NEWS///08.24.07

SURFER Magazine today announced that rock band Angels & Airwaves will play live during the 2007 Surfer Poll & Video Awards, Sept. 11, at The Grove in Anaheim, Calif. and Sal Masekela will return to host. The event, known as The Academy Awards of surfing, draws the who’s who of the industry and Hollywood, and is poised to present the biggest and best awards show to date for its historical 35^th anniversary. 

“We’re looking forward to having Sal back as host this year, and there’ll be some big surf legends and celebrities as guest presenters,” says SURFER Magazine Publisher Rick Irons. “And the fact that Angels & Airwaves are scheduled to play a live set during the show is going to take the night over the top.” 

Geffen Records recording artist and long-time surf supporters Angels & Airwaves will perform live during the Awards show. This marks the first time that a band of this caliber will perform at the event. With an all-star line up including Tom DeLonge (blink-182 and Box Car Racer), David Kennedy (Over My Dead Body, Hazen Street, and Box Car Racer), Atom Willard (Offspring), and Matt Wachter (30 Seconds to Mars), the band is currently recording their second album, I-Empire, which has an expected release date of October 23, 2007.

Also confirmed, Sal Masekela, best known for co-anchoring E’s The Daily 10 as well as a key personality of the X Games, returns to host the Poll Awards portion of the night. With deep roots in the action sports industry, Masekela recently served as a voice actor for the surfing mockumentary Surf’s Up alongside pro surfers and Surfer Poll favorites Kelly Slater and Rob Machado.  

Legendary surfing icon and South Africa’s first world champion, Shaun Tomson, and big-wave charger turned Hollywood stuntman, Brock Little, are just a few of the greats who will be on hand to dole out awards. As always, the night will be filled with celebrities, special guests, and surprise presenters from both the worlds of surfing and Hollywood. The Surfer Poll Awards are also sure to deliver some bombshells as the voting turnout was the largest to date and the race for the top 10 male and top five females is heated.

 “Everything is a lot closer this year,” says SURFER Magazine Editor Chris Mauro. “Last year, the top two or three guys ran away with the voting, but this year, things are really close. From one, all the way to 10.” 

The Surfer Poll, produced since 1963 by industry-leading surf publication SURFER Magazine, is the only event of its kind that allows readers the chance to voice their opinion about their favorite surfers via online voting at www.surferpoll.net or a ballot from the July and August issues of SURFER Magazine. The top 10 male and top five female finishers are honored each year. Only 13 surfers have been crowned the Men’s Surfer Poll Champion in the 35-year history of the event, making it the most prestigious honor in all of surfing. Past male winners include: Phil Edwards, Tom Curren, Andy Irons, and Kelly Slater. Female winners include: Joyce Hoffman, Lisa Andersen, Rochelle Ballard, and Sofia Mulanovich.  

The Surfer Poll and Video Awards will take place on September 11, 2007, at The Grove of Anaheim. Attendance is by invitation only and the event will be covered exclusively on www.surfermag.com and broadcast for the fifth consecutive year on FUEL TV on October 22 at 9:30 p.m. Check www.fuel.tv for additional airdates and times.

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