Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Group Mates Release “Deck The Halls” Cover

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado is getting all decked out…

The 25-year-old Spanish- and Mexican-American singer and her Pentatonix group mates are ringing in the holiday season with a new take on a Christmas classic.

On Monday (Nov. 27), the acapella group shared a brand-new video of them singing “Deck The Halls,” in celebration of their Christmas special A Very Pentatonix Christmas, airing on NBC.

This past May, Avi Kaplan — who had been with Pentatonix since the beginning — announced in an emotional video that he would be parting ways with the group.

Now, Pentatonix has welcomed singer Matt Sallee to join them as vocal bass for their performance-packed holiday season, and in the new video fans get a peek at just how well he fits into the lineup.

For the new holiday visuals, the five vocalists are shown in entirely festive garb, rocking velvets and seasonal red and green shades as they perform in a cozily-decorated home.

Tune into NBC at 10:00 pm EST for A Very Pentatonix Christmas.

Pentatonix is also gearing up for their A Pentatonix Christmas Tour, with fourteen dates in six cities. View the full schedule, and buy tickets here.

Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Mates Perform the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Elvira” at the CMA Awards

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstie Maldonado has gone country…

The 23-year-old half-Mexican, part Spanish-American singer and her fellow Pentatonix members took the stage at the Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday to present the CMA Award for Vocal Group of the Year.

But before revealing the winning group’s name, the a capella group honor a past winner of the award with a special performance of their song.

“As a vocal group ourselves, we wanted to salute a great country group that won this next award back in 1978 and this year entered the Country Music Hall of Fame,” intro’s Pentatonix frontman Scott Hoying, before Pentatonix launched into an a capella version of “Elvira,” the 1981 hit by the Oak Ridge Boys.

Proving Maldonado and her group mates are the real deal, the performance featured on point harmonies, including Avi Kaplan’s perfect bass part.

Audience members bobbed along and gave the group a standing ovation after the short performance.

Maldonado & Pentatonix Release Music Video for “That’s Christmas to Me.”

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstie Maldonado is spreading holiday cheer…

The half-Mexican American/part-Spanish artist and her fellow Pentatonix group mates have released the official music video for their original Christmas song “That’s Christmas to Me.”

Following clips for “White Winter Hymnal,” “Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry be Happy” and “Mary, Did You Know?” comes the clip for the title track from their upcoming Christmas album, which finds the group — including Maldonado, Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and Kevin “K.O.” Olusola — sitting together in a living room, reminiscing about the best times of the holidays.

The most exciting part of the video? It includes what appears to be real-life home-video footage of each member from a merry Christmas morning in their childhoods.

Maldonado & Pentatonix Release Cover of Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be”

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Kirstie Maldonado has another smash hit cover on her hands…

The half-Mexican American/part-Spanish artist and her fellow Pentatonix group mates have released another catchy reinterpretation.

The Streamy Award-winning a capella group’s upcoming EP, PTX Vol. III, comes out on September 23, and as a tease, their cover of Clean Bandit‘s “Rather Be” has made its way online.

Pentatonix, the winners of NBC‘s singing competition The Sing-Off in 2011, sticks to what they do best in their latest song, and it’s another hit for Maldonado, Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and beatboxer Kevin Olusola.

“We’re huge fans of Clean Bandit, and we’re so excited to be covering this!” Grassi told People about the song off PTX Vol. III, which also includes an already-released cover of “Problem” by Ariana Grande.

Maldonado & Pentatonix to Release Two Albums This Year

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s back to the studio for Kirstie Maldonado.

The half-Mexican American/part-Spanish artist and her fellow Pentatonix members have released a special teaser video announcing their plans to release new music this year.

Pentatonix will actually release two albums this year.

PTX Vol. 3 will hit shelves on September 23, followed by a second holiday album, That’s Christmas to Me, on October 21.

The upcoming EP from the viral a cappella quintet marks their first project with RCA Records, and will again feature covers of hits and original tracks.

The album will also include a surprise featured guest, as well as a song performed entirely in French.

Maldonado and her fellowGroup members Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola — who won NBC‘s singing competition The Sing-Offin 2011 — will share the upcoming Vol. 3 tracklist on Aug. 12, when its iTunes and Amazon pre-order goes live with the first of two planned instant tracks.

That’s Christmas to Me, named for an original holiday song penned by the group, will include a combination of classic holiday tracks, modern favorites and a one-of-a-kind holiday mash-up.

Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Members Sign with RCA Records

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado has landed a new recording contract…

The half-Mexican American/part-Spanish singer and her fellow Pentatonix members have signed with RCA Records.

Maldonado and her a cappella quintet members, The Sing-Off season-three champions and viral stars, is known mostly for their creative covers of pop hits like Lorde‘s “Royals” and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis‘ “Can’t Hold Us,” evolution-style arrangements and original songs.

“We are thrilled to have Pentatonix join RCA,” said RCA president and COO Tom Corson. “Their musicality and special vocal abilities have enabled them to create innovative original songs as well as re-create some of today’s biggest hits. Pentatonix is unique to our business and we look forward to working with them as we take their talents to new and exciting heights everywhere in the world.”

“We’re really excited to start this new chapter of our career with RCA,” said the group — consisting of Maldonado, Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola — in a statement. “We feel like we’ve found a home where we can truly develop our artistry with the best in the industry.”

Following their Sing-Off win in 2011, the electro-infused quintet has released three albums via Madison Gate Records (PTX Volume 1, PTXmas and PTX Volume 2, selling over 500,000 copies combined) and collected over 445 million views and more than 5.6 million subscribers on YouTube.

The group wraps its sold-out European tour on May 18, following a sold-out North American tour.

Maldonado Impresses in Endearing “Frozen Medley” Video with Her Pentatonix Pals

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado and two members of her popular cappella group have frozen their way into our hearts.

The half Mexican-American singer, Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi, all members of NBC’s The Sing-Off-winning quintet Pentatonix, have released an endearing new medley on the web.

Maldonado, Hoying and Grassi joined voices to perform four of the popular songs from Disney‘s new animated hit Frozen: “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?,” “For the First Time in Forever,” “Love Is an Open Door” and “Let It Go.”

Instead of releasing an a cappella medley, the trio sings along to the karaoke tracks from the film while acting out scenes in front of a white curtain at the Endless Noise studio – complete with a blonde wig, snow made out of paper cutouts and lots of tossed pillows and blankets.

Maldonado, who could totally be the voice of Disney’s next princess character, Hoying and Grassi, who sang together in high school before recruiting more members to compete in The Sing-Off’s third season, recorded the video as part of Hoying and Grassi’s online series, Superfruit, which also recently featured singer Tori Kelly.

Bass Avi Kaplan and beatboxer Kevin Olusola don’t appear in this unofficial Pentatonix video, which has already earned nearly 800,000 views on YouTube.

Maldonado’s Pentatonix Wins NBC’s “The Sing-Off”

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstie Maldonado and members of her a cappella group are $200,000 richer and have a new recording contract with Sony Music after winning NBC’s The Sing-Off.

The 19-year-old Latina singer’s five-member group Pentatonix—the smallest singing group in the reality show—beat out the Dartmouth Aires and Urban Method in Monday’s finale to win the title…and prize package that came with it. The group won by claiming the majority of the reported three million viewer votes cast.

In all, 16 teams competed in the singing competition where participating groups couldn’t use instruments other than their own voices.

Throughout the competition, Pentatonix stood out as a small yet mighty group of talented singers and vocal percussionists, and they were praised regularly by show’s judges Ben Folds, Sara Bareilles and Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men.

Along with Maldonado—a National Hispanic Scholar and University of Oklahoma musical theatre major—Pentatonix consists of Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Kevin Olusola and Avi Kaplan.

Maldonado was credited by the judges for bringing some serious sass and class to the group as the only female member.

“I don’t even know what to say … I’m just so humbled to have shared the stage with my best friends. They’re my family,” said Hoying after winning the competition. “And these 16 amazing groups; I can’t believe this is happening.”

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