Clear Channel Entertainment and Cirque du Soleil Announce New Partners

NEW YORK, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Entertainment Theatrical, Scott Zeiger and President and Chief Operating Officer of Cirque du Soleil, Daniel Lamarre, announced today that Clear Channel Entertainment and Cirque du Soleil have formed a partnership to develop and produce a 100-date nationwide North American arena tour, beginning in November 2005.

For the first time ever, Cirque du Soleil will perform principally one- night concert engagements in major arenas across North America. The new show will feature the music catalog of Cirque du Soleil and will re-define the concert experience, incorporating Cirque du Soleil's unique brand of innovative staging and its imaginative use of video projections and music.

Cirque du Soleil Musique, the music division of Cirque du Soleil, will manage the creative and artistic production of this new venture. Production and promotional aspects will be managed by Clear Channel Entertainment.

Scott Zeiger said, "We are very excited about presenting this new joint venture, and are thrilled to collaborate with a creative team of this caliber. We have always had great admiration for Cirque du Soleil's artistic achievements, and are looking forward to bringing their innovative vision to a much larger audience across North America with this newly configured tour presentation."

"This new collaboration clearly demonstrates what Cirque du Soleil is looking for in building partnerships -- leadership, open-mindedness and the willingness to develop creative-driven quality projects. Clear Channel Entertainment is most certainly one of those partners," said Daniel Lamarre, President and COO of Cirque du Soleil.

Overseeing the project for Clear Channel Entertainment will be Executive Vice President, Creative Development, Jonathan Hochwald, and for Cirque du Soleil, Senior Vice President, New Ventures, Eric Fournier.

Hochwald said, "This is a dream project for us -- an opportunity to reinvent and reimagine the arena experience and to introduce the genius of Cirque du Soleil's artistic vision to new audiences who will discover the music of Cirque as they have never seen it."

"This new creative platform is the first step to a long-term relationship with Clear Channel Entertainment," added Fournier. "Cirque du Soleil is truly expanding its creative force to other types of ventures with the simple objective of redefining existing entertainment formats with a Cirque du Soleil creative perspective."

Creative details and tour dates will be announced soon. About Clear Channel Entertainment

Clear Channel Entertainment, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications , is a leading producer and marketer of live entertainment events and currently owns, operates and/or exclusively books 130 live entertainment venues in the world of which the North American Theatrical division owns and/or operates eighteen. Broadway producing credits for the 2004 - 2005 season include 700 Sundays starring Billy Crystal, All Shook Up, Fiddler on the Roof, Hairspray, La Cage Aux Folles, Movin' Out, Sweet Charity, The Producers and Wonderful Town. In addition, Clear Channel Entertainment presents theatrical subscription seasons and individual presentations in over 50 markets across North America. Visit http://www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/ .

About Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil. From a group of twenty street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has grown to become a major Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment, with nearly 3,000 employees from over 40 different countries, including 700 artists. Since its inception in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 50 million spectators in over 100 cities on four continents. In 2005, Cirque du Soleil will present 11 shows simultaneously throughout the world. Cirque du Soleil has received such prestigious awards as the Emmy, Drama Desk, Bambi, ACE, Gemeaux, Felix, and Rose d'Or de Montreux. Cirque du Soleil's International Headquarters are in Montreal, Canada.

Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements. Visit our website at http://www.clearchannel.com/ .