Pentatonix

Pentatonix: Avi Kaplan, Kevin Olusola, Mitch Grassi, Kirstie Maldonado, Scott Hoying

Feb 2015 - Who is Pentatonix and why am I writing about them? They're a cool a cappella group and it's because I'm a Pentaholic that's why!

It all began with these three guys: Kirstin Maldonado, Scott Hoying, and Mitch Grassi. These three young Texans made a cover of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" in order to compete in a radio contest to win a chance of meeting Glee Cast in the year 2010. They did not win, but the video went viral. It wasn't until a year later in 2011 when they wanted to compete in NBC's The Sing-Off but they needed two other members because the rules stated that a group should be minimum consists of five members. Scott, Mitch, and Kirstin finally got in touch with Avi Kaplan through a mutual friend and Scott found Kevin Olusola from his Celloboxing video. The five of them decided to go audition for the Sing-Off but they only have met one day before the audition day. Well, they nailed it. They won the Sing-Off.

Hence, Pentatonix consists of five members:

• Kirstin "Kirstie" Maldonado (Mezzosoprano)
• Scott Hoying (Baritone)
• Mitch Grassi (Tenor)
• Avi Kaplan (Bass)
• Kevin Olusola (Beatbox, Tenor)

Since winning the Sing-Off, Pentatonix have grown so much. Even though they got dropped by their first record label, Epic Records, they managed to strive through it. They released three EPs (PTX, Vol. 1, PTXmas, PTX, Vol. 2) through Madison Gate Records. They are now signed by RCA Records and they re-released the 3 EPs added by a new EP (PTX, Vol. III) and A new Christmas Album (That's Christmas to Me). That's Christmas to Me became one of the only four album which surpassed 1 Million sales in the USA only in the year 2014. They went Platinum!

Pentatonix - We are Young (fun. Cover)

I've been legit a fan of Pentatonix, or so we call ourselves "Pentaholics" since late 2012. Back then, two choir buddies - Yogi and Ajeng - and I were doing a vocal group project and we were looking out for song covers on YouTube. We were trying to find a cool "Somebody I Used to Know" cover that we could learn and add to our own versions. Yogi asked whether the two of us had ever watched Pentatonix's cover of it, and we said no. We did watch the video together and our minds were blown away by their musicalities.

Pentatonix - Evolution of Music

It wasn't until December 2012 that I started listening to a lot of Pentatonix. I also learned several new things about them, about how they formed up, and their musical backgrounds as well. Scott, Mitch, and Kirstie were choir members in their high school. Avi was in a choir too, and Kevin played in an orchestra. Knowing that all five of them are exceptional in music makes me adore them so much. They were, in fact they still are who I aspire to be. The reason I joined the choir at the first place is to share my passion about singing and music plus making new friends... and hopefully someday I would find someone else who is as passionate as I am and make musics just like Pentatonix do.

Pentatonix inspire me to dream way bigger than you could ever dream. They bring me lots of positive vibes, and most importantly, they make me feel happy. They're just super talented and they are exactly who I want to be! They're amazingggg! You should watch some of my favorite Pentatonix videos:

Pentatonix - Silent Night

I started an Indonesian-based twitter fan account for Pentatonix in January 2013 @PTXINDO. I have met wonderful people from Indonesia and abroad who loves and appreciates Pentatonix as much as I do. It's so fun being in the social medias. We have the Pentaholic life. There are lots of social media interactions that I've got from Pentatonix - the group followed the account as well as Avi, Scott, and Kevin. It's just super cool when you're running a fan account and they get to interact with you sometimes.

Well. So there they are - one of my sources of positivity in life: Pentatonix.