{"id":19974,"date":"2011-12-23T03:15:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/the-x-factor-crowns-its-first-winner\/"},"modified":"2011-12-23T03:15:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T03:15:00","slug":"the-x-factor-crowns-its-first-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/the-x-factor-crowns-its-first-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"The X Factor Crowns Its First Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n
\n

Simon Cowell<\/p>\n

Ian Derry\/FOX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It’s been a drama-filled<\/a> first season of The X Factor<\/em><\/a>, but in the end it came down to three<\/a>: Melanie Amaro, Josh Krajcik and Chris Rene squared off in Wednesday’s final round of competition for the grand prize \u2013 a $5 million recording contract.<\/p>\n

Simon Cowell<\/a> said the trio represented the most talented group of finalists<\/a> of any singing competition he’s done. But after Wednesday’s performances, the head judge stood firmly behind his mentee, early frontrunner<\/a> Amaro, saying the 19-year-old deserved to win following her duet with R. Kelly on “I Believe I Can Fly” and rendition of Beyonc\u00e9<\/a>‘s “Listen.”<\/p>\n

Keep reading to find out the winner: <\/p>\n

Melanie won!<\/p>\n

The singer, who was at one point sent home and then brought back to the competition, was speechless.<\/p>\n

“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” was all she could get out through tears before falling to her knees to pray.<\/p>\n

“America, thank you for giving this girl an opportunity,” Simon said on her behalf. “She is a star.”<\/p>\n

After attempting to sing, host Steve Jones tried to get an emotional Melanie to say a few words.<\/p>\n

“Thank you so much!” she said. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you. God is good.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
\n

From left: Josh Krajcik, Chris Rene and Melanie Amaro<\/p>\n

Frank Micelotta \/ FPictureGroup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Runner-up Josh, who made burritos before auditioning for the show, said: “I feel amazing. Melanie deserves it. She has a wonderful voice. I’ve had such an incredible experience here … I couldn’t be happier.”<\/p>\n

Chris Rene, the recently rehabbed trash collector, took third place, which was announced earlier in the two-hour broadcast.<\/p>\n

“I feel amazing that I got to do this, that I’m here and that God has blessed me with so many opportunities,” Rene said. “I just got to say thank you.”<\/p>\n

Auditions for season 2 of The X Factor<\/em> begin in January. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

More:
\nThe X Factor Crowns Its First Winner<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon Cowell Ian Derry\/FOX It’s been a drama-filled first season of The X Factor , but in the end it came down to three : Melanie Amaro, Josh Krajcik and Chris Rene squared off in Wednesday’s final round of competition for the grand prize \u2013 a $5 million recording contract. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nThe X Factor Crowns Its First Winner - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/the-x-factor-crowns-its-first-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The X Factor Crowns Its First Winner - 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