Cairo choir plays message of hope amid COVID-19 gloom

Egypt's Cairo Celebration Choir have had their concerts cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic but it hasn't stopped them from releasing a hopeful and colourful message during the tough times. 

With its colourful video and cheerful tune, the song called "El Youm" or "The Day", has been watched by more than 320,000 on the choir's Facebook page since August.

The song also has been released on digital music platforms and aired on the radio in Egypt.

Two of the choir's concerts were cancelled in March, and choir founder and artistic director Nayer Nagui found himself unable to work. "We did one thing during the lockdown, which is this song. And the reason was to spread hope and here you go, it is doing that. So we are very happy. Everybody's very happy," said Nagui.  Choir members, soloists and a range of musicians individually recorded the song on their mobile phones. 

A sound engineer mixed the clips to create the song.

Nagui also included a sign language interpreter so that people who are deaf or hard of hearing could also understand the message. 

"They also need to feel this hope and joy ad look at the colorful things and understand how are the people thinking, even if they are not hearing it. They deserve to receive this message of hope and joy," he said.