Hayden Declares Herself

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood celebrated the power of
18 last night as Declare Yourself, the national nonpartisan, nonprofit
youth voter initiative aimed at empowering and encouraging America’s
18-year-olds to register and vote in the 2008 primaries and general
election, presented a spectacular star-studded event. Held at the historic
Beverly Hills Post Office (currently the Wallis Annenberg Center for the
Performing Arts), and presented by newly announced campaign sponsor,
Cricket Communications, Inc., the unforgettable night was hosted by Declare
Yourself founder Norman Lear with popular television star Hayden Panettiere
(”Heroes”).

Celebrating the rite of passage of turning 18-years-old, guests of all
ages registered to vote and shared inspirational stories about the power of
participation in democracy. The evening culminated with a live musical
performance of Alice Cooper’s classic, “I’m Eighteen,” re-imagined as a
rousing anthem by Chester Bennington, lead vocalist of Grammy-winning,
multi-platinum rock band Linkin Park, who joined Camp Freddy members Chris
Chaney, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction and Billy
Morrison of The Cult. Afterward, guests danced the night away as
actor/rapper/comedian Nick Cannon spun as special guest DJ.
“Hollywood Celebrates 18″ drew some of today’s most influential
celebrities including Kristin Bell, Chester Bennington, Chris Chaney, Sasha
Cohen, Nick Cannon, Lauren Conrad, Nick D’Agosto, Julianne Hough, Dave
Lieberman, Seth MacFarlane, Heidi Montag, Billy Morrison, Dave Navarro,
Adrian Pasdar, Stephen Perkins, Plain White T’s, Zachary Quinto, Romeo,
Justin Timberlake and Rumer Willis.
“When you consider there will be four million 18-year-olds in the
country in 2008, one vote can have an enormous impact,” said Lear.
“Everyone involved in Declare Yourself — whether it’s our celebrity
friends or corporate partners — are steadfast in reaching our goal of
getting every eligible 18-year to register and vote in the upcoming 2008
election.”
At the event, all guests were able to register to vote under an
over-sized 10 foot-high birthday cake outfitted with voter registration
kiosks. Lauren Conrad used the online registration tool at
http://www.DeclareYourself.com. Attendees were also treated to a special
viewing of an original copy of the Declaration of Independence — one of
200 printed on July 4, 1776 provided by Mr. Lear himself.
In addition to announcing Cricket’s role as Declare Yourself’s
presenting sponsor, Mr. Lear also revealed that Declare Yourself’s 2007-8
campaign will be supported by new partners Starbucks, HarperCollins
Publishers, UWIRE and Voto Latino. Details regarding the activation of
these partnerships will be forthcoming.
Declare Yourself patriotically re-launched the week of 4th of July,
with a multi-tiered platform aimed at engaging young Americans in the
voting process. Major partners include Cricket (Presenting Sponsor), Yahoo!
(Premier Online Information Partner), MySpace (Premier Social Networking
Partner), Google, Evite, GOOD, Clear Channel, Comedy Central and American
Eagle Outfitters. With their support, Declare Yourself is positioned to
drive millions of young adults to its online voter registration tool and to
the polls. Declare Yourself registered more than 1.2 million young people
(ages 18-29) in the 2004 and 2006 elections.
About Declare Yourself
Declare Yourself is the national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to
energize and empower every eligible 18-year-old in America to register and
vote in the 2008 primaries and presidential election. Partnering with
leaders in education, the entertainment industry, popular online
destinations and media outlets, and retailers, Declare Yourself registered
more than 1.2 million people in the 2004 and 2006 elections at
http://www.declareyourself.com. Declare Yourself, founded by Norman Lear,
was launched in 2003 as the culmination of the Declaration of Independence
Road Trip, a nationwide multi-media exhibit and tour of an original copy of
the Declaration of Independence.

SOURCE Declare Yourself