娱乐英语新闻:U2 make history on YouTube

BEIJING, Oct. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- U2, the Irish rock band from Dublin, made history Sunday performing a concert that was streamed live on the Internet to a worldwide audience.

    While around 96,000 packed the packed the Rose Bowl on Sunday night to watch the group, millions more tuned in to a special YouTube channel. The event was all part of the U2 360° Tour which began on 30 June 2009 and features European and North American stadium dates in 2009. Additional shows are expected in 2010.

    The band performed many of their fans favorite hits including "With or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where the Streets Have No Name".

    Michele Flannery, YouTube's music manager, said the site was "thrilled" to team up with "one of the world's greatest bands" and said YouTube was "always looking for new ways to connect fans around the world with their favorite artists, and this is the perfect opportunity to do just that."

    It wasn't the first time YouTube had hosted a live streaming event. In November 2008 YouTube Live broadcast to the world and hosted artists including the Black Eyed Peas, the rapper will.i.am and singer Katy Perry amongst others.

    However, Sunday's event featured perhaps the highest profile artist to be streamed on YouTube. In November 2000, Madonna streamed a live concert she was performing in Brixton in south London. Her webcast, which was hosted by Microsoft, was criticized at the time for being unstable. Today's broadband connections now make such experiences more enjoyable for the viewer.