This week an all-male singing group named “Out of the Blue,” made up of students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes, released a new single for charity. The group did a cover of Shakira hits, including Hips Don’t Lie, Whenever Wherever and Waka Waka.
The group, which is raising money for the Helen and Douglas House children’s hospice in Oxford never expected a tweet from the one and only Shakira herself. But the Colombian pop star tweeted: “hey @ootboxford we LOVE your a cappella Shak medley!” and included a link to the mashup video. In just a few days, the tweet has been retweeted more than 700 times and been given over 1000 favorites.
The video is quite hilarious; the group’s version of Hips Don’t Life is filled with several nods to Shakira’s original video, along with their version of the hip shake. The guys all have amazing voices, with different members taking the lead throughout. After Hips Don’t Lie, the group cuts into Whenever Wherever and Waka Waka. The a cappella version of the songs maintain a consistent beat throughout and the guys give a good amount sass throughout, too.
The Helen and Douglas House helps care for terminally ill children. The hit currently has over 40,000 views on YouTube after less than a week. Out of the Blue member Marco Alessi told Cherwell, “The staff at Gay Times really kicked it all off for us, so we’re incredibly grateful to them, and Shakira’s tweet is crazy. Unfortunately it’s not so simple, but if 0.5% of her followers donated fifty pence we would make £65,000 for the charity!”
The group already has raised a total of £35,000 for the Helen and Douglas House since they started supporting the charity in 2006.