Dance, she and Stephen Bray reworked the demo composed by Hudson and Madonna asked Shep Pettibone, who had remixed her songs from True Blue, to remix "Spotlight" and included it on the album. John "Jellybean" Benitez, who had recorded the original demo during the True Blue sessions, assisted Pettibone in remixing the song. Hudson, who was given credit as a songwriter since he had the demo copyrighted, recalled that much of the demo's production was changed in the final version, including the rhythm and the basic groove. "Spotlight" begins with the sound of drums, bass synths and handclaps, followed by Madonna uttering the words "Spotlight, shine bright". After the first verse, the sound of keyboard is heard during the effect. It continues like this through the second verse, which is followed by an interlude featuring vocal echos, a piano segment and violin phrases. Madonna follows the music played by the piano and utters the words "Pa-da-pa-da-pappa pappa pa pa" in the same melody. The lyrics deal with Madonna making the listener remember that "Everybody is a Star" and that if one wants to be famous and be under the "Spotlight", the person should sing about it and reality may catch up with him or her. According to the sheet music for the song, it is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute. It is set in the key of F major with Madonna's voice spanning from the notes of C5 to B5. "Spotlight" has a basic sequence of Am–C–Am–C–G–F as its chord progression. Critical response Mark Bego, author of Madonna: Blonde Ambition wrote that "Spotlight" was a "typical Madonna 'look-at-me' dance routine, that sounds flat besides the heavy remixes in You Can Dance." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic said that the song "sounds dated—this is quite clearly extended mixes from the mid 80's—but that's part of the charm." Dave Barry from The Miami Herald commented that although You Can Dance sounds like "old Madonna", "Spotlight" sounds surprisingly fresh to his ears. Joe Brown from The Washington Post commented that the song should have been a "flat reject". Don McLeese from Chicago Sun-Times called the song "exuberant". From the Dallas Observer, Hunter Hauk deemed it "the bastard brother of 'Into the Groove'. It's just as infectious, but it didn't get the support it deserved". Dennis Hunt from Los Angeles Times commented that