UPDATE: While it's a Spectacular weekend on Nick, the premiere of the movie is Monday at 8 p.m., not Saturday as we reported below.
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Nickelodeon goes after the High School Musical franchise riches this weekend 
with the debut of “Spectacular!” a network original movie clearly conceived with HSM in mind.
Think high school. Musical numbers. Competition. The talented group. The patch-work, rough-around-the-edges group. And in Nick’s version, a rock star wannabe who gets kicked out of his band for selfish, showboat behavior only to make good with the rag-tag crew led by a talented and beautiful love interest.
Nikko Alexander (Nolan Gerard Funk) is the rock star castoff and Courtney Lane (Tammin Sursok) is the perky leader of “Spectacular!,” a show choir at Lincoln High School. Courtney begs Nikko to fill the male lead hole left when her ex-boyfriend Royce Du Lac (Simon Curtis) bolted to join rival group “Ta-Da” and Sharpay wannabe Tammi Dyson (Victoria Justice from Zoey 101).
Nikko is a hard sell, you know, cuz rock stars and jazz hands don’t go together. But Courtney makes a secret deal to give him $5,000 in winnings if he joins and “Spectacular” wins nationals (against “Ta-Da”). Money that can help him make a demo and maybe get a record deal.
So bad boy Nikko becomes the foil for straight-laced Courtney and good things happen.
It’s not basketball or the country club. And certainly the characters aren’t as rich and lovable as Sharpay, Troy and Gabriella. But it’s entertaining and the music, co-written by Matthew Gerard and Robbie Nevil, is good, much less bubblegum than HSM. You can listen to a song on YouTube here.
My 8-year-old squealed during many scenes and thought it was a great movie -- so it seems the folks at Nick have hit their target. Soon enough she may beg me to download the soundtrack to her iPod. And, it looks like some tracks might be available for download on Rock Band. For me, though, HSM is the standard and Spectacular! barely cracks the formula.
Nickelodeon is making this a Spectacular! weekend, with the first showing Saturday at 8 p.m. The big premiere is scheduled for Presidents Day, Monday, at 8 p.m.
Oh, and don’t count out a sequel.
-- Amy Hollyfield
[Photo: Michael Courtney/Nickelodeon of from left, Nolan Gerard Funk (Nikko), Tammin Sursok (Courtney), Victoria Justice (Tammi), Simon Curtis (Royce)]
Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
Amy Hollyfield is a workaholic mother of two young
daughters, blessed to have a work-at-home husband who makes their life possible. She was born in Detroit and moved around a lot as a kid (read: Air Force brat). She has lived in Florida since the month after she
graduated from Northwestern University. She lives for the yelps, hugs and kisses that greet her on nights that she makes it home before bedtime.
Sherry Robinson was born in the Sunshine State but she feels more comfortable inside a mall than outside at the beach -- thank goodness her husband is the outdoorsy type. He takes their two sons on night hikes, beach runs and bug hunts while Sherry does her best to take care of the homestead -- and find out what is new on the store shelves. A graduate of the University of South Florida in 19noneofyourbusiness, Sherry has been at the Times for nearly 20 years. And with nearly 10 years of parenting experience, Sherry is eager to offer up some great dish on raising kids and keeping your sanity.
Guest blogger Tracey Henry, a.k.a. Suburban Diva, is a frantic, slightly frazzled mother of four. She is a freelance humor writer and author which is the only thing that parenting four children ages 12-1 trains you for, except perhaps court jester and professional bull rider. She and her husband have lived all over the country, but settled in Florida eight years ago because the beachcombing is so much better here than on the banks of the Mississippi. Their family time includes a lot of sport -- both watching and playing -- and fun in the sun and surf. Catch her in Whoa, Momma! and on her site, 
Sherri Day and her husband welcomed their daughter into the world in early 2008. So far, she describes parenthood as exciting, exhausting and exhilarating. A self-described Southern belle with small-town values and big-city idealism, Sherri was born in rural Georgia. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Clark Atlanta University and her master's of journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the Brandon bureau chief for the Times. Sherri moved to Tampa from Brooklyn four years ago.
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