The premiere broadcast was shown live on the big screen at Times Square in New York City, on Sunday, Dec. 6. Click through the gallery for more photos from the event.
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Academy Award nominated actress Sharon Stone -- star of TNT's new series "Agent X" -- presented an award during the ceremony, which was held at New York's American Museum of Natural History.
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CNN's Anderson Cooper -- host of the event -- enjoys a light moment with comedian Kathy Griffin.
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2015 CNN Top 10 Hero Monique Pool receives her award from presenter Neil Patrick Harris. Pool -- nicknamed "The Sloth Lady" -- was honored for her remarkable work with animals in Suriname.
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CNN Top 10 Hero Kim Carter was honored for her work aimed at stopping the cycle of homelessness among women in California.
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The Rev. Richard Joyner receives his award from Chris Noth. Joyner -- a 2015 Top 10 CNN Hero -- was recognized for founding an ambitious garden project aimed at improving the health of residents in and around his North Carolina community.
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Kelly Ripa -- Emmy-winning co-host of TV's "LIve with Kelly and Michael" -- was among the presenters at the 2015 CNN Heroes award ceremony.
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Popular YouTube fashion vlogger Bethany Mota graced the stage to present one of the event's Young Wonder awards.
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Cooper introduces CNN 2015 Young Wonder Isaiah Granet. When he was just 14 years old, Granet organized, raised funds, coached and enlisted volunteers to create a hockey team for special needs children in San Diego, California.
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Recording artist Andra Day performed her inspiring anthem "Rise Up" during the ceremony. She also participated in the #MyHeroIn4Words CNN Heroes social media campaign.
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Host Anderson Cooper with a sloth named Snooki, an animal ambassador from the LEO Zoological Conservation Center. Snooki was there to help honor Top 10 Hero Monique Pool, who rescues, rehabilitates and releases sloths back to the rainforest in Suriname.
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Cooper recognized Delaware's Imani Henry, also honored as a Young Wonder. Henry founded the 100 Men Reading program, which is aimed at enlisting positive male role models to encourage children to read.
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A Manhattan landmark, the American Museum of Natural History served as the location for the CNN Heroes award ceremony for the third year in a row.
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Since 2006, the Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated event has profiled more than 250 heroes and has received more than 50,000 nominations from more than 100 countries.
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Months of nominations and an online vote by CNN's audience culminated with Cooper's announcement of CNN's Hero of the Year.
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New Jersey's Maggie Doyne -- who helps women and children in Nepal -- was named CNN's 2015 Hero of the Year November 17 at "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" in New York.
