After future Pentatonix singers Scott Hoying and Kristin Maldonado graduated, the friends went their separate ways: Maldonado to the University of Oklahoma, Hoying to the University of Southern California, and Mitch Grassi remained in high school. While attending USC in 2011, Hoying learned about “The Sing-Off,” an NBC singing competition for a cappella singing groups. He reached out to Maldonado and Grassi, who agreed to reunite in Los Angeles to audition.
There was, however, one pretty significant issue: They were two singers short of the five needed to compete. On a recommendation, Hoying enlisted Avi Kaplan, who sang bass. Eager to add a beatboxer to the mix, Hoying and the others discovered a video of Kevin Olusola that had been posted online, in which he effortlessly beatboxed while playing cello at the same time. “When we came across the video, we thought he was unbelievable,” Hoying told the Daily Trojan. “His musicianship was unreal.” After hearing their pitch, Olusola was in; the other four pooled their money and bought him a flight to L.A. — and then they were five.
Dubbing themselves Pentatonix (the name lifted from music’s five-note pentatonic scale) they had little time to rehearse before performing their audition song, “Telephone.” “The day before the audition we all got down and were able to sing through the song and it honestly was just amazing how well it flowed together,” Maldonado told Sweety High. “We had no idea, it could have been horrible.”
