Audi Night in Kitzbühel: opening event for a legendary weekend of skiing

- Winter sport mixes with well-known personalities from the worlds of sport, entertainment and business
- Big entrance: Audi A8 and R8 Spyder on the red carpet
- Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall entertains at Hotel zur Tenne

Kitzbühel, Austria, Jan 23, 2010  -  Top athletes and celebrities from all over the world make the annual Hahnenkamm weekend in Kitzbühel a highlight of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup season. Prominent guests helped ring in the ninth annual celebration of the legendary winter sporting event during yesterday’s Audi Night. The many highlights included a performance by Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall.

The 400 invited guests at Audi Night included numerous actors well-known in Germany, such as Alexandra Maria Lara, Liz Baffoe, Thomas Heinze, Ralf Möller, and television host Kai Pflaume. Other guests at Hotel zur Tenne included former Alpine ski racers Hilde Gerg, Martina Ertl-Renz, Markus Wasmaier and Hermann Maier, as well as DTM champions Timo Scheider (2008-2009) and Mattias Ekström (2007). Awaiting the stars on the red carpet were the automotive highlights of the evening – the new Audi A8 and the R8 Spyder.

Eurosport television announcer Guido Heuber guided the guests through the evening and welcomed prominent figures from industry, including hosts Rupert Stadler (Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG) and Peter Schwarzenbauer (Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG), as well as Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn (Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG).

The first highlight of the evening whetted the guests’ appetite for skiing action, with the welcoming of ski champions Benjamin Raich (Austria), Felix Neureuther (Germany), Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway), Didier Cuche (Switzerland) and Bode Miller (USA). These athletes will today battle for every hundredth of a second on the famous “Streif” downhill run, in front of thousands of spectators.

Later in the evening, Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall put everyone in the mood to party with his highly acclaimed performance of hits like „Holding back the years“, „Stars“ or „Money’s too tight to mention“.