Victoria Justice is Victorious with New Show & Website

Rising teen star Victoria Justice (Zoey 101, Spectacular!) will debut in her first starring role on Nickelodeon's new live-action comedy series, Victorious, premiering Saturday, March 27, at 9:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The new 20-episode series follows Tori Vega (Justice) as she unexpectedly finds herself navigating life at an elite performing arts high school. Featuring an ensemble cast of teens who act, sing, dance and perform to original music, Victorious is a co-production with Sony Music and is created and executive produced by prolific hit-maker Dan Schneider (iCarly, Zoey 101, Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show). The series will move into its regular timeslot on Sunday, April 11, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

"Victorious combines original music from some of today's most successful songwriters and producers with Dan Schneider's proven track record of creating unique hit comedies," said Marjorie Cohn, Nickelodeon's Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming. "It's a perfect vehicle to showcase the comedic and musical talents of our star Victoria Justice and the rest of the gifted cast."

Victorious follows Tori Vega (Victoria Justice) a girl who has grown up in the shadow of her older sister Trina (Daniella Monet, Nancy Drew), a singer/performer who's always been the star. of the family. When Trina has a medical mishap on the night of her school's annual talent showcase, Tori steps in to perform Trina's song. Accompanied on the piano by her musically gifted friend Andre (Leon Thomas III, August Rush, Broadway's The Lion King, iCarly), Tori's singing and dancing impress the school's principal so much that she offers her the opportunity of a lifetime, an invitation to become a student at Hollywood Arts High School. From her first day at the school, however, Tori feels out of place among the amazingly talented students, especially mean diva Jade (Elizabeth Gillies, Broadway's 13). With the help of Trina, Andre and her new friends; brooding bad boy Beck (Avan Jogia, Spectacular!), eccentric Cat (Ariana Grande, Broadway's 13) and lovable but psychologically scrambled ventriloquist Robbie (Matthew Bennett). Tori realizes that she was born to perform and that entertaining people not only makes her happy but may change her life. The series will feature original music performed by Victoria Justice and the ensemble cast.

Launching in tandem with the show premiere is its companion website TheSlap.com, a social networking and community site that will be featured and used by the characters in the series. The site will also allow the audience to interact with and be a part of the Hollywood Arts High School community. TheSlap.com is Hollywood Arts' go-to place for gossip, posting new content and social interaction. It lets fans follow the characters' lives 24/7, giving them access to the characters' profile pages, uploads from the characters themselves, e.g. photos, videos, blogs, vlogs (video blogs) and characters' status updates. Fans of Victorious can comment, take polls and play show-themed games.

Victorious will feature songs performed by Justice and the cast under the guidance of Sony Music. The Victorious theme song, "Make it Shine," is performed by Justice and co-written by one of today's most successful songwriters Dr. Luke (Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson) along with Michael Corcoran (Drake Bell, Miranda Cosgrove). "Make It Shine" will be made available for download on iTunes on Tuesday, March 23.

Interview with Mikey ReidClick Here to watch Kaiya's interview with Mikey Reid of Nickelodeon's Victorious