MTV to Bring Back TRL to Encourage Voter Registration, 9/27

On National Voter Registration Day, MTV's classic franchise "TRL" will return for one day only as "Total Registration Live," an empowering live special that will rally Millennials to register to vote. The one-hour live show will broadcast from the home of TRL on Tuesday, September 27 at 6:00 p.m. ET/PT on MTV and simulcast on MTV.com, the MTV App, MTV's Facebook and Youtube pages, and ElectThis.com.

The special will include Grammy-nominated R&B superstar and Respect My Vote! Ambassador, Ty Dolla $ign performing "Campaign," "No Justice" and "Zaddy" from his brand new project "CAMPAIGN," appearances by model and Rock The Vote spokesperson Kendall Jenner, Director, Producer and Writer Joss Whedon, Fifth Harmony's Camila Cabello, rapper Vic Mensa, actress Natalia Dyer, actor and singer Mack Wilds and more, along with MTV's Nessa who will host. Also on-hand will be MTV News' Senior Political Correspondent Ana Marie Cox and Senior National Correspondent Jamil Smith.

"Total Registration Live" comes at a time when the Millennial vote will be a key deciding factor in the outcome of the 2016 election. Original research from MTV Insights estimates that if no Millennials vote, Donald Trump will win with 44 percent of the vote vs. 41 percent for Hillary Clinton. If all Millennials vote, Clinton wins 44 percent to Trump's 39 percent. And if only half of Millennials vote, the race will remain too close to call (43 percent Clinton vs. 41 percent Trump).*

Guests will speak out on the issues at the center of the 2016 election and empower viewers to register to vote via MTV's long-standing partner Rock The Vote at ElectThis.com, or by texting VOTEMTV to 384387 via a partnership with HelloVote, the first chatbot that allows voters to register over text message or Facebook Messenger in under a minute. In place of the classic "TRL" Top Ten Music Video Countdown, powerful profiles will spotlight what is at stake in the upcoming election through the eyes of three Millennials taking individual action to change their communities, including 24-year old rape SURVIVOR and legislative advocate Amanda Nguyen, Yale freshman and undocumented immigrant Larissa Martinez and 22-year old founder of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project Aisha Yaqoob.

MTV's "Total Registration Live" joins more than 4,000 organizations on National Voter Registration Day, the largest one-day effort to register voters in the US.

The day before "Total Registration Live," MTV News' political powerhouse team of Ana Marie Cox and Jamil Smith will be on-the-ground at Hofstra University in the lead-up and immediately following the first 2016 presidential debate. Coverage will range from on-air hits on MTV and multiple Facebook Lives to ongoing editorial and social coverage.

In addition, MTV's "Elect This," in collaboration with Viacom NEXT, will debut the "Open Your Eyes" virtual reality art show at Hofstra University, which will be open to debate attendees and Hofstra students. Additional locations will be announced at a later date.

"Open Your Eyes" features 3D immersive visualizations of important issues ranging from gun violence and rape culture to climate change, immigration and more, created by young people and featured artists Dave Persue, Illma Gore, Hayden Zezula, Fabiola Lara, Ada Rajkovic, Shaun O'Connor, Sam Stewart, Grace Miceli, Renda Writer, JCorp, Jon Santos For Freedoms, SacSix, Wane, and ThankYouX. The "Elect This" HUB at Art.electthis.com will host the art, viewable in 3D and virtual reality via Sketchfab; interviews with the artists; and key call-to-action for each work of art created in partnership with the artists themselves. The site will also house the "Elect This Generation," a meme generator that allows users to combine art they create along with a statement about the issue it represents. Art and artist interviews will also be shared across MTV's social platforms including Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook Live.

Select attendees at "Open Your Eyes" events will receive a viewer so they can view the art in virtual reality at home, in partnership with Sketchfab, and will have the opportunity to take the art home as a limited-edition lenticular print, in partnership with Gifpop.

Over two million actions have been taken via MTV's Elect This which connects Millennials to the real issues that matter to them in an election season dominated by personalities over policy, and SCANDAL over substance. The Elect This campaign is supported by partners including: American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League, Define American, Enroll America, Everytown for Gun Safety, FWD.us, GLAAD, NAACP, National Partnership for Women and Families, NextGen Climate, Oxfam America, Planned Parenthood, RAINN, Rock the Vote, Truman National Security Project and Young Invincibles.

*Source: MTV Insights/YouGov/Economist Sept 10-13, N=926 Registered Voters. Projections assume all non millennials who intend to vote do vote.

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