Forget Westlife, Boyzone, or even One Direction, and make way for the new kids on the block, a group of NUI Galway students who have donned the obligatory matching white outfits, plastered the cheesy grins, and brought their dodgy syncronised dance moves not just to the campus grounds, but to the streets of Galway, and to a YouTube audience all in aid of a very worthy cause.
Although I doubt Louis Walsh will be rushing down to get signatures on the dotted line, the new NUI Galway boy band have recorded the charity music video, ‘NUIG Wants It That Way’ to raise much-needed funds for 1LIFE suicide prevention charity. The video was uploaded to YouTube just last Monday and has proven to be an instant hit having attracted more than 23,000 views by yesterday afternoon. The video, a comic take on the ‘I want it that way’ song by Backstreet Boys, is sponsored by Supermacs and WeSession and each view will raise 50 cent for the chosen charity.
One of the band member’s Cormac O’Malley, a third year arts student, found time away from signing autographs to explain: “After many rehearsals, this boy band began to dance and mime all around the NUI Galway campus robed only in white. From the library to lecture theatres to the Kingfisher gym swimming pool, even to Supermacs, we performed our memorable act. This act was recorded to the tune of the ultimate ‘I want it that way’ by the Backstreet Boys. Not only is it one of the greatest tracks in pop history but it reminded us of what we were dancing for and why we were being filmed - in aid of suicide awareness. Filming was so much fun, we laughed constantly, and wore irremovable smiles.
“While filming, those who did not know about the project - the vast majority - were amused by the joyous spectacle that we presented in many locations over a matter of weeks. Given that we only ever had a phone or a laptop playing the track during filming, we must have looked like more boisterous versions of Peter Pan, dancing to the wonders inside our heads. But it was not only students who got involved. After some encouragement, the president of NUI Galway, James Brown, agreed to get involved. We taught him our dance and, within a matter of minutes, he was a natural. I thought that it would only be on my graduation day that I would stand beside him. Never did I imagine that I would dance beside him. It makes me smile to have been proven wrong. Our sponsors - Supermacs and WeSession - were kind enough to recognise that our overnight transition from amateur to professional could not be wasted, and they agreed that for every YouTube view of the video, 50c would go towards ‘1Life’- a charity set up in 2009 to raise awareness of suicide. We all know, or know of someone who has committed suicide so it is an issue that affects us all. Every now and again we need something that will make us laugh and feel optimistic. Speaking on behalf of those who were involved with the project we hope that our video makes you feel good – Because We Want It That Way.”
To view the video type ‘NUIG wants it that way’ in YouTube.
