Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Group Mates to Guest Star in “The Simpsons” Holiday Special

Posted on December 11, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado is getting animated…

The 32-year-old half-Mexican, part-Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates will appear as animated versions of themselves in the upcoming The Simpsons holiday special.

In addition Maldonado and her group makes, the episode titled “O C’mon All Ye Faithful,” will also feature another experienced Christmas caroler: Patti LaBelle.

The a cappella group and “On My Own” singer will deliver musical performances in the double episode premiering December 17 on Disney+, exactly 35 years after the original Simpsons holiday special aired in 1989.

The streaming platform also shared a trailer for the project, showing Homer wreaking havoc on Springfield after famed mentalist Derren Brown hypnotizes him into thinking he’s Santa Claus.

“Celebrate the holidays with a double-episode holiday special,” the teaser reads in between shots of the Simpsons patriarch riding on a parade float with a white beard, getting tased by police on the street and crashing his homemade sleigh into Moe’s Tavern.

The trailer doesn’t show Pentatonix — which is comprised of Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Maldonado, Matt Sallee and Kevin Olusola — or LaBelle, nor has Disney+ revealed details about their performances.

Pentatonix is known for their Christmas music, with the vocal group’s A Pentatonix Christmas spending two weeks atop the Billboard 200 in 2016.

Pentatonix has also dropped two new holiday singles in 2024: “Meet Me Next Christmas,” which arrived in November, and “Christmastime Is Finally Here” with A Great Big World, released Dec. 6.

Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Group Mates Taking on Wilson Phillips on This Week’s “Celebrity Family Feud”

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado is feudin’ for a cause…

The 29-year-old half-Mexican, part-Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates are facing off against Wilson Phillips on Sunday night’s new episode of Celebrity Family Feud.

In a clip from the upcoming episode of the primetime ABC game show, premiering exclusively on Billboard, host Steve Harvey introduces the Grammy-winning a cappella group.

“Y’all can sing,” Harvey tells the quintet.

Harvey introduces each individual member — Scott Hoying, Maldonado, Matt Sallee, Mitch Grassi and Kevin Olusola — and pays special attention to the “smooth” pronunciation of beatboxer Olusola’s last name.

Pentatonix recently released a deluxe edition of their latest album The Lucky Ones on September 10, via RCA Records, following up the album’s initial February 12 release with seven additional songs.

One of those new tracks is “Midnight in Tokyo,” for which PTX joined forces with all-female Japanese vocal group Little Glee Monster and released a music video along with the deluxe edition.

Tune in to Celebrity Family Feud at 8:00 pm ET on Sunday night on ABC to see Pentatonix take on Wilson Phillips for harmonic supremacy.

Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Mates Release Mash-Up of BTS’ “Dynamite” & “Butter”

Posted on August 21, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado is K-poppin’ it like it’s hot…

The 29-year-old half-Mexican, part-Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates have released a mash-up of two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits from BTS.

Cutting into the group’s rendition of Jung Kook‘s hook on “Dynamite,” Scott Hoying slides in like a “criminal undercover” with the first verse of “Butter.”

Pentatonix’s colorful jackets and suspended newspaper props had a more serious air once the video turned black-and-white, like the official “Butter” music video. But don’t get it twisted: Hoying led the group into a groove that was anything but serious.

Eventually Matt Sallee and Mitch Grassi took the lead when the two got back into Pentatonix’s technicolor “Dynamite” performance before switching back to black-and-white with the group’s airy “Dyn-na-na-na, na-na, na-na, ayy” harmonies smoothly flowing into “Get it, let it roll!”

In late July, Pentatonix asked their Twitter fans in a poll which BTS song they should cover between “Butter” and “Dynamite,” and even though the former single took the lead, the quintet decided why not just go for both?

Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Group Mates Release Genre-Bending “12 Days of Christmas”

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado is counting down to Christmas in an entertaining way…

The 28-year-old Mexican & Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates are ringing in the annual countdown to the season but with a sonic twist in their new “12 Days of Christmas” music video.

Starting midway on the sixth day of Christmas, the five golden singers in the Grammy-winning a cappella group – Maldonado, Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kevin Olusola and Matt Sallee – deliver their verses with a wide range of genres, including hip-hop, electro-pop, island folk and more, predominantly backed by Olusola’s beatboxing.

“The PTX holiday cheer continues as we countdown to Christmas with our version of ’12 Days of Christmas,'” Pentatonix wrote on their social media. “We had fun putting our touch on this iconic Christmas song!”

Their funky-yet-festive rendition of “12 Days of Christmas” is the first song on their sixth holiday set We Need a Little Christmas, which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard‘s Top Holiday Albums chart, dated November 28.

The five-piece group also released holiday visuals for “Thank You” and “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)” off the Christmas album.

Kirstin Maldonado & Pentatonix Release New Version of “You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch”

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Kirstin Maldonado is ready for a mean & greenChristmas…

The 27-year-old half-Mexican and part-Spanish American singer and her Pentatonixa cappella group mates have released a new rendition of “You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch.”

But that’s not all.. Pentatonix also delivered a swinging video to accompany the tune, with Matt Sallee’s suave vocals and cheeky personality shining through.

The song is featured on the group’s festive album, The Best of Pentatonix Christmas.

The record marked Pentatonix’s 10th top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart, and was released via RCA Recordson October 25.

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.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: Matt Sallee