Spotlight contestants’ perspectives on the 2025 finale
By Sydney Schwenke
This year’s Spotlight season concluded with Cumberlands sophomore, Corrie Bowers, winning first place in the finale. Bowers wowed students and faculty alike with two very different songs. She sang “Still Into You” by Paramore
and Michael Bublé’s “Cry Me a River”.
Bowers confided that she was not excited about singing “Still Into You” which the Campus Activity Board chose for her “…it’s very punk rock and such a different style of singing that I’m used to because I’m more familiar with singing
more classical music for my music minor.”
The Spotlight winner said, “I didn’t know if I could perform like [Paramore’s Hayley Williams]. And because of that, I was kind of scared to even start practicing like she does.” Corrie Bowers added that she was “kind of uncomfortable” even practicing for her friends. However, Bowers said that once she stopped focusing on how she would appear, she felt she was better able to do the song justice.
Corrie Bowers is quick to attribute her success to God. She stated, “God really help me to forget myself and my nerves so I could have so much fun and use my talents for him.”
When asked about how she felt after earning first place, Bowers said, “I had a lot of mixed emotions.” She said, “I was a little sad that Christian didn’t win because I know he’s been in the competition for a couple of years now, and I really think he performed well enough to win. Micah too was phenomenal.” Corrie Bowers said she was definitely excited to see so much fruit for her labors although she stated that her win didn’t “fully register until the next day” because for her, the moment “…seemed like af ever dream.”
Although Bowers doubted her ability to perform well, her competition had a very different opinion of her talent.
Second-place winner Micah Todd said that he enjoyed the competition significantly more this season. He added that since each contestant was so uniquely talented, it made the competition “a lot more competitive.” Like Bowers, Todd said that he appreciated the way that “everyone was so supportive of each other.”
Micah Todd concluded by saying, “Corrie one hundred percent deserved first place. She was phenomenal and flawless. I mean, like I didn’t even think I’d get first and if I did, it would have been based off of popularity. And then with me and Dingus, I thought it was just going to be a toss-up. I think it was really close.”
Christian Dingus won third place overall and he agreed with Micah saying, “I definitely think that Corrie was the most deserving person to win. I’ve been saying so since the first solo round.” Dingus said that he was excited when he learned his cousin, Bowers, was auditioning for Spotlight, but that he also recognized that “[The competition] just got harder for everyone else to win.”
Micah Todd’s CAB-selected song was “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” by Luke Combs. Todd also chose “Wondering Why” by The Red Clay Strays for himself. Todd said about his performance, “I would say that I did better than I thought I was going to. I’ve had a lot of good conversations because of Spotlight, some of which were gospel conversations, and that’s probably the best part that’s come out of it.”
When asked by CAB’s Spotlight host, Cam Jackson, what he would do with the money he won, Todd said that he would give half to his mom and spend the remainder repairing his car. The second-place winner followed through, stating, “I already offered the money to my mom and she said ‘No’, so I made a deal out with my dad that he’s going to take the money out and send her half of the $800 I got. I also just bought a $200 car battery today.”
Christian Dingus selected Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” for his first song, and the Campus Activity Board also assigned “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” to him. Dingus said, “I was really nervous for what they were going to choose, but I was pretty satisfied with their choice, and I think they did really well for all three of us.”
This was Dingus’ third year participating in the competition and his first time making it to the final round. He said that he is “definitely appreciative of the people who got [him] there through voting for [him] and encouraging [him].” He said that he is grateful that “God gave [him] the opportunity to sing” and hopes that the way he performed was honoring to God.
This 2025 Spotlight season was certainly one that next year’s contestants will have a difficult time beating.
