Dayton Daily News

To combat coronaviru­s, turn handwashin­g into karaoke with this site

- By Christi Carras

Freeze! Everybody wash your hands.

If you’re trying to prevent the spread of coronaviru­s, you can now sing D J Casper’s “Cha-Cha Slide” — or any tune you prefer — while scrubbing your hands thanks to a popular new website

The site, which generates a how-to hand-washing poster tailored to song lyrics of the user’s choosing, has also spurred a viral meme on social media, inspiring people to brainstorm tracks with the best 20-second excerpts for hand-wash karaoke.

Based on a real diagram released by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, the generator replaces proper hand-washing instructio­ns

And while “Happy Birthday” still fits the healthy interval perfectly fine, the internet has some better ideas, creating posters featuring Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” “Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” “High School Musical’s” “Breaking Free”

“Shakira’s ‘Ciega, Sordomuda’ chorus is exactly 20 seconds long,” one astute Twitter user pointed out

“I have tried a few tunes, having got bored of happy birthday.”

Developer and designer William Gibson, the mastermind behind the generator, promoted his hygienic handiwork Sunday on Twitter, writing, “I made a little site in 24h that generates hand washing instructio­ns accompanie­d by lyrics from a song of your choice instantly — check it out!”

Suffice it to say that “little site” has really taken off, even drawing attention from artists such as Miley Cyrus, Blink-182 and Troye Sivan

“Wash your damn hands,” Cyrus tweeted on Tuesday, along with a photo of a poster featuring lyrics from her 2009 hit, “The Climb.”

Gibson, 17, has remained active on Twitter since the site launched, keeping followers informed about debugging efforts and retweeting celebrity editions as they come in. He’s even charted and shared which tracks have been used the most, with “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, “All Star” by Smash Mouth and “Africa” by Toto leading the charge.

“Thanks to everyone who has used the site so far!” he wrote on Monday. “Also sorry for the downtime, didn’t expect the traffic the site received.”

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 ?? DREAMSTIME ?? Handwashin­g is essential to keep healthy.
DREAMSTIME Handwashin­g is essential to keep healthy.

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