2006 Teen (?) Choice Awards

Channel surfing does not often unearth entertainment treasure. And it sure didn't on Sunday night, when I lingered on Fox's 2006 Teen Choice Awards for a few seconds. I'm definitely not their demographic, so it's no surprise that the squeals, the surfboards, and the hot tub (yes, the hot tub) were gigantic flags that I Am Too Old for This Show.

So are most of the award winners, when you think about it.

I work with a bunch of statisticians, and their desire to number crunch everything has rubbed off on me. I wanted to see just how old the current crop of winners are, and what the average age among them is (a full list is at the end of this post). Here's my methodology:

1) I took the list of the Teen Choice Award winners and hacked out anything that was for a project (movie, tv show, song), a group, or was obviously for an older person (Choice Parental Unit). The whittled-down list comprises individual artists only.

2) I looked up their ages on IMDB.com, and if it wasn't available there, I gleaned it from the interweb in general. These are not the most rock-solid resources, but hey, it's what was available.

3) The age I used is the age they were at the time of the show. If, for example, an actress turns 20 later this year, I listed her age as 19.

Wanna know what the average age of a Teen Choice Award winner is? 27.5 years old. It's nothing new for teenagers to idolize twentysomethings, and this is the Teen Choice Awards, not the Teenager Awards. And there are some actual teenagers who won. But still... I can't help but think teenagers are picking the folks that they want to emulate in style and behavior, and their choices happen to be firmly ensconced in their twenties.

Do I sound like codger or what? Anyway, here's the list of the Teen Choice Award Winners who fit the criteria listed above:

• Movie Actress: Comedy: Rachel McAdams (29)
• TV Actor: Drama/Action Adventure: Adam Brody (26)
• TV Actress: Drama/Action Adventure: Rachel Bilson (24)
• TV Actor: Comedy: Wilmer Valderrama (26)
• TV Actress: Comedy: Alexis Bledel (24)
• TV Sidekick: Allison Mack (24)
• TV Personality: Ashton Kutcher (28)
• Music: Male Artist: James Blunt (28)
• Music: Female Artist: Kelly Clarkson (24)
• Music: R&B Artist: Rihanna (18)
• Hottie: Male: Orlando Bloom (29)
• Hottie: Female: Jessica Alba (25)
• Comedian: Adam Sandler (39)
• Movies: Sleazebag: Bill Nighy (56)
• Movies: Breakout (Male): Channing Tatum (26)
• Movies: Breakout (Female): Jessica Simpson (26)
• Movies: Choice Chemistry: Jennifer Aniston (37)
• Movies: Choice Chemistry: Vince Vaughn (36)
• Movies: Hissy Fit: Keira Knightley (21)
• Movies: Liplock: Keanu Reeves (41)
• Movies: Liplock: Sandra Bullock (42)
• Movies: Scream: Keira Knightley (21)
• TV: Actress: Mischa Barton (20)
• TV: Actor: James Denton (43)
• TV: Breakout Star: Zac Efron (18)
• TV: Reality Star (Male): Drew Lachey (29)
• TV: Reality Star (Female): Lauren "LC" Conrad (20)
• TV: Choice Chemistry: Vanessa Anne Hudgens (17)
• TV: Choice Chemistry: Zac Efron (18)
• Music: Breakout (Female): Rihanna (18)
• Music: Breakout (Male): Chris Brown (16)
• Sports: Athlete (Male): David Beckham (31)
• Sports: Athlete (Female): Maria Sharapova (19)
• Sports: Action Sports (Male): Shaun White (19)
• Sports: Action Sports (Female): Sophia Mulanovich (20)
• Red Carpet Fashion Icon (Female): Jessica Alba (25)
• Red Carpet Fashion Icon (Male): Nick Lachey (32)
• Grill: Brooke Hogan (18)
• V Cast Music Artist: Nelly Furtado (27)