NEW YORK (AP) — There won't be any awkward Chris Brown moment at the Kids' Choice Awards — the embattled pop star has withdrawn his name from the ballot.

Brown had been nominated for favourite male singer and favourite song for "Kiss Kiss" at the March 28 awards show on the Nickelodeon network. The nominations came shortly before his arrest for allegedly attacking girlfriend and fellow pop star Rihanna. A petition had been circulated to take his name off the ballot, but Nickelodeon said yesterday he was still on.

Yesterday, Brown decided to take his name out of consideration. In a statement, his representatives said while Brown would like to speak directly to his fans, he can't because of his criminal case.

He thanked his fans for their support.

Brown briefly appeared in court last Thursday, hours after he was charged with two felonies stemming from what a police detective describes as a brutal argument between the singer and his girlfriend, Rihanna. Brown's arraignment was postponed until April 6 on charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury and making criminal threats. The 19-year-old R&B singer remains free on $50,000 bail.

A court commissioner ordered him not to harass, threaten or harm anyone.

At the request of Donald Etra, an attorney representing Rihanna, the commissioner did not order Brown to stay away from her.

Brown, wearing a three-piece grey pinstripe suit with grey tie and cream shirt, clasped his hands behind his back as he walked into the courtroom.

He answered a few questions from the commissioner as his mother watched from the front row along with a group of family members.

Details released last week offer a starkly different portrait of Brown than the squeaky-clean image he has cultivated.

The young man once praised for his Michael Jackson-esque dance moves is described in a detective's affidavit as punching his girlfriend, biting her ear and trying to choke her until she nearly lost consciousness.