Coronavirus: The best and worst celebrity isolation videos – BBC News

Image caption Stars have been filming and streaming videos from self-isolation

Just like the rest of us, the world's top celebrities have all been told to stay at home during these strangest of times.

Being natural-born entertainers and creatives, though, many musicians, actors and artists have been keen to share their experiences of self-isolation.

Some of their videos have captured the collective mood of the online community, while others have landed a little wide of the mark.

We'll let you decide which is which...

To fight the spread of Covid-19, we are all being advised to wash our hands thoroughly, and leading the way in this regard is rock 'n' roll star Liam Gallagher.

The former Oasis frontman treated his followers to a series of kitchen sink re-workings of his old band's songs, such as Soap-ersonic and Champagne Soap-ernova.

He really ought to wash his mouth out too, as most of them come with a language warning. That said, Wonderwash (above) is good clean fun.

Everywhere is pretty much closed now, right? So if you can, there's never been a better time to enjoy a long soak in the bath.

The Queen of Pop, Madonna, was quick to realise this and she had another revelation in the tub too, about just how democratising a worldwide pandemic is.

"That's the thing about Covid-19. It doesn't care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell," the star pontificated, while filming herself naked in a milky bath full of rose petals, as you do.

"It's the great equaliser and what's terrible about it is what's great about it."

Looking after our mental health will be a key component to getting through this crisis and with that in mind another US singer, Lizzo, invited fans to indulge in a spot of musical meditation.

The session began with the signature sound of the Grammy-winner's flute before she delivered her soothing mantra.

"I think that fear can spread so much hatred and fear can spread so much negative energy and fear can spread the disease even quicker than the disease can," she said.

"When I got back to LA I noticed that the fear was heightened here. So I wanted to empower everybody and I wanted to let you guys know that we have power, you have power. You have power to eliminate fear."

Amen to that.

OK, so bedtime might be an especially tricky time for parents over the coming weeks and months, what with all the pent-up energy.

If you've already used up all of your best sleep-inducing material in week one of isolation then do not fear, as some movie stars have got your back.

US actress and activist Jennifer Garner teamed up with fellow actor Amy Adams, to tell some tales to get kids off to sleep and raise some money for charity in the process. The above edition of Save With Stories sees their Oscar-winning friend Reese Witherspoon bring Uni the Unicorn to life (no spoilers).

Aside from providing bedtime stories, domestic goddess Garner has also been dishing out some cooking classes too. So assuming you can find the right ingredients at the supermarket, why not have a go at bettering the American's English muffins.

The hip-hop sensation was raging to her 60 million plus followers, about what she felt was a lack of information and action from the US government, when compared with China - where the virus originated and now appears to be under better control.

President Donald Trump has said governors, mayors and citizens were working with "urgency and speed" in what he described as a "war against the virus".

During an explosive Instagram Live session at the weekend (so explosive we can't show it here I'm afraid) Cardi went looking for answers and, as usual, was taking no prisoners.

"When they put Wuhan, China, in quarantine they were spraying [stuff] in the streets. They were knocking on each door taking people's temperature," she noted.

"Let's say that I have the coronavirus right now, OK? How am I supposed to know I got it?"

The best advice the BBC can offer at the moment can be found here.

While we are all self-isolating - and, in many cases, working from home - we are still encouraged to take a responsible stroll outside each day, to blow away the cobwebs.

Comic actor and musician Steve Martin did precisely that and took his banjo with him.

Look how he manages to keep a safe distance of at least two metres from all the other potentially banjo-wielding walkers lurking in the shrubbery.

Inspired by scenes of quarantined Italians singing to each other on balconies, Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot shared a star-studded sing-along to John Lennon's Imagine.

Will Ferrell, Amy Adams, Kristen Wiig, Sia and Cara Delevingne all took part and clearly they all meant well. But the rich and famous collaborators were soon mocked mercilessly online by people questioning their choice of song, which imagines a utopia with "no possessions"... the type of which might be coming in handy for them round about now.

Elton John once levelled similar accusations of hypocrisy at Lennon, sending him a cover of the song with new lyrics: "Imagine six apartments, it isn't hard to do, one is full of fur coats, another's full of shoes," he paraphrased.

Thankfully, Matthew Fearon's humorous alternative version of the track, Imagine (There's No Bog Roll) - relating to the unexplained and widespread panic-buying of toilet paper - soon began doing the rounds on platforms like WhatsApp.

In the parlour game Six Degrees of Separation contestants are challenged to find the shortest path between an arbitary actor and Kevin Bacon.

The US actor was once described as being at "the centre of the Hollywood universe", as he's apparently in contact with anyone who is anyone.

Obviously we are now trying to avoid contact with people, so as a result Bacon challenged us all to name who we were staying home for and then challenge six others.

He kicked things off by choosing his wife Kyra Sedgwick.

"It's now so important to stay home and keep our distance from others if you are able," said Bacon.

"It's one way we can help prevent the spread of Coronavirus and save lives. The more of us who can, make it safer for those who can't."

In lieu of any actual concerts, singers like Coldplay's Chris Martin, Christine and the Queens, Yungblud and L Devine have been uploading interactive live performances. None of them, however, quite drummed home the health and safety message in song form as well as Neil Diamond.

The US crooner kindly offered up his karaoke classic, Sweet Caroline, as a memorable and potentially life-saving guide.

"Hands / Washing hands / Reaching out / Don't touch me / I won't touch you" sang Diamond, curled up next to an electric fire with his furry friend.

"I know we're going through a rough time right now, but I love ya," he said beforehand. "I think maybe if we sing together, we'll feel just a little bit better."

Sing along at home if you know the new words - which, of course, you now do.

Last but by no means least, singer-turned-actor Kate Nash took the time out to show that, when all of this is hopefully over, she could at the very least earn some decent dosh as a busker.

We're not saying this is the best Metallica cover you've ever heard played on a penny whistle, but we reckon it must at least be in the top one.

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Coronavirus: The best and worst celebrity isolation videos - BBC News