Montréal, July 15, 2009 – Videotron will support the FrancoFolies de Montréal and its performers for another three years, until 2011. Videotron is pleased to support Francophone music and culture by continuing the partnership with the FrancoFolies and helping to bring the festival to an ever wider audience, said Claude Foisy, Vice President, Brand Management and Content, Videotron. Among other things, Videotron will broadcast festival content across Québec on all its platforms.
During the 21st FrancoFolies, Videotron will offer Francophiles a broad selection of the best in contemporary French-language music. Concerts, concert clips and other content will be available on illico on Demand, videotron.com, VOX, and at the festival site at the Monde urbain Vidéotron.
Promoting Francophone music across Québec
This year, Star aux Francos will give all musically talented Quebecers a chance to help spread the strains of Francophone music across Québec. Amateur performers can upload their home-made music videos to videotron.com/francos and then use the online editing tool to create a montage in which they are seen performing their number on the outdoor FrancoFolies stage. Participants can then post their creation on the site or any other site for their friends to admire. Visitors to the site will be able to post comments on the performances.
AT THE FRANCOFOLIES SITE
Studio Vidéotron
At the Studio Vidéotron, festivalgoers will be able to access Star aux Francos, try out Videotron products, and make free calls with Videotron mobile phones. Music-lovers will also be able to check out the karaoke service on illico on Demand and the content on videotron.com/francos.
Scène urbaine Vidéotron
Electronic music and hip hop will take the stage at every day at the Scène urbaine Vidéotron, located at the corner of Sainte-Catherine St. and Clark St. in the heart of the festival site. The stage will host two concert series, Soirées urbaines at 9 pm and Nuits urbaines at 11 pm. In all, 18 urban artists and bands will perform. Concert clips will be available on videotron.com/francos as of the next day.
French Kiss: the sound of the future
French Kiss, an electronic band driven by the energetic beat of a percussive electric harp, will perform every evening at 8 p.m. at Monde Urbain Vidéotron. The young Montréal trio creates an envelope of sound of rare intensity that seamlessly combines the tones of the electric harp, electric bass, electronic rhythms and vocals. Excerpts from their performances will also be available every night on videotron.com/francos.
Laser murals
Every evening from 9 pm to midnight, visitors to Monde Urbain Vidéotron will have a unique opportunity to give their creativity free rein by producing an electronic laser drawing. Their works of urban art will be projected onto a large wall on Sainte-Catherine St. as they draw. Some projections of the evening will subsequently be available for download on videotron.com/francos.
Info-Francos information stands and Videotron telephone booths
This year, there will be four Info-Francos Vidéotron stands where festivalgoers can get full information on the program for the 21st FrancoFolies. Visitors will also be able to make free local calls and free long-distance calls between Videotron subscribers at the five Videotron telephone booths on the site.
ON THE VOX CHANNEL
Mes Francos
This summer, VOX will rock to the beat of the 21st FrancoFolies de Montréal. From July 30 to August 8, Mes Francos, hosted by Marc Denoncourt, will give festivalgoers and television viewers a chance to discover established names and rising stars of Francophone music. Every day, two artists performing at the FrancoFolies will talk about their music and perform accompanied by the house band led by Denis Faucher.
The public is invited to watch the taping of the show at the outdoor FrancoFolies site, close to Monde urbain Videotron. More information on the program is available at voxtv.ca.
ON ILLICO ON DEMAND
Franco karaoke
All subscribers to illico Digital TV will have access to a special karaoke package of 50 Québec songs. The service is available from now through August 9 on channel 900. This FrancoFolies special offer includes hits by artists such as Céline Dion, Isabelle Boulay, Kevin Parent, Francis Cabrel and many others.
Galaxie FrancoFolies channel
The Galaxie FrancoFolies channel is now available to illico Digital TV subscribers on channel 546, and to Videotron high-speed Internet access subscribers at videotron.com/francos. The new channel features artists and bands performing at the 21st FrancoFolies de Montréal. Galaxie FrancoFolies will also be broadcast at the festival site.
Videotron Ltd. (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services, cable telephony and wireless telephone service. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its illico interactive television system and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. As of March 31, 2009, Videotron was serving 1,729,168 cable television customers in Québec, including 963,153 illico Digital TV subscribers. Videotron is the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 1,089,251 subscribers to its cable modem service as of March 31, 2009. As of the same date, Videotron had activated 68,015 lines on its wireless telephone service and was providing cable telephone service to approximately 890,918 Québec households and organizations. For the fourth consecutive year, Videotron has been named Québec's most respected telecommunications company by Commerce magazine, based on a Léger Marketing poll.
