Melanie Amaro Wins 'The X Factor' USA Season 1

Friday, December 23, 2011

Melanie Amaro Wins 'The X Factor' USA Season 1

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Melanie Amaro was declared as the ‘The X Factor’ grand winner for its first season. She bested her co-finalist Chris Rene and Josh Krajcik. She take home the $5 million contract with Epic records and a Pepsi TV commercial.

Melanie Amaro - X Factor USA grand winner

Here’s Melanie Amaro’s “road” to stardom from Wikipedia:

Amaro auditioned for the first season of the talent show The X Factor in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and L.A. Reid singing the song “Listen” by Beyoncé Knowles. After becoming one of the Top 32 finalists, she performed Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” in the judges’ house, in front of her mentor Cowell.

Amaro was initially not chosen to be part of the Top 16 and was eliminated from the girls category. However, Cowell surprised her at her Florida home and revealed that she was invited back to the competition after he decided he had made a mistake in not including her.

Amaro eventually made it to the live shows in Cowell’s girls category, along with Rachel Crow, Drew, Tiah Tolliver and Simone Battle. The addition of Amaro brought the total number of finalists qualified to perform during the first live show to 17.

On December 15th, she won a place in the final along with Chris Rene and Josh Krajcik. On December 22nd, she came in first place in the first season of The X Factor. As a result of winning The X Factor, Amaro won a $5 Million recording contract with Epic Records, making it the largest guaranteed prize in television history. As part of the prize, she will also be appearing in a Pepsi commercial set to air during Super Bowl XLVI on NBC.

Watch Melanie Amaro’s final performance on “The X Factor” USE Season 1 below: