Taking place on Friday Jan. 31 from 6-9 p.m., 16 students competed in S-Factor, an annual singing competition run by Stevenson’s KIVA Club. S-Factor is a school event loosely based on the reality television series X-Factor and has taken place since 2012. For a ticket fee of 5 dollars, students watched their peers perform in the Performing Arts Center while a panel of Stevenson faculty, and later student votes, determined London Cabrera ’25 S-Factor champion.
KIVA is a club that provides no-interest microloans to entrepreneurs in global emerging economies and has loaned over 300,000 dollars to more than 80 countries. S-Factor is organized by KIVA’s Vice President of Club Logistics Praneetha Meraga ’25 and Director of External Publicity Amogha Ravishankar ’25. Both of whom value S-Factor’s ability to showcase students’ talent at this school wide event. Although the competition is open to all grades, this year in particular they had to expand the amount of applicants they accepted for the competition.
“We had a huge influx of very good seniors, and in my opinion, this is probably the most talented pool of auditions that we’ve ever had, which is why we were unable to pick our normal number of contestants,” Ravishankar said. “It’s typically around 11 to 14, and we had to extend it to 16, because we were blown away by how good everyone was.”
When selecting which contestants to proceed to the following round, the KIVA executive board members judge primarily based on the ability to maintain control over one’s voice as well as other factors such as the uniqueness of the voice, style, and confidence while performing. Student competitors will then proceed to the judging round by faculty with the following round including a voting poll open to the audience.
Though the accepted applicants are primarily seniors, juniors and underclassmen are still capable of winning. 2024 S-Factor winner Kayla Decilio ’27 cherises the experience and opportunity to perform in such an environment with a crowd of over 400 attendees.
“It’s a good way for people and students in general to come out of their comfort zone,” Decilio said. “It’s a very supportive community, everyone was so sweet and nice and it really made me feel welcome.”
Decilio appreciates how S-Factor brings a variety of people together who can all relate to one another on their shared passion for singing and music. Ravishankar finds that despite the hard work and stress of it all, there is a sense of accomplishment with the final result.
“It’s so rewarding to see the outcome, everyone is just so talented, our judges are super funny, and it’s just really fun to watch the entire thing come together,” Ravishankar said. “ And to see everyone having fun, including the contestants, judges, emcees, and the audience. It’s just a really fun event, and it has a lot of school spirit.”
This was the first year that there was a duet halftime with former winners Decilio and Nikki Rodriguez ’25. During her time rehearsing for the competition, Decilio appreciated the energy and support she felt from her peers.
“After school I would come home and then I would practice my song over and over again to see what worked and what didn’t,” Decilio said. “Then when we did the rehearsal for it, performing in front of people for the first time was really nerve wracking, it was supportive, so that everyone would cheer for you, and then it made you feel better about yourself and your performance.”
Contestants like Decilio recognize the benefit of putting in time and effort in order to produce a strong overall performance. S-Factor attendance is highly encouraged by not only the club, but from contestants themselves.
“I think that people should attend S–Factor because we get to recognize a bunch of amazing and talented singers and help them with their craft,” Decilio said. “You can even recognize them in the hallways and say ‘I know them because I remember them from S–Factor now they’re famous.’”