'X Factor': And the Winner Is... (Spoiler Alert)
Melanie Amaro is the first winner of Fox's "The X Factor."
The victory includes a $5 million record deal, as well as an appearance in a Pepsi commercial that will air during the Super Bowl.
Also read: 'X Factor' Performance Finale Wins Night for Fox
Amaro, a songstress in the vein of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Hudson, was the safest choice of the three finalists. She sang her final song thorough tears of joy.
She beat multi-instrumentalist Josh Krajcik, whose voice fell somewhere between Michael Bolton's and Joe Cocker's. Both were safer choices than third-place finisher Chris Rene, a recovering drug addict whose original song "Young Homie" helped drive him through the competition.
The win was also a victory for show creator Simon Cowell, who mentored Amaro. But it came amid disappointments about the show's first season.
Cowell said before "X Factor" aired that he wanted it to earn more viewers than his old show, "American Idol." But it has generally earned less than half the ratings of "Idol," television's top-rated show.
Cowell set out to find less conventional winners than "Idol" did but eliminating age limits for contestants. But the 19-year-old Amaro lands in prime "Idol" range. And for all her vocal talents, her song choices were as predictable as can be: They included three songs by Michael Jackson, three by Beyoncé Knowles, two each by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and one previously performed by both Houston and Carey.
The bearded, cherubic Krajcik dug a little deeper in the crates, choosing songs from less-obvious artists including Foo Fighters, Christina Perri, and Roberta Flack. Rene offfered a gritty and appealing blend of hip-hop and R&B.
But at least Amaro was a newer talent: Krajcik, who is 30, has previously released two albums and played backup on NPR and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," both years before he auditioned for "X Factor."
Amaro's win followed a duet between her and Krajcik on David Bowie's "Heroes."
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