In December, CNN honored their 2007 CNN Heroes. Now, CNN is asking viewers to begin submitting nominations for the 2008 Heroes awards.
Profiles of viewer-submitted heroes will air across various CNN programs, beginning with a premiere every Thursday night on Larry King Live. The submissions will narrowed down by a panel of CNN producers, eventually settling on 20 semi-finalists. A Blue Ribbon Panel will chose 10 finalists and the CNN audience will select the Hero of the Year.
Last year 7,000 submissions were made.
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CNN Worldwide has announced a call for entries for “CNN Heroes,” the network’s award-winning initiative launched last year to spotlight ordinary citizens accomplishing extraordinary deeds. Viewers can visit www.CNN.com/Heroes to submit their nominees for heroes in their communities, and honorees will be announced during a broadcast at the end of this year.
Fresh from earning a prestigious Gracie Allen Award, CNN Heroes kicked off its 2008 season on Thursday, Feb. 14, on Larry King Live, with a profile of Marie Da Silva, who has lost 14 family members to AIDS. Today, this Los Angeles nanny helps fund a school in her native Malawi, where half a million children have been orphaned by the disease.
Throughout 2008, profiles of viewer-submitted heroes will premiere each Thursday night on Larry King Live and will air subsequently on other CNN programs, as well as on Headline News, CNN International and CNN en Español. A panel of CNN producers will cull submissions down to approximately 20 semi-finalists, and a Blue Ribbon Panel will choose ten finalists. CNN’s global audience will ultimately select the CNN Hero of the Year via voting at www.CNN.com/Heroes.
In its first year, CNN Heroes received more than 7,000 submissions from viewers in more than 80 countries. “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” aired on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español on Dec. 6, 2007, and honored heroes in categories such as “Medical Marvel,” “Young Wonder” and “Championing Children.” The broadcast featured appearances by Glenn Close, Harry Connick Jr., and Jimmy Smits, and performances by Sheryl Crow, Wyclef Jean with Norah Jones, and Mary J. Blige. In the United States, a cumulative 7.2 million total viewers and nearly 2.9 million P25-54 viewers watched the tribute.
Last week, the American Women in Radio and Television announced that it had awarded the CNN Heroes telecast with one of its Grace Allen Awards in the “Outstanding Special” category.