After years of Passover parody videos, you might assume it gets harder for Jewish a cappella group Six13 to top itself.
But with Michael Jackson back in the pop culture conversation ahead of a biopic hitting theaters April 24, that’s one way to raise the stakes.
The group’s newest Passover release is a five-song medley built around the King of Pop’s catalog, featuring spoofs of “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Beat It,” “Smooth Criminal” and “Man in the Mirror.” St. Louis native Lior Melnick again played a major creative role, writing many of the lyrics and helping shape the visual direction of the project.
“We’re very excited to take on the King of Pop and his incredible catalog,” Melnick said. “There were so many great songs that he had that it was challenging to narrow down to our favorite five. Part of this process included coming up with lyric ideas for about 20 different songs and then seeing which concepts we felt were strongest.”
He said the creative process included plenty of ideas that didn’t survive.
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“I played a big role in this process and am still laughing about many of the lyric ideas that bordered on the ridiculous and didn’t make the cut,” he said. “Thankfully we are producing a series of ‘rejected parody’ videos to humorously highlight some of these concepts.”
With the latest video just released, we asked Melnick to take a step back and rank the seven Passover videos from his Six13 tenure, dating to 2018. Here’s Melnick’s official rankings:
Here’s Melnick’s official rankings:
#7 – The Prince of Egypt (2023)
The original animated film is incredibly meaningful to me—it was actually the first CD I ever owned, the first movie I ever saw in theaters, and it’s still a movie I watch every Passover—so this project had a lot of personal resonance. Musically, I think we did strong work honoring such an iconic score. That said, the visuals didn’t quite match the level of the music, and I did miss the creativity of the parody format, which is why it ranks lower for me.
#6 – An ABBA Passover (2024)
ABBA is such a natural fit for parody, and this video has some really fun, light moments—“matzah pizza” as “Mamma Mia” still makes me smile. It was also our first time working extensively on a soundstage, which was an exciting new experience for me as a performer. I hate rating it so near the bottom here because I think it has some strong scenes and some great lyrics, but something about the video and the tunes just never perfectly clicked for me.
#5 – The Red Sea Shanty (2021)
This was a project very “of its time”, created while COVID was still very much a daily concern and when Sea Shanties were having their moment in the cultural spotlight, and I think doing this production fully from home makes what we pulled off even more impressive. It’s playful and scrappy, with DIY costumes and some great inter-generational musical interludes. The lyric about how we “spill wine drops from our cups / ‘cause freedom had a cost” is surprisingly deep and resonates strongly with me. It was also nice being able to incorporate my sister (as Miriam) and my brother (as a mummified Egyptian). I’m glad to see this song having continued engagement with our fans, with young kids finding it especially accessible and educational.
#4 – PSVR (2025)
This one really captured a sense of release—there was a lot of pent-up Jewish energy after a difficult year-and-a-half after October 7th—and you can feel that joy throughout. It’s loose, playful, and dance-heavy, and though the lyrics aren’t particularly deep, there are some fun lines in there like in the song’s bridge where we told the story of Passover in approximately 20 words. Also, filming entirely on the soundstage gave us freedom to experiment, and it was a really cool experience shooting the entire video at 0.6x speed (footage sped up later) to achieve the frenetic effect of the original Bruno Mars music video.
#3 – A Billy Joel Passover (2022)
There’s something instantly joyful about tapping into Billy Joel’s catalog—it’s iconic, catchy, and just feels right for feel-good parody. From the opening “9 o’clock on a Seder day” to Carl playing the matzah harmonica (i.e. “matzarmonica”) this one is packed with musical moments, and is a hit when we perform it in our stage concerts. It was a blast shooting all around NYC, including at the turnstiles of a subway station as 2000 people streamed past us with mouths agape.
#2 – Vehi She’amda (2020)
This video is likely the one that the least people know, but for me it’s a powerhouse and a poignant reflection of the times in which it came out—in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lyrics carry a powerful message of hope and faith, and the Passover Haggadah’s “vehi she’amda” text is the perfect conduit of that message, about how in our times of greatest need God and faith is a pillar to steady us. As an original piece, I think it showcases some of our most beautiful music, with rich harmonies and soaring modulations that still give me chills. Years later, I find myself returning to it often; I think it’s one of the most meaningful and enduring pieces we’ve ever created.
#1 – A Lion King Passover (2019)
This was my first Passover video as a member of Six13, so it would hold a special place in my heart regardless of how it had gone. But wow, what a production! This was our first high-budget Passover video after the success of our Bohemian Rhapsody Chanukah video, and it felt like a leap into a new era for the group. Leaning on such an iconic film gave us endless room for creativity—from the opening “maaaa nishtana” to dad jokes like “what’s a matzah with you?” and even a surprise matzah-to-the-head moment. And we’ll never forget filming at sunrise in freezing March weather or watching Nathaniel vine-swinging into the cold water—it was as unforgettable to make as it is to watch.
