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.
