FIRST TIME HEARING Pentatonix - Hallelujah (Official Video) | REACTION

Hallelujah was written by Leonard Cohen, a Jewish-born atheist. This is not religious, it uses biblical imagery to sing about relationships, loss and, well, sex. It's hilariously used for religious reasons by a whole lot of people who don't actually listen to the lyrics. It's been remade many times, PTX's version is my favorite, but I also love Jeff Buckley's version which is much more somber.

The beat boxer sings lead in "Amazing Grace".

Pentatonix acts a lot like a family, a GOOD family. Some songs require a lead singer; for those songs Pentatonix chooses the person whose voice works best with that song. Some songs (like "Hallelujah") work well with different singers taking the lead on different verses, and when that's the case that's how Pentatonix does it. They make sure that each member gets time in the spotlight. No, Kevin didn't solo in this song, but there are plenty of other songs where he does, and when he isn't soloing he's busy being the backbone of the group. Also, Kevin is almost always listed as co-author on their original songs; he has a real talent for songwriting.

The guy with the beard did sing. His name is Avi Kaplan and he was the second soloist. He is a basso profundo. His voice is my favorite. Kevin Olusola is an amazing beat boxer and the band found him on YouTube playing the cello and beat boxing at the same time. He also has a very good singing voice and though he did not do a solo here, you will get to hear him sing in other performances. You are correct that Kevin and Avi are the rhythm section for the band. This group has three Grammy wins from their early years and have been nominated several times. You will have a blast reacting to this band. They are unbelievably talented and superhuman beings. Great reaction!!!

Pentatonix a "brief" background. They won The Sing Off in 2011. They made a guest starring appearance on America′s Got Talent as non−competitors a couple of years after that. The founding members are:- Scott Hoying (tall blond guy, natural baritone but has an impressive five−to−six octave range, can go all the way up to high tenor and down to bass, sings the bass lines when the usual bass singer takes the lead); Kirstin "Kirstie" (Rhymes with "Thirsty") Maldonado (the only female member, natural mezzo soprano, but can go down to low alto and as high as upper soprano, also can sing in whistle notes that are off the scale); For a time in 2018 between the group’s tours, had the female lead on Broadway in the production of “Kinky Boots”. Mitch Grassi (a true contra−tenor, can hit high notes in his chest voice with ease and go WAY higher in his falsetto, also with ease); Avriel "Avi" Kaplan (dark beard and long hair), true basso profundo, trained as an opera singer, also can go up into the tenor range; and Kevin "KO" Olusola (beatboxer extraordinaire, also is a world−class cellist who plays cello on some of their songs, has a beautiful high tenor voice and gets occasional lead vocal solos as well, graduated pre−med from Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese). Kirstie, Scott & Mitch grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and began performing together as children in local youth musical theater. They ended up in high school together and performed in the choir. While there, they formed an a cappella group called The Trio which had several performance videos go viral on YouTube, most notably a cover of Lady Gaga′s "Telephone". The three of them are best friends and consider themselves to be almost siblings. Scott & Kirstie (who were a class year ahead of Mitch) both graduated high school in 2010 and went their separate ways to different colleges, Scott at USC and Kirstie at Oklahoma. While at USC, Scott joined a USC−based a cappella group called the SoCal VoCals, where he met alumnus Ben Bram, who was now an arranger and vocal coach for the NBC TV show The Sing Off, an a cappella competition show. Ben convinced Scott to get The Trio to audition for the show. The three reunited (Mitch had to skip high school graduation ceremonies to go) in Los Angeles for the audition. They found out that the rules had changed, so they needed at least five members to audition. Ben put them together with Avi (a native of Visalia, California), who he knew from Avi′s performing days at Mount San Antonio College in California. They found Kevin (from Kentucky) through one of his YouTube videos that had gone viral featuring him playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time, a talent that Kevin coined as "Cello−Boxing". Kevin arrived in Los Angeles literally the day before the audition! Scott came up with the name "Pentatonix" after the pentatonic scale. They performed a re−arrangement of "The Telephone" for the audition and passed, despite having been together as a five−piece group for less that 24 hours! They won The Sing Off that season (all of the performances are available on YouTube), in which they received a substantial cash prize AND a record contract with Epic Records. They pooled their prize winnings together and all moved to Los Angeles, and all got apartments right next door to each other in the same building. But just a week later, Epic dropped them because the marketing people didn′t think an a cappella group could sell records. Instead of giving up, they were determined and began recording their own songs on YouTube, hiring Ben Bram as their producer and arranger. These usually consisted of the five of them sitting on a couch and performing cover songs live. Several of the videos went viral, and Sony (the parent company of Epic) decided to give them another chance by placing them on one of their smaller labels, Madison Gate. They released two secular EPs and one Christmas EP on Madison Gate, all of which were strong sellers. But when their cover of a medley of songs by Daft Punk not only went super−viral, but also won them their first Grammy, they were promoted all the way up to RCA Records, Sony′s top label. They began writing and producing their own songs in addition to their covers, began putting out a Christmas album just about annually (which has become their best−selling genre), and have had multi−platinum album sales, sold−out world tours, and have won two additional Grammys. Avi began getting burned out with all of the touring and heavy recording schedule, was suffering from anxiety and personal problems, and learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He announced he was departing from the group and taking some time away from the music industry. Matt Sallee (from Baltimore) joined them in September 2017. He did only become official when they renewed their RCA contract in February 2018, but he recorded with them in September as a featured artist and went on their Christmas tour as a featured artist, as well. When he attended the audition for the group, he had already mastered the Bass part for most if not all their past catalogue. He was successful and has proved that he fits in well with the group. If you think there have been other changes to the line up - look again. This is the ONLY change. Kirstie and Mitch are like chameleons and change looks frequently. It is an often debated subject among the Pentaholics as to just how soon we introduce the "Beginners Guide" as we don't want to overdo the introduction. This is a compilation of snips of a whole load of songs which PTX have released. It highlights each member with some of their solos and then a brief history in video. It is quite long - 14+ minutes and is a little dated now (Feb 2020) but is a good watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDxIfwfCmQE&pp=ygUdYmVnaW5uZXJzIGd1aWRlIHRvIHBlbnRhdG9uaXg%3D. After a year away from music, Avi has now returned as a phenomenal solo artist in the Folk/Americana/Roots genre. Ben Bram has been in charge of their production, including arranging and directing from the beginning. He is often referred to as the sixth member. Scott and Kevin are major players in the arrangements, but every member contributes. A good watch is "The Recording of Evergreen" where a camera was invited into the studio for the second week of recording/ Also, all members are songwriters for both Pentatonix and their own solo work. Ed Boyer who mixes everything of theirs (even the HWB Livestream) is the one who pulled Ben Bram into the sing off in the first place. They have Grammy wins for Daft Punk Medley, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jolene featuring Dolly Parton. They were nominated for a 4th Grammy for their album Evergreen, but didn't win. Another nomination for Holidays Around the World album in the 2024 list! Kirstie became a new mum which caused a pause in touring after their Evergreen Christmas tour 2021. Mid March 2023 Kirstie has announced that she is engaged to Ben Hausdorff, their videographer. No dates YET! They have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame installed in February 2023. They are the only a capella group with a star! They came 3rd in the 2023 Masked Singer performing as "California Rolls" being unmasked in May 23. Things you need to know because if you get these wrong Pentaholics will come after you with pitch forks and torches! Ha Ha!! 1- There is NO Auto-Tune; what you hear is actually what they sing. They really are that good. One exception is the 90's Dance Medley where Cher used autotune as an effect - so they had to. 2- What produces everything that you hear in the video, you see in the official video. If there is an instrument used in the music, you see it on screen. In the 2022 Christmas album, there are some instruments not featured throughout the album. 3- They never release something on video they can’t reproduce with the exact same quality live on-stage. 4. It is "Pentatonix" there is no "The".

If u want a lullaby, check out 'light in the hallway'. It's soooo beautiful

You should react to their Official video of John Lennon’s Imagine. The guy with the beard (Avi) sang the second verse, the black gentleman (Kevin) didn’t start out singing with the group but was coached by team members to develop his voice and also be a prominent singer. Of course he doesn’t get as many opportunities to sing as his beatboxing is so instrumental to their success. He is truly a talented individual.

Great feeling/interpreting the lyrics - many people get stuck relating it to religion. Trust your senses, you're making good observations.

Scott (blond hair) sang first - Avi (with the beard) sang second - Kirstie sand third and Mitch sang after her - Kevin the beatboxer - he also sings, and plays the cello - this group is amazing

Absolutely awesome reaction! I loved your thoughtful takes. Please choose more from the PTX library to react to. There is no chance of going wrong. Hallelujah is their most viewed but other popular/amazing videos are “Sound of Silence”, “The Prayer”, “Imagine”, “Amazing Grace” and so many more!! Subscribing in hopes you will do more Pentatonix videos!! 🫶🏻

It's not a religious song. It is about heartbreak and betrayal. They did not write the song. It's been song by most of the great artists.

These people are all original.

The members of Pentatonix. In this video we have: • First verse: Tall blond guy, Scott Hoying, lyric baritone. In describing a man's vocal range, "lyric" means that the actual range exceeds the nominal range. In Scott's case, he sings everywhere from about the middle of a normal bass range through most of a normal tenor range. Probably five or six octaves. Scott typically takes over the bass harmony line when their bass has a solo. • Second verse: Bearded guy wearing a stocking cap, Avi (pronounced Ah'-vee, emphasis on the first syllable) Kaplan, lyric bass. Avi is an operatically trained basso profundo - his lowest notes have blown out speakers in live performances - but his range extends to somewhere in the middle of a normal tenor range. • Third verse: The only woman in Pentatonix, Kirstin (also called Kirstie, which rhymes with thirsty) Maldonado. Kirstin sings everywhere from a low alto through coloratura soprano, the highest female range. And she has fantastic whistle notes on top of that. Lately Pentatonix has begun referring to her as an "alto soprano." • Fourth verse: Guy wearing a wide-brimmed hat, Mitch Grassi (pronounced Grah'-see, emphasis on the first syllable), natural contratenor. No one is certain whether Mitch can sing higher than Kirstin or Kirstin can sing higher than Mitch; I suspect that it varies from day to day, though everyone agrees that Kirstin has better whistle notes. Mitch is known for his ethereally beautiful (some say "angelic") high vocals. Shawn Stockman, of Boyz II Men, said Mitch has "one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard in my life." Mitch switches seamlessly from chest voice to mixed voice to head voice. He has a range of just over six octaves. And we call that stunned look people get the first time they realize that the beautiful high voice is coming from a man, "being Mitch slapped." • The fifth member of Pentatonix (PTX for short) is Kevin Olusola (pronounced Oh-loosh"-oh-luh', primary emphasis on the second syllable, secondary emphasis on the fourth) beatboxer extraordinaire. There may be a better beatboxer than Kevin, but if so I've never encountered him or her. We don't get to hear Kevin sing as often as we'd like because he's generally too busy being the entire percussion section, but when he does sing he has a lovely tenor voice that occasionally descends to the uppermost reaches of a baritone range. He's also known for the beauty of his falsetto, which I believe goes higher than Mitch can. Kevin has perfect pitch. He began piano lessons at age 4, cello at age 6, and alto saxophone at age 10. When he was a teenager he performed at Carnegie Hall twice, once on the cello and once on the saxophone. He beatboxes while playing the cello, which he refers to as "celloboxing." He graduated from Yale in 2011 with a pre-med major and had already been accepted to Yale Medical School when he gave up his dream of becoming a surgeon to pursue his dream of becoming a professional beatboxer instead. He speaks five languages fluently: English, French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. He's one of the kindest people in the world, and when he laughs the whole planet seems like a brighter place. In 2017 Avi found it necesssary to leave Pentatonix, for a variety of personal reasons. He has since gone on to have a very successful solo career, and I strongly recommend subscribing to his YouTube channel, which you can find here: youtube.com/@AviKaplanMusic Avi's replacement joined in either late 2017 or early 2018 (depending on how you figure it); you'll see him in a lot of their videos: • The second black member of Pentatonix is Matt Sallee (pronounced Suh-lee', emphasis on the second syllable), lyric bass. In addition to being the newest member of Pentatonix Matt is also the youngest member, and I'm told that bass voices improve with age. Matt's range seems to be growing on a daily basis right now. His current lowest note seems to be A1, which just barely counts as basso profundo, though not the blowing out speakers variety. But on his high end Matt reaches nearly the top of a normal tenor range. To find his current range I recommend listening to a recent live stream of "Hallelujah." You can find one here: https://youtu.be/FqphhPapkoc?si=tC6Ew07JGeQKQvDL Matt's arrangement of the second verse seems to be designed to show off his full range, which is huge, probably the greatest range of any member of Pentatonix, past or present.

You should check out their music videos for Bohemian Rhapsody and The Sound of Silence. These 3 are my favorite Pentatonix songs.

"No body's a backup" Perfect! Great reaction!

Just subscribed with hopes of more Pentatonix reactions. You can’t go wrong with anything you pick. They don’t just do covers, they do upgrades! Also, their original songs are fantastic, as well!

Recommend their live video of Kiss From A Rose.

If you are interested in more: check out their „Daft Punk Medley“ or their „90ies Dance Medley“!

Great reaction BigDreamz!

Pentatonix rocks ! Love them ! Every song is perfection. Checkout the selections mentioned below, plus know that they have won 3 Grammys. Listen to their RIHANNA MEDLEY ❤ awesome, and Kiiara cover of GOLD ! You will be happy you did. Thank you. ❣ There is a video of them singing this live, and it's exactly the same !