Two William S. Hart Union High School District students were named semifinalists in The Music Center’s 37th annual Spotlight competition, and one student was named the finalist in her category.
Elina Ghosh, a sophomore at West Ranch High School, was named the finalist for the non-classical voice category. Brooklyn Covington, a sophomore at Valencia High School, and Ananya Joseph, a sophomore at Academy of the Canyons, were named semifinalists in the dance category of the Spotlight competition.
The Spotlight competition is a free, nationally acclaimed performing arts competition, scholarship and artistic development program for teenagers, according to a press release from the program. More than 1,600 teenagers, representing 269 schools, 174 cities and eight counties auditioned this year.
Ghosh said she heard about the competition from Joseph last year and auditioned, and unfortunately did not make it to the first round. This year, Ghosh wanted to try again, and to her excitement she won her category.
She said her category started with roughly 500 people, then it was cut down to 100 for the first round, then 16 people moved to the semifinals and from there Ghosh was named one of two grand prize finalists.
Ghosh prepared her audition songs to “Shallow” sung by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga and “Rise Up” sung by Andra Day, but after the first round she said the judges asked her to change “Shallow” to a different song.
“They chose ‘I Have Nothing’ by Whitney Houston, which was incredible because it was a very difficult song for me to learn,” said Ghosh. “They gave me the opportunity to do it. I think I rose to the challenge, and I did really good.”
She added she has a strong passion for singing and practiced every moment she had in between studying because she wanted to thrive in the competition.
Ghosh said she wasn’t expecting to win this year, especially after her abrupt end in the competition last year.
“It was really surprising because the last year I tried out and I didn’t even make it to like the first round. And then I did it again and got to win the thing,” said Ghosh. “I think it just like shows how if you try something and you don’t make it the first time it’s OK because you have other tries, and this experience showed me not to give up on the first try and that’s really important in music or any passion.”
Covington said she found out about the competition through her dance studio’s director, Jan Frishette.
Covington said that her director and teachers pushed her to try out and talked about how it was a great program.
“I just went into it, and it was lots of fun and I just kept moving on,” said Covington.
She said has been dancing for 11 years, and throughout that time had competed in other competitions but Spotlight was different because it focused more on the individual, not a team. She added the competition pushed her to motivate herself and she liked reaching for the goals she set.
She described her tap dance routine as a sassy movement to the song “Bills, Bills, Bills” sung by Destiny’s Child. She added it was full of fast movement and lots of rhythm.
According to the press release, Spotlight semifinalists earn the opportunity to attend a special mastery class within their category with highly regarded artists, who share their expertise on performance technique, training and professional life.
Covington said she appreciated the feedback she got from the tap dance judges.
“They gave me some really good critiques about my rhythm, style and movement. It was very helpful,” she said.
She added she was looking forward to performing in the finals on March 23.
Joseph decided to integrate her culture into her dance performance. She said she decided to do Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance style that originated in South India that is typically performed for religious or cultural expression, to share her culture and show the judges something different.
She said the competition was about learning from each other and she was inspired by seeing other dancers during master classes and hoped her dance style influenced them in some way.
“It’s definitely inspiring because although my dance is different, like the core values are the same. You have to put your heart into the dance,” said Joseph.
Her performance for her audition is a more cinematic piece, she said. The song that she danced to was about asking the goddess Devi and Mother Earth for her mercy and to bring peace.
Joseph said she felt very emotionally connected to the performance because she was preparing it as the L.A. wildfires were taking place and in her own way it was her asking for peace and protection.
She added that she appreciates hearing the feedback from the judges on how to improve and seeing their reaction to her performance.
“The judges’ reaction to my performance has been really heartwarming and I really hope to bring that to a bigger stage, as well, further in the competition,” said Joseph.
