The first winner of the new american reality show “X Factor” was crowned last night, December 22nd and it is: Melanie Amaro. The 19 year-old from Sunrise, Florida will wake up with the sunrise this morning with a huge grin across her face.

Melanie said to the audience after discovering her win and being surrounded by her family and friends, “Thank you so much, thank you. I’m just, I’m so happy and I don’t know what to say.” Her reaction can be seen here.

She had been told that she was eliminated in one of the early rounds of the competition, eliminated by the Executive Producer and head judge himself, Simon Cowell. He went to her home personally after realizing his mistake and invited her to rejoin the competition.    A reason for the win could be her duet with R. Kelly on Wednesday performing “I Believe I Can Fly.” The video for their performance can be seen here.

Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette made appearances on Wednesday’s show, performing with the second place and third place winners, Josh Krajcik and Chris Rene.

A Pepsi Commercial that will be during the 2012 Superbowl is what is next for the singer and a $5 million contract. Expect more from this young singer who definitely deserved to win.