Brown still a Nick nominee

NEW YORK —  Nickelodeon said it had no plans to remove Chris Brown as a nominee for its annual Kids’ Choice Awards, despite the singer’s felony charges for allegedly beating up his girlfriend, Rihanna.

Brown is nominated for favorite male singer and favorite song for “Kiss Kiss.” Rihanna, who police say was allegedly punched, bitten and choked by Brown in the early morning hours before last month’s Grammy Awards, is nominated for best song too.

An online petition asking Nickelodeon to remove Brown and Rihanna as nominees had 4,655 signatures Tuesday.

“Like all our KCA nominees, Chris Brown was nominated by kids several months ago based on his body of work as a performer, and the kids who vote will ultimately decide who wins in the category,” said Dan Martinsen, a Nickelodeon spokesman.

The awards show is scheduled for March 28. It is usually Nick’s biggest event of the year for its youthful audience.

Nick said it had gotten hundreds of calls protesting the nomination.

Brown was nominated before the incident with Rihanna, and the honor had received little notice until the singer posted a note last week on his Facebook urging his fans to vote for him.

Nick said that whoever gets the most votes in their category wins the award. However, the network doesn’t announce the vote totals, so there is no way to independently verify the winners.