Keen to get a jump on major rivals Yahoo! and AOL in the battle for European subscribers, Microsoft portal MSN has signed an exclusive deal with top model agency Elite to host the organisation’s new-talent competition on the web.
The Elite Model Look talent contest, which was established 18 years ago, has served as a launching pad for some of the industry’s biggest names, including supermodel Cindy Crawford, Ines Sastre and Brazilian beauty Gisele Bundchen. Posting virtual proceedings of this year’s event, which will take place in Nice over the course of a week kicking off on August 31, is part of the portal’s drive to boost its European youth users.
Last year 20,000 people logged on to see who had made it to the number one newcomer slot, and this year organisers are expecting even higher figures, nudged upwards by the introduction of high definition coverage.
The competition finalists have already been chosen, with an initial pool of 400,000 international young hopefuls weeded down to just 62 entrants aged between 14 and 24. Their fortunes in the course of the next week will be posted online in more than a dozen sites in nine different languages.
Daily updates, plus an opportunity to vote for your favourite candidate, are posted at www.elitemodellook.com.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
