Elina Ghosh, a sophomore at West Ranch High School, was named the finalist for the non-classical voice category in The Music Center’s 37th annual Spotlight competition and is expected to perform in a final show in June.
The Spotlight competition is a free, nationally acclaimed performing arts competition, scholarship and artistic development program for teenagers, according to a news release from the program. More than 1,600 teenagers, representing 269 schools, 174 cities and eight counties auditioned this year.
Ghosh said in an interview with The Signal in March that she heard about the competition from her friend last year and auditioned, but 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 said she wasn’t expecting to win this year, especially after her abrupt end in the competition last year.
“It was really surprising because 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.”
To wrap up the competition all of the finalists will be performing in The Music Center’s Spotlight Grand Finale. Ghosh said she was excited to have the opportunity to perform in the finale.
“I’m feeling really excited,” said Ghosh. “It’s coming up the day right after school ends and I’ve been practicing and working on my song pretty hard and I’m just really excited to go on that stage and perform in front of so many people. All my friends and family are going to be there and I’m just really happy I get the opportunity to like share my music with them.”
She added that she is expecting to sing “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston. She said that after going through the competition and absorbing everything she has learned, she feels more confident in herself and her talent.
“Spotlight is honestly like a really amazing platform for artists and for high school students to get on,” said Ghosh. “They’re really welcoming and everybody is just so kind and from the entire experience I feel like I’ve grown so much as a singer and I’ve been able to get so many valuable pieces of information from them.”
The Music Center’s Spotlight Grand Finale is set to take place on June 6 at 8 p.m. at the Ahmanson Theatre, located at 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.
