Choir puts coronavirus spin on Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody in viral video

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Kit Heren6 April 2020

A Canadian choir has released a coronavirus-themed version of the Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody.

Seven members of the Phoenix Chamber Choir, based in Vancouver, adapted lyrics written by comedian Dana Jay Bein and recorded the song remotely.

Lyrics include: "Is this a sore throat? Is this just allergies? Caught in a lockdown, no escape from reality."

The accompanying video makes it seem as if the choir are singing together on a video call - but this would have been too difficult and lowered sound quality.

To get around this, each choir member recorded their part separately and the resulting tracks were painstakingly edited together by other members over the course of a week.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
REUTERS

Choir administrator Emily Zuidema told the Standard that the project was initially just meant to be for fun, but when members saw the project had turned out so well, they decided to post it online.

She added: "This was something outside our comfort zone, as this is not the kind of music that Phoenix usually performs, but because we had to cancel the rest of our season due to COVID, we won't get to see each other or perform together again until October.

"The video gave us a way to connect with each other and our community, and also share an important message about staying home and doing your part to slow the spread of the virus

Canada has encouraged social distancing and working from home in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.

The North American country has had nearly 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. 258 people had died in Canada after contracting coronavirus by April 5, according to the country's infectious disease centre.

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