(superLOUD) Melanie Amaro was announced as the winner of the first season of X Factor in a 2-hour finale episode on Thursday night. She will receive a $5 million dollar recording contract as well as star in an upcoming Pepsi commercial.
The runner up was the soulful Josh Krajcik, mentored by Nicole Scherzinger in the "over 30's" category. Chris Rene of L.A. Reid's "boys" team rounded out the top 3.
Melanie Amaro was originally cut from the X Factor competition by Simon Cowell before the live shows began. more on this story
