Presidential elections are the kind of events that we talk about for years before they actually arrive, so it's weird to see the 2016 election getting closer and closer and becoming a real thing. But even with all that advance warning — in fact, maybe because of it — it can be easy to let due dates and deadlines sneak by you. For that reason, MTV is bringing back TRL , their classic show, for one day only, just to get that good word out about registering to vote. One of the only differences is that, this time around, it isn't Total Request Live, it's Total Registration Live. This is in honor of the fact that Sep. 27 is National Voter Registration Day. The deadline to register varies by state, but they're all coming at you hot, and, if you want to get your butt to the polls on Nov. 8, you have to be ready.
To MTV, part of what being ready means is being informed, so they've found a cool way to bring the most important issue of this election to the forefront during the broadcast. Another way that this 2016-iteration of TRL will be different when it airs on Tuesday is that it won't have the countdown format that we all know and love. Instead, Vulture reports that Total Registration Live will introduce us to young activists like “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."
Instead of being a platform to make your voice heard in terms of the music and artists that you want to rise to the top, this one-night-only TRL will be focused on the issues that we need to rise to the top and be addressed in this election. There's nothing wrong with having a main focus that's something other than politics, but this particular election seems like it's going to come down to the wire. There's never been a more important time to bone up on the issues and figure out what you need to hear from your candidate.
And, of course, it wouldn't be TRL without celebrities, so the special will also be studded with appearances from entertainment world names like Ty Dolla $ign, Kendall Jenner, Joss Whedon, Fifth Harmony’s Camila Cabello, Vic Mensa, Natalia Dyer, and Mack Wilds, among others. You can watch it on TV, of course, but, if you're feeling super millennial, you can also stream TRL on MTV's app, at ElectThis.com, or even MTV's Facebook page.
The important thing is that you watch it, and, after that, the important thing is that you register to vote. And then, you know, there's actually voting. But let's just take this one step at a time so nobody gets overwhelmed, yeah? We're all in this together, so let MTV give you this nudge toward being proactive and taking care of business now so that we can all be a part of this historic election in November.
