTAR doesn’t bother me too much. In the long-term, content is becoming disaggregated from the platforms which it was previously bound to, and I don’t expect the merger of two pay TV rivals without much of a common geographical footprint to tie up the market too much. The emergence of Apple’s iTunes platform as a video distribution system, coupled with IPTV initiatives delivered over broadband (especially as the National Broadband Network is rolled out) should solve much of these market competition issues over the next few years. God knows, most Australians of my generation (Generation Y) don’t really care about FOXTEL at all. Very few of my friends are subscribers.

Opinion/analysis by Renai LeMay

Also from C21Media:

XYZ chief exits ahead of merger

Bruce Mann, CEO of Australian pay-TV channel operator XYZNetworks for a decade, is leaving ahead of the merger of its parent companies.

XYZ is joint-owned by pay-TV platforms Foxtel and Austar, which are due to merge next month in a deal worth A$2bn (US$2.1bn) after receiving the regulatory green light this month.

Ahead of this, Mann has decided to step down as XYZ’s chief after 10 years, during which time he has overseen nets such as The Lifestyle Channel, Channel [V] and The Weather Channel.

Today he said in a statement: “Foxtel is rightly taking advantage of this opportunity to create a national Foxtel brand which will include both the Austar and XYZNetworks assets.”

XYZ’s director of product, sales and marketing Nikki Warburton – wife of Network Ten boss James – has also announced her departure.

During Mann’s tenure, XYZ expanded its channel bouquet from six to 12. Along with the Lifestyle-branded nets, XYZ also joint-owns Nickelodeon Australia and its sister net Nick Jr, and distributes Discovery Channel in the territory.

Mann said he was leaving XYZ in “great shape,” claiming it was “the jewel in the crown.” He also the company had hit its financial targets in each year he had been CEO.

“We have developed a suite of themed channel brands that are the leaders in their genres, and we have a fantastic team of TV professionals who understand their audiences intimately and consistently produce innovative programming.”

Mann said of his next move: “Media is in my blood, but what I really enjoy is building and growing consumer brands and recruiting, developing and motivating people. My aim is to apply these skills and experience in my next role, whether it be in media or in another industry.”

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission greenlit Foxtel’s bid to take over smaller rival Austar United Communications after Foxtel agreed to court-enforceable undertakings. The deal goes through on May 24.

Jesse Whittock
30-04-2012
©C21Media

TAGS: Appointments, Mergers and Acquisitions

PEOPLE: Brice Mann

COMPANIES: Arena, Austar, Discovery, Foxtel, Nick Jr, Nickelodeon, The LifeStyle Channel, The Weather Channel, XYZNetworks

SECTIONS: Formats Lab

COUNTRIES: Australia, US

Video Of Nickelodeon UK's New "Brand New iCarly - iStill Psycho" Promo

Below is a high quality (HQ) streaming video and transcript of Nickelodeon UK and Ireland's new "Brand New iCarly - iStill Psycho" promo/trailer which Nickelodeon UK is currently broadcasting on-air to advertise that Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK will be premiering and showing the brand new two part special episode of the popular Nickelodeon show "iCarly" called "iStill Psycho" on Friday 13th April 2012 from 5.00pm (repeated from 6.00pm on Nickelodeon UK's plus one (+1) timeshift channel Nick Replay UK), which will be followed by a sneak peek at season two of Nickelodeon's hit live-action mystery series "House of Anubis", featuring the brand new HoA episode "House Of Hello", at 6.00pm (repeated at 7.00pm on Nick Replay UK), as part of Nickelodeon UK's "Night Of Premieres" programming stunt:

The brand new season of iCarly continues, and their craziest fan is baccckkkkk!

[Nora Derschlit (Danielle Morrow) screams at Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove)]

And this time, she's never letting them go!

[Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress): The window!]

[Nora's mother: You children are gonna be here for quite a while.]

[Carly: Spencer! Where are you?!; Freddie: In the basement!]

[Spencer Shay (Jerry Trainor): I'm on a wheel!]

But the party has just begun!

[Nora: Let's all wear party hats!; Carly: We're not wearing party hats.; Nora: [PUT ON THE HATS!]

iStill Psycho, the brand new special, starts this Friday at 5.00pm...

[Spencer screams while on a big spinning wheel]

...only on Nickelodeon!

Nick.co.uk

Also available on Nickelodeon HD

In the brand new special of the hit Nickelodeon series "iCarly" titled "iStill Psycho", after receiving word that Nora Dershlit is going to be released from jail, the iCarly kids set out to try and keep their old captor behind bars. Things take a turn for the worse after Nora and her parents capture the gang. Freddie finds a way to get a message to his mother, but will Mrs. Benson be able to come to their rescue before it’s too late?

Also, Tweeted (posted) by Nickelodeon UK and Ireland on their official Twitter profile page (@NickelodeonUK):

iStill Psycho @NickelodeonUK on FRIDAY!

@NickelodeonUK: Counting down the days!

Nickelodeon Land UK At Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, UK Has "Been Very Well Received", According To A Report

From The Yorker (blog):

Theme Park blog: What's new for 2012?

Alan Belmore continues his Theme Park blog with a look at what’s new at British Theme Parks this year.

[...]

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

After the launch of the new 'Nickelodeon' land in 2011, it’s no surprise that Blackpool doesn't have any money for any new rides in 2012. In fact, two of its key attractions, Valhalla and Revolution won’t even be open for the start of the 2012 season as they’re closed for refurbishment (and in the case of the latter, removal of a former sponsor’s branding).

However, expect Blackpool to keep pushing Nickelodeon land which has, by all accounts, been very well received. It is likely to see the number of visitors to Blackpool shoot up this year, as guests visit attractions such as The Rugrats' Lost River, Dora’s World Voyage and the Nickelodeon Streak.

You can read The Yorker's article about what's new this year (2012) at British theme parks in full here on the official 'The Yorker' website.

The Brand New "iCarly" Episode Called "iGo One Direction", Which Guest Stars The British-Irish Boy Band "One Direction", In The News And Media

Note - This NickALive! blog post contains spoilers (including pictures and videos) about the UK-Irish Boy Band One Direction's appearance in the brand new episode of "iCarly" titled "iGo One Direction", such as episode details, which some NickALive! readers may prefer to avoid as "iGo One Direction" has not yet been shown on Nickelodeon UK yet. Please scroll down the page if you wish to continue.

Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK will be premiering and showing the UK premiere of "iGo One Direction" on Monday 16th April at 5.30pm! You can find the full information here on NickALive!!

Below is a selection of news articles about the brand new episode of the hit Nickelodeon show "iCarly" called "iGo One Direction" (formally "iGot Jungle Worms"), which guest stars the UK-Irish Boy Band 'One Direction', that Nickelodeon premiered on Nickelodeon USA (Nickelodeon North America) on Saturday 7th April 2012.

From the Daily Mail:

One Direction showcase their hidden talents as they guest star on iCarly

Another string to their bow! One Direction showcase their comedic talents as they guest star on iCarly

They have proven that they can sing, dance, and win hearts across the globe.
But One Direction showed they also know how to make people laugh with a guest starring stint on iCarly.

The Nickelodeon show featuring the boys aired tonight and saw them perform their hit single What Makes You Beautiful.

Scroll down for video

Men of many talents: One Direction guest starred on an episode of hit Nickelodeon show iCarly

Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson then can be seen chatting to the cast members as they crack a few jokes.

The stars of the show flirt with the boyband but being so used to it, the group don't bat an eyelid.

The group sees Carly come back from a holiday suffering from jungle worms.

Flirty: The boys had no problem being chatted up as part of their appearance on the show

Fast fame: The boys are currently taking America by storn [storm]

She then discovers that One Direction have agreed to perform on her show.

However disaster strikes when Harry drinks some of Carly's water and develops the same illness.

Carly then takes care of the popstar who loves the attention so much he overexaggerates the seriousness of his condition.

Acting: The plot sees Harry Styles fall ill after drinking contaminated water

Poorly popstar: Harry becomes ill after catching an illness that Carly has acquired on a jungle trip

The other boys catch on and recruit Gibby in his place, which quickly sees Harry make a miraculous recovery.

It is not the boys' only foray into the acting world as they also joined Sofia Vergara as she hosted Saturday Night Live.

One Direction perfromed on the show as well as appearing in a comedy sketch.
They have made history in America as the first UK group to ever have their debut album hit the number one spot in the Billboard charts.

Comedy sketch: Harry likes being looked after so much that he then begins to fake the illness

Rising stars: The boys are making the foray into TV and also had a stint on Saturday Night Live

[Watch a video clip of One Direction Performing on the iCarly episode iGo One Direction:]

Also, from MTV News USA:

One Direction: They Can Sing, But Can They Act?

The band will make their acting debut on 'iCarly' Saturday, the same night they take the 'SNL' stage.

One Direction on "iCarly"; Photo credit: Nickelodeon

One Direction fans, get ready, because you are about to get a double dose of the boy band this Saturday night. The British pop sensation will take the stage as the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" and will also make their television acting debut on Nickelodeon's "iCarly."

Fans have been patiently waiting for the special episode, "iGo One Direction," since it was taped in January [2012]. MTV News visited the set of "iCarly" recently to talk to the cast about their exciting guest stars.

[Click here to watch MTV News USA's interview with the cast of the popular Nickelodeon series "iCarly" about their episode with One Direction, "iGo One Direction" - "One Direction 'Pleasantly Surprised' The Cast Of 'iCarly'" [video only available to view in the USA]]

Noah Munck, who plays Gibby, gave us a preview of what will happen on Saturday's show, including One Directioner Harry Styles catching a disease called "jungle worms" from Carly. "Gibby is a huge fan of One Direction, he screams like a little girl every time they come in the room, so that definitely was a fun episode to shoot," Munck said.

And in terms of their acting abilities, it seems like the One Direction boys got rave reviews from the cast. "Having One Direction on set was really cool, we didn't really know what to expect from them, because we had heard that they didn't really have any acting experience because they have a lot of lines and are almost in every scene. So we were uncertain as to how well the shooting would go," Nathan Krauss said. "But we were all very pleasantly surprised they did very, very well, especially Harry, because he had to pretend to be sick the whole time. ... It was cool, just seeing the five of us mesh with the five of them."

In addition to adjusting to five new people on set, the "iCarly" cast also had to deal with the hundreds of screaming fans who waited outside the show for hours hoping to catch a glimpse of the 1D boys.

"It was a crazy day here," Munck said. "Along the fence of our studio was like maybe 200 screaming girls. I'm like, 'Oh are they here for me?' No, they're here for the band. I hear they tried to push the gates down to get in. It got intense."

Yet, the biggest 1D fan of them all might just be the star of "iCarly" herself, Miranda Cosgrove.

"I've known about them for probably the last two years, so I liked them a lot," Cosgrove said, saying she first discovered the band watching the U.K.'s "The X Factor." "I was really excited to have them on the show. Every one of them was really funny and they all knew their lines and I think they have very good chemistry and they seem like really good friends."

"iCarly" airs Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon.

Also, from Unreality TV:

One Direction: Niall Horan on ‘perfect’ SNL, Harry Styles looking forward to iCarly debut – Australia prepares for 1D mania!

One Direction have cracked American and the cherry on the cake is all set to be put in place this evening.

In the US, the X Factor stars will appear on Saturday Night Live, where they will perform two tracks and their special episode of Nickelodeon’s iCarly will also air.

We recently brought you some great promos for the boys stint on SNL, along with “Modern Family” actress Sofia Vergara. It had been claimed that the singers will perform “What Makes You Beautiful” and one other track from their record breaking album ‘Up All Night.”

Talking about the show to MTV News, Niall Horan said: “This is our kind of show. You know, we like to have a bit of a laugh. This is our perfect kind of show and we get involved as much as we can.”

Harry Styles is also stoked about this evening and took to Twitter to remind fans, saying:

“Tune into to Saturday Night Live at 11.30pm!! And iCarly at 8pm. Gonna be fun..”



iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove admitted that she loved working with the boys – who wouldn’t? – and recently said:

“I’ve known about them for probably the last two years, so I liked them a lot. I was really excited to have them on the show. Every one of them was really funny and they all knew their lines and I think they have very good chemistry and they seem like really good friends.”

Meanwhile, tonight’s appearances will be 1D’s last in America as they will next jet out to Australia, where they have a number of concerts lined up.

Police and security staff have already been called in to prepare for the band’s arrival, as local officials expect to need all the help they can get, in keeping the thousands of screaming female fans under control.

It has been reported that a local radio station who have bagged an interview with the singers, have spent thousands of dollars in moving it to a secret location, so that the fans can’t discover the boys whereabouts and cause havoc for residents and business nearby.

A Sony Music source commented: “It’s like nothing we have ever dealt with before.”

Meanwhile, the boys now have their own official store in Sydney and thousands of girls showed up to camp outside the premises, before it’s opening this week.

The One Direction shop is sure to capitalise on the boys’ success and will remain open for as long as the boys are in Australia.

[...]

Also, from Examiner.com:

One Direction does comedy on 'iCarly' and 'Saturday Night Live'; 1D fans react

One Direction gave U.S. TV a double dose of comedy on April 7, 2012, when the band's guest appearances on Nickelodeon sitcom "iCarly" and NBC's "Saturday Night Live" premiered. One Direction's guest appearances on these shows caused massive buzz on the Internet and became trending topics on Twitter. Based on comments made on the Internet, One Direction fans liked the band's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" a lot better than the appearance on "iCarly."

One Direction was the first "X Factor" act to perform on "Saturday Night Live." The group came in third place on "The X Factor" U.K. in 2010.

British comedian James Corden (a friend of One Direction's) was one of the well-wishers who was with One Direction backstage at "Saturday Night Live," which was hosted by Sofia Vergara in the episode that had One Direction as the musical guest. Corden tweeted backstage photos of the guys in One Direction. One Direction's Liam Payne mentioned on Twitter that his father was also in New York for the show. Payne did a Twitcam chat with fans after the show.

One Direction on "Saturday Night Live"

As I previously revealed in an exclusive report, the writers of "Saturday Night Live" wanted to include One Direction and in a skit with Vergara. The skit ended up being the guys in one Direction (Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Payne and Zayn Malik) acting as children in a dysfunctional family on the fictional "Manuel Ortiz Show" (a spoof of bawdy talk shows like "Jerry Springer"), with Vergara playing their mother. The guys in One Direction (dressed in bad '70s clothes, curly wigs and moustaches) made a brief appearance at the end of the skit by doing some campy salsa-like dancing.

One Direction also performed "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing" on "Saturday Night Live." Sources say that there was some discussion about One Direction performing "More Than This" as the second song, but in the end, it was decided that "One Thing" would be the better choice since it will be released as a single in the U.S.

After the show, Styles tweeted: "Thank you so much to @nbcsnl for having us. That was a lot of fun and we'll never forget it "

Tomlinson tweeted, "Wow that was so much fun!"

After the "Saturday Night Live" episode aired, these topics began trending worldwide on Twitter:

Dick Horan
Miguelito Malik
Martito Payne
Pepito Tomlinson
Carlito Styles

One Direction on "iCarly"

As previously reported, the "iCarly" episode (titled "I Go One Direction") had One Direction playing versions of themselves. All of the guys in One Direction had lines in the episode, with Styles having the most lines, since he plays a central role in the episode's plot.

Here is a plot summary: Carly (played by Miranda Cosgrove) comes back from an overseas vacation with "jungle worms." When One Direction is booked to be a guest on her Web show, One Direction's Harry gets "jungle worms" from drinking out of Carly's water bottle. After he recovers from the illness, he still pretends to be sick to get sympathy and attention from Carly.

One of the scenes that fans were talking about the most was of Harry in bed, holding on to Carly's arm as he asked her, "Can I have some fruits?" She says yes and starts to walk away, but he won't let go of her arm as he says, "And can you cook them into the cubes, the way that you do?" As she tries to walk away, he still won't let go of her arm, and he says, "And can you put warm socks on my feet?"

Carly's friend Sam (played by Jennette McCurdy) then says sarcastically, "What else do you want Carly to do for you ? Wash your tour bus?"

When the other guys in One Direction, Miranda and her friends Freddie (played by Nathan Kress) and Sam figure out that Harry is faking the illness, Sam says, "Do you think I should work him over with my butter sock?" Zayn says, "Did she say butter sock?" Liam says, "Is that a sock?" Louis says, "Full of butter?"

Freddie says, "Do you guys want to hear my idea?" Niall asks, "Does it involve the butter sock?"

So they hatch a plot to trick Harry into believing that overly excited One Direction fan Gibby (played by Noah Munck) is going to replace Harry in the band. When Harry sees an off-key Gibby rehearsing with the rest of One Direction, Harry suddenly announces he feels better and can perform.One Direction performs "What Makes You Beautiful."At the end of the episode, Sam (who has been shamelessly flirting with Zayn since she met him), drags Zayn into an elevator, as he looks horrified.

After the "iCarly" episode aired, these topics began trending worldwide on Twitter:

#GibbyToOpenNext1DTour
#WelcomeToThe1DFamilyGibby
Sam and Zayn
Gibby

Here is sampling of Twitter comments about One Direction on "Saturday Night Live" and "iCarly."

"Saturday Night Live"

"One Direction on SNL just made my life!"

:i vote for One Direction being on SNL every single week."

"One Direction On #SNL Was Amazing."

"That was the best #SNL episode I have ever seen! I am so proud of One Direction."

"One Direction on SNL is the best thing that has happened in this fandom in a while."

"LOL One Direction on SNL was hilarious!!!"

"I think One Direction is going through puberty right now on SNL.. and it is adorable."

"One Direction on #SNL was amazingggg!"

"SNL: A place were One Direction can be themselves without pretending to be someone their not. Where they can sing flawlessly live."

"That was probably the most viewers SNL had in a while lol. Girls love One Direction."

"Watched One Direction and Sofia on #SNL and enjoyed myself. Got the performance of "One Thing" on tape."

"iCarly"

"Watching One Direction on iCarly & crying at how perfect they are."

"One direction were flawless on iCarly."

"One Direction on iCarly was a lil bit catastrophic."

"Just had a heart attack because one direction was on icarly. Is that a sock? Full of butter?? #iGo1D"

"One Direction on iCarly wasn't as cool as I thought it'd be."

"Forcing myself to watch the terrible acting on iCarly because that's how much I love One Direction."

"One Direction did a wonderful job of promoting iCarly."

"One Direction on ICarly was good. They are so unffffffff."

"I think one direction is better at acting then the whole icarly cast."

"OMG one direction on iCarly was hilarious...now SNL!"

"I watched the new ICarly at 8 with One direction guest starring and it was AMAZING and funny. Best ICarly ever!!!"

"I don't think one direction can get any hotter then what they looked like on icarly."