STUDENT singers are raising smiles and money for Helen & Douglas House with a festive music video.

A cappella group Out of the Blue have recorded a cover of Mariah Carey’s famous seasonal hit All I Want For Christmas Is You.

The video is rapidly going viral on YouTube, being watched more than 300,000 times in its first week.

The song has also gone on sale at Band Camp, an online music store, for £1, with all of the money going to East Oxford children’s and young adults’ hospice.

Out of the Blue, made up of male students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes, are hoping to repeat the success of their July video, Hips Don’t Lie.

The Shakira cover, shared on social media by the Colombian singer herself, raised more than £10,000 for the hospice and has been watched more than five million times.

Charlie Hicks, 19, is a neuroscience student at Queen’s College and a member of the group.

He said: “We support Helen & Douglas House hospice and we’re always thinking of ways to try to raise money for them.

“We knew that the music video idea worked well and it’s Christmas, so it was an amazing opportunity to make another film.”

He said it did not take long for the group to choose a song, adding: “It was quite obvious, everyone knows it.

“It also allows us all to have a solo, which is quite nice from our end, to be able to show off every singer. That was important for us.”

Charlie Strachan, a law student at Jesus College, added: “People seem to like the Oxford-ness of the videos and the fact that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

“We made £100 in the first day and it would be great to raise the same amount that we did with the Shakira video.

“Filming the video in the Bodleian Library was a hectic three days, getting up very early to film before it opened to the public, but it was fantastic.”

Helen & Douglas House spokeswoman Lin Crowley said: “Out of the Blue are an amazing group and fantastic supporters of the charity.

“We are immensely grateful and thrilled that they continue to help us raise funds, so that we can continue to provide exceptional hospice care for terminally ill children and young adults.

“The festive season is always fun here and will be even better if people do something ‘out of the blue’ and download the single.”

The hospice is also hoping to get a share of the profits from this year’s X Factor winner’s single, as reported by the Oxford Mail last week.

 

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE