Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells! Ashton All The Way!!

Thanks to Ashton Kutcher for giving the PS22 Chorus of 2010's version of "Jingle Bells" a plug on his Twitter page on Thursday! The video is one of the kids' most fun entries! Check it out below if you need a healthy dose of Christmas cheer, PS22 style!

Watch The Kids Perform at The White House Tree Lighting!!

So much to post about the previously announced PS22 Chorus performance at the National Tree Lighting at The White House yesterday, and a lot of footage to sort through. So in the meantime, you can watch the full 1 hour broadcast event live on PBS (check your local listings), or right now by clicking on the National Tree website link! The chorus performs with Common a little after the 42 minute mark. (Or just watch this vid below!)

You can also watch Fox News version (same audio, different video) of our performance here or below!

Definitely more to come!

PS22 Chorus at National Tree Lighting Ceremony!

Get ready for HUGE news! The PS22 Chorus of 2010 is going to be singing at tomorrow night's National Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington D.C.! The kids will be performing a holiday song with hip-hop legend, Common, as well as closing the ceremony with a few holiday selections!! Also expected to perform are Jordin Sparks, Sheryl Crow, Ray LaMontagne, and more! American Idol judge Randy Jackson will be hosting the festivities, and according to the Associated Press, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will be on hand to light the tree!!

You will be able to watch the performance by live feed tomorrow night (Thursday) from 5:00-6:00 PM on the National Tree website. (You can even see a short promo video for the event if you click on the link now!) In addition the program will air the following day and all thoughout the month repeatedly on PBS. (Check your local listings!) Make sure to tune in!

Check out this pic from our rehearsal two weeks ago with Grammy Award-winner James Poyser (keyboard player for The Roots AND the Jimmy Fallon Late Night band), and director/producer of the event, Alex Coletti!

13 Million Views!

Congratulations to the PS22 Chorus for garnering over 13,000,000 views of its videos!! Crazy, baby!

PS22 Chorus Socks SAKS with Holiday Cheer!

On Monday, the PS22 Chorus of 2010 helped add some holiday cheer to the Saks 5th Avenue Windows Unveiling in Manhattan. The kids gave a Christmas-themed performance, singing some holiday classics as well as some of their biggest hits thus far this year. The chorus opened the performance with "Fireflies" by Owl City. They rocked it big-time, as did soloists Justin F. and Kayla S., who did their best job yet!

Brielle leads the chorus in a fantastic rendition of "Halo" by Beyonce! And man, if that girl is not getting better by the minute....

Here's the Christmas traditional, "Joy To The World," which the kids put together at rehearsal that afternoon just before the performance!

This version of "Jingle Bells" (traditional) was another song the chorus learned that day! The kids bring their own flavor to this holiday classic, and were quite happy to perform it (especially John apparently!). After the song is done, stay tuned for some great PS22 Chorus testimonials from Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas, and even a peek at some of the unveiled windows and the kids' reactions.

The kids topped off their performance with "Run This Town" by Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West. Check it out!

When the chorus was through, Tony Award-winning actress, Kristen Chenoweth took the stage to perform a beautiful rendition of "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Here she is below with the chorus.

It was an amazing time for the kids and for all who were lucky enough to witness the performance, including such notables as Phil Donahue, Marlo Thomas, Fern Mallis, and Nannette Lepore. Below is Phil and his wife Marlo posing for a shot with the chorus.

Saks was awesome to the kids, giving them each beautiful hard cover copies of Twinkle Twinkle Little Flake, the book that inspired the theme for this year's windows.

In addition, the kids were given the hats and scarves they were wearing for the performance. Big thanks to everyone on hand at Saks for taking such good care of our chorus!

PS22 Chorus Reigns Supreme!

On Monday, the chorus performed at the Staten Island Supreme Court House for a ceremony sponsored by Judge Robert Gigante celebrating adoptive families. It was such a pleasure to be celebrating with my own "adopted family" (all 66 of 'em!!). The kids performed about 5 or 6 songs, but this one, "We're Going To Be Friends" by The White Stripes, really seemed to be perfect for the occasion. Props go to Julian for the sweet soloing!

And here are some more pics from our afternoon at the courthouse.

Ashton Sees Fireflies!

Ashton Kutcher found the PS22 Chorus's "Fireflies" by Owl City, and according to his Twitter page, he liked what he saw! Thanks to Ashton for his 21st PS22 Chorus tweet! (To see more, start here.)

And More Fireflies!

Here is an a capella version of the kids latest musical triumph, "Fireflies" by Owl City.

Fireflies!

Yesterday the kids finished up a brand new song, the amazingly cool and catchy "Fireflies" by Owl City! Here's an awesome performance of the song from rehearsal, with some great lead vocals by Justin & Kayla S.! This group is just keeping 'em coming!

UPDATE: Thanks to Perez Hilton for linking to the new video on his Twitter page! So proud and appreciative of the plug!

UPDATE 2: The Fireflies video has already begun to earn itself YouTube Honors within just a few hours of being uploaded, including the #12 Top Rated Music Video today! Congrats to the PS22 Chorus kids!!

Mraz-amatazz!

The PS22 Chorus earned itself a new and extremely talented fan in Jason Mraz, who is best known for his amazingly catchy tune, "I'm Yours." On Tuesday, Jason linked to the chorus's version of "Joga" by Bjork, one of my own personal favorites. In his post, he calls the chorus "a fully expressed group of young persons." Check it out in the screencap above. 

Twenty Tweets!

Thanks to Ashton Kutcher for what is now his 20th PS22 Chorus tweet! This time he links to the kids' version of "A Winter's Carol" by Tori Amos! For more of Ashton's PS22 Chorus tweets, start here.

*New* IAVA Heroes Gala Footage

Check out some newly posted footage from the IAVA Heroes Gala last week! Thanks to Paul Reickhoff for sending on the link to these videos. In addition to the two videos below that feature the PS22 Chorus of 2010, you can see all of the amazing footage from IAVA covering the event, click here.