Nickelodeon poised to clean up with “Rags”

The world of pre-teen musical shows is a hard-driven one. And the rivalry between Nickelodeon and the Mouse for dominance in the genre is just relentless, as many parents of those pre-teens will tell you. Both keep at it and are showing no sign of letting up, in spite of the fact that the kids who made High School Musical the phenomenon it was are either in college or will be soon. The music keeps rolling on in both camps, from Nickelodeon’s Victorious and How to Rock to Disney Channel’s Lemonade Mouth. Now Nickelodeon attempts to up the ante once again with its new original film, Rags, premiering Monday, May 28 at 8pm ET/PT.

Rags, a contemporary take on the classic Cinderella story executive produced by Nick Cannon, stars Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) as young pop phenomenon Kadee Worth, who crosses paths with a young orphan with singing aspirations, Charlie Prince (Max Schneider). Unhappy in his life with his ambivalent stepfather and his spoiled stepbrothers, he meets Kadee and finds a kindred spirit in the girl behind the superstar — an artist who’s tired of being a manufactured product, singing songs written by others and wearing preselected clothes. And from there, the magic begins.

Speaking of manufactured products, Nickeodeon took care to release the soundtrack to Rags via the usual digital platforms on Tuesday, May 22, which, we’re guessing, features some pre-written songs. But that’s how this game is played, and as part of its promotional campaign, following the premiere, Rags will also be available for download via iTunes, Xbox, Amazon and other digital services.

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Photo: © 2011 Viacom International. All Rights Reserved. Credit: Ed Araquel/Nickelodeon