"Make It Shine" (alternatively titled "Make It Shine (''Victorious'' Theme)") is a song performed by the ''

Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around aspi ...

'' cast featuring the American singer and actress

Victoria Justice Victoria Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She rose to fame on Nickelodeon, playing Lola Martinez on the comedy drama series '' Zoey 101'' (2005–2008) and Tori Vega on the sitcom '' Victorious'' (2010–20 ...

from the show's debut

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

, '' Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show'' (2011). It was released as the album's first single on April 13, 2010, through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

and

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

. The song premiered on the pilot episode of ''Victorious'' and served as the show's theme song "Make It Shine" is a pop,

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

, and

teen pop Teen pop is a sub genre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop". About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their break ...

song with lyrics about encouraging a person to follow after their dreams. Music critics thought it was successful as a theme song and praised Justice's vocals. The song peaked at number 16 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart and entered secondary charts in the United States and the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

. Justice performed the song live in 2012.

Release

"Make It Shine" was first featured on the pilot for the

American television sitcom ''

'' on March 27, 2010. Tori Vega (

) performs the song after standing in for her sister, which leads to her acceptance into Hollywood Arts High School. The song was later released as a single on April 13, 2010. The song was used as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for ''Victorious''. "Make It Shine" was then released as the first track on the show's debut soundtrack album, '' Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show'', on August 2, 2011.

Composition

Justice provides the lead vocals on the track, with Niki Watkins contributing background vocals. The song was written by the show's producer Dan Schneider, Michael Corcoran, and Dr. Luke. Corcoran handled drums, keyboards, and programming. Dr. Luke served as producer, adding guitar, drums, keyboards, and programming the song. The track was mastered by

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance-p ...

and mixed by

Serban Ghenea Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...

, while Emily Wright served as the recording engineer and editor, supported by additional engineering from John Hanes and assistance from Tim Roberts. Music critics have described "Make It Shine" as a pop,

, and

track. Lyrically, the song is about telling people to work hard and to not give up on following their dreams: "You don't have to be afraid to put your dream in action/You're never gonna fade/You'll be the main attraction/'Cause you know that if you're livin' your imagination/Tomorrow you'll be everybody's fascination." William Ruhlmann for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that the track has "relentless beats, synthesized instrumentations, nonstop simple, repetitive

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

es, and

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and Pitch correction, correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles ...

vocals".

Critical reception

"Make It Shine" received positive reviews from music critics. Brenton Blanchet, writing for ''

'' magazine, described "Make It Shine" as an "ever- catchy theme performance". Writing for ''

The Post-Standard ''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''Th ...

'', Mark Bialczak described the theme song as Justice's "first

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

". The staff of

HelloGiggles HelloGiggles.com is an entertainment and lifestyle website launched in May 2011. It has not been updated since 2023 but is still live. It was founded by actress/musician Zooey Deschanel, TV producer Sophia Rivka Rossi and writer Molly McAleer. ...

said it is a "bop of a theme song". The joint website of '' Bop'' and '' Tiger Beat'' labeled it as a "great song" and stated it "instantly puts us in a great mood". Bob Hoose and Steven Isaac for Plugged In stated that while the track is not "crass or violent or sexual", they opined the lyrics in "Make It Shine" were "not the best message for kids". Kendra Beltran, writing for

Yardbarker Yardbarker is a digital media property focused on the publishing of sports and entertainment news and information. Founded in 2006, the property distributes content on Yardbarker.com, social media platforms and via third party syndication partn ...

, placed the song at number 22 on her list of the 27 best television theme songs of the 21st century, calling it a "great theme song". Crystal Bell of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

ranked the track at number 16 on her list of the 17 best Nickelodeon theme songs. Writing for '' Her Campus'', Megan Gaertner and Allison Kane placed the song at number six on their "Best Songs from ''Victorious''" list, describing the track as "uplifting and catchy". Tiara B for The Shade Room put the song at number one on her "''Victorious'': The Top 10 Songs That Still Have Us Hooked" list, labeling it as a "bop" and "iconic theme song".

Commercial performance

In May 2010, "Make It Shine" peaked at number 16 on the US ''

chart, lasting five weeks on the chart. The song also peaked at number six on the US Kid Digital Song Sales chart, number 17 on the US

Heatseekers Songs The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart, and number 39 on the US Pop Digital Song Sales chart. It also charted at number 308 on the

TopHit TopHit.com is a worldwide-oriented music chart website that includes internet platform for music distribution and airplay monitoring with generation of charts. As of 2024, TopHit has over 9,000 artists, songwriters, DJs, record labels, and music ...

airplay chart.

Live performances

To promote the song, Justice performed it live in 2012. In November 2019, during fellow ''Victorious'' actress

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

's Sweetener World Tour, fellow cast member Matt Bennett appeared on stage and sang "Make It Shine" with the crowd. In 2022, Bennett performed the song live during some of his DJ concert sets.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

vocals *Niki Watkins background vocals * Dan Schneider writer * Michael Corcoranwriter, drums, keyboards, programmer * Łukasz Gottwaldwriter, producer, guitar, drums, keyboards, programmer *

mastering engineer *

mixing engineer * Emily Wright recording engineer, editor * John Hanes engineer *Tim Roberts assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Victoria Justice 2010 songs American pop rock songs Comedy television theme songs Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Songs about dreams Songs about fame Songs written by Dr. Luke Songs written by Michael Corcoran (musician) Songs written for television series Teen pop songs Victoria Justice songs Victorious