Fancy yourself a decent Freddie Mercury impersonator? Is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ your karaoke go-to?
Well, now you can test your ability with an AI-powered singing challenge, which rates how closely you can mimic Mercury’s voice in a range of different Queen classics.
It is part of the new ‘FreddieMeter’ campaign released in support of the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity founded to raise awareness and funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS, and to commemorate the 44th anniversary of Queen’s first performance of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
YouTube, Google Creative Lab, Google Research, Queen, Universal Music Group and Hollywood Records have all collaborated to bring the initiative to life.
Can anyone match @Freddie_Mercury’s legendary voice? Queen & @YouTubeMusic are challenging fans to find out! 🎤
Take on the #FreddieChallenge now → https://t.co/UGNRz9e7TX
In support of @The_MPT you can donate here: https://t.co/P0E5Ub5Y8v pic.twitter.com/NDtu56Ofki— Queen (@QueenWillRock) November 14, 2019
Users must first sing either ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, ‘Somebody to Love’ or ‘We Are the Champions’. The AI judge will then give the performance a score based on how similar it was to the late singer.
Users can then share their score to social media with the #FreddieChallenge and challenge friends to take part.
And while the challenge will no doubt go viral, Google wants to ensure your vocal recordings don’t end up in the wrong ears.
When FaceApp – the app which shows you what you will look like the future – went viral earlier this year, enthusiasm was quickly dampened when it was suggested facial data was being stored by the Russian company running the app.
FreddieMeter wants to avoid any similar privacy concerns, promising: “the audio doesn’t get uploaded to any servers to be analyzed, so all vocals stay totally private unless shared by the user”.
YouTube is currently celebrating Queen’s music and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ hitting 1 billion views on the platform.
