Leading Chinese Video Sharing Site Youku.com to Host Online Competition for 'Chinese Idol' and 'Miss Wuhan' Beauty Pageant

Leading Chinese Video Sharing Site Youku.com to Host Online Competition for 'Chinese Idol' and 'Miss Wuhan' Beauty Pageant

May 17, 2007

    BEIJING, China, May 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Youku.com
(formerly Yoqoo.com), a leading Chinese video-sharing
website, is helping "Chinese Idol" and "Miss
Wuhan" beauty pageant to expand from traditional media
to the virtual world.
    
    Beijing-based Youku was invited by Jiangsu Satellite TV
based in East China to host an online competition for its
"Chinese Idol" program. The provincial Satellite
TV has launched the "Chinese Idol" program in May
-- known among Chinese as "Jue Dui Chang Xiang",
or literally "absolute singing competence
contest".
 
    "Chinese Idol" is among one of the most
popular reality TV programs in China. It has opened entry
competitions across the country in 10 cities, namely
Nanjing where the host TV station is based, Shanghai,
Beijing, Xi'an, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Harbin, Chongqing,
Chengdu, and Shenzhen.

    For the first time ever among China's mushrooming idol
contests, Youku, the exclusive online video partner
of"Chinese Idol", set an independent online
contest platform. At the Youku contest platform, the fans
can vote for their "Stars" online and votes will
be tabulated on a real-time basis. This online contest
platform is expected to select two semi-finalists to join
the national competition together with winners from the
other 10 contest cities.

    "The online competition we provide fulfils an
interactive engagement between TV networks and their
audience,"said Victor Koo, founder and CEO of Youku
(pronounced as "you cool" in English). 
    The cooperation between traditional media and new media
makes the contest open to everyone. Theoretically anyone
from anywhere, not necessarily within China, is able to
participate". 

    Wuhan TV, a city TV station in central China's Hubei
Province, also recognized business opportunities Youku
could provide. It has invited Youku to jointly hold this
year's Miss Wuhan Beauty Pageant. Through Youku
competitionplatform, the local TV station became
"national" or even a bit
"international", and it is attracting more
attention by opening the final voting to nationwide
netizens. 

    Youku, beta launched in June 2006, has accumulated
within 10 months more than a million user-uploaded video
clips. Internet users keep uploading videos about almost
everything. Now Youku is greeted by more than 30 million
unique visitors per month who upload more than 10,000
videos per day. 

    About Youku.com

    Youku.com is a leading video sharing site and premier
online video brand in China. It is one of the top
destinations for people to watch and share short-form
videos in Greater China including Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Youku was founded by Victor Koo, former president of Sohu
and funded by Sutter Hill Ventures, Farallon Capital and
Chengwei Ventures. 


    For more information, please contact:

     Ms. Zhuan Yirong
     Youku.com
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]