"The X Factor" 2011 - Finale: Did America get it right?

• Yes, absolutely! (52%, 17 Votes)
• Almost, but not quite! (36%, 12 Votes)
• Not even close! (6%, 2 Votes)
• Who cares? I'm too busy wrapping Christmas presents! (6%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 33

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This is it. This is the end of The X Factor Season 1. Either Melanie Amaro, Chris Rene, or Josh Krajcik will walk away with a $5 million recording contract. We’ll have to sit through about 90 minutes of Finale filler first, but someone will win. Who will it be? The Idol Radio Show Personalities have made their picks. Click here to see them.

Join me after the jump as I live blog The X Factor Finale Results. And chat with other X Factor fans during the show in our Shoutbox.

First Place: Melanie Amaro
Second Place: Josh Krajcik
Third Place: Chris Rene

Tonight’s X Factor opens with a video montage of the three remaining contestants intended to make us nostalgic for the season that just went by. Considering how few people tuned into said season, it might not make that many people all that nostalgic.

Host Steve Jones takes the stage for what may be the final time if you believe all the rumors. I said I was going to talk about it on last night’s Idol Radio Show, but I never got around to it. But I will talk about it tonight. Hopefully.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s the X Factor judges!”

If this is the last we see of Steve Jones, I won’t be sad about it. He’s too plaid and boring up there on the stage. I’ve seen Steve on other shows before, and he has charm and charisma. But he hasn’t shown any of that on this show. I think he feels like he has to be too proper or something. Wish he would just relax some.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s your X Factor Top 12.”

They are singing Lady GagGag’s The Edge of Glory, a song that just so hasn’t been played enough over the last 50 years. What? It’s only been out since May of this year? So it just seems like it’s been playing for the last 50 years? And, oh look…. it’s Astro Turkey rapping his part in the song. I’m done. Goodnight.

Okay, okay. We all know it. No matter how much I threaten to stop watching, I keep watching. It’s an addiction. I wonder if the Betty Ford Clinic has a program for it.

Just saw the new Weight Watcher’s commercial starring Jennifer Hudson. She was doing a duet with her old (re: heavier) self. The transformation between then and now is amazing. If I hadn’t kept up with her over the years, I wouldn’t know who that thin person was now.

Prim and proper. Those are the words I’ve been looking for to describe how Steve Jones has been treating his hosting gig on this show. He is way too prim and proper. Even when he’s joking around with the judges, he comes across as too prim and proper. Ugh.

Melanie Amaro takes the stage to sing. She is singing “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” And for one of the only times this season, she has a stage full of props and backup dancers. Yet she still manages to make us focus on her. She is having fun with the song and sounds really good. Have I mentioned at all this season how much in love I’m in with Melanie?

The judges all gave Melanie her kudos after she sang. Then a video montage of Melanie’s friends, family, and supporters giving her props for how far she has made it and how proud of them they are of her.

Following the video, Steve says he will reveal the act that came in third place after the commercials. Frankly, he’s promised us such things before and then didn’t deliver. So I’m not ready to believe it. I would be surprised if the third place act is revealed prior to the top of the second hour, if even that early.

In our Shoutbox, Shanethewise just posted “EVERY major publication/poll has Melanie winning by a wide margin, with Chris & Josh flip-flopping for second.” I’ve seen the same thing today with all the polls: every one has Melanie winning. Could it be a case of everyone saying they believe Melanie will win, but in actuality those same people voted for Chris or Josh instead?

Chris Rene takes the stage to sing his Christmas song, “Have a Merry Little Christmas.” The stage is all decked out behind Chris, but he is being accompanied by a piano only for his song. And we all know how Chris does when he goes all acoustic on his songs. It’s some of his best singing and performances, and this one delivers just as well. I love this guy and look forward to his debut album.

Over in our Shoutbox, Emily just posted “Not to be a Scrooge, but I hated that. Ugh.” Would someone please go put a lump of coal in her stocking for dissing our wonderful Chris Rene?

And it’s video montage time for Chris, and it’s moving him to tears. Especially when his sister comes on to talk about how proud their dad would be of him if he was still alive. I think this is the one area where The X Factor shines over American Idol: the heart-wrenching montage videos. Brings tears to the contestants every time.

Love it. A Best Buy commercial is airing right now about how you can order online and pick it up in the store or get free shipping. Maybe someone should demand truth in advertising and order Best Buy to add a third option to ordering online: have your ordered cancelled less than a week before Christmas.

Josh Krajcik takes the stage to sing his Christmas song. There is a giant snow globe on the stage behind him, but other than that the stage is way toned down for him. I think the song is “Please Come Home For Christmas.” It’s a jazzy song, and it’s a song I can easily see Josh doing on his Christmas album one day. Great performance.

Time for Josh’s montage video tribute from his friends, family, and acquaintances. What in the world? We just saw a high school picture of Josh with a freaking long ponytail. Nice. Josh isn’t one to get moved to tears, but I did think he would shed a small one at some point. Oops. Spoke too soon. They had Josh’s daughter at the end of the video telling him that she loves him and knows that she doesn’t say that enough. And she’s proud of him. That brought out the water in Josh.

Told you The X Factor was good in this department.

Justin Bieber takes the stage in a performance that was pre-recorded last week sometime. He is singing “The Christmas Song.” Did I just hear his voice crack? Anyway, he is joined by Stevie Wonder about halfway through the song. All the reports had said that he would be singing a duet with Drew, but doesn’t look like that is happening. Is it just me, or is Bieber looking a little bored up there on stage? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I just don’t get the appeal of Bieber.

Not just one song for Bieber. He’s singing “Santa Clause is Coming To Town” now. There is a lot of dancing going on stage now. And Bieber keeps arching his back and throwing his head back like he’s belting out the highest, longest note he has ever sang.

Okay. Here comes the duet with Drew. It’s simply the last line of the song. That’s it. That’s all. All that hype in the media about the duet just for a freaking last line. I’m done. Goodnight.

Time to find out who is going home in third place. The Top 3 are welcomed out on the stage along with their mentors. One of them will win a $5 million dollar contract. But the act not going to win it, coming in third place this season, is……. Chris Rene. Wow! I really thought Chris would be at least second. Could Josh surprise us all by winning?

Time for some more video filler, this time in the form of the Top 5 Most Shocking Moments this season. #5 goes to the guy whose name was Alexander but got upset whenever someone called him by that name. #4 goes to Astro Turkey’s meltdown the first time he was in the Bottom 2. #3 went to some guy I don’t care remembering. #2 went to the family member who blew a fuse when his friend wasn’t put through from the audition. #1 went to the Rachel Crow elimination moment.

And that video tribute leads into Rachel Crow being out on the stage. She says amazing things are coming in the future, but doesn’t name any of them. She also tells Steve that she wants his job, so he turns it over to Rachel and she introduces Leona Lewis. At least Rachel had fun with her hosting moment. Steve could learn a thing or two.

Which leaves Leona Lewis, who won X Factor Season 2 over in the UK, out on the stage. Not sure what she is singing, but it is a slow song with video highlights of the US version of the show playing on the big screen behind her. Ummmmm, is it just me, or does it sound like Leona Lewis is off-key on parts of her song? I know it’s not wax in my ear, because I cleaned them out last night. If she is off-key, it’s a rarity for her. She is normally spot on.

Time for some more filler. This one comes in the form of highlights of L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell battling each other all season. It did get quite vicious between them at times. Not sure who won between them, though.

Next up to sing for us tonight is 50 Cent, singing “Waiting Til Tonight.” It’s bad enough how sexually the back-up dancers are acting. But the song is so laden with inappropriate lyrics, that large chunks of the first verse get silenced. We’re not talking about quick silences. We’re talking about silences of several seconds. Each. I’m done. Goodnight. Crap. Didn’t turn off the TV quick enough. Now Astro Turkey is out there trying to rap with 50 Cent. Just shows how far Astro Turkey has to go to catch up to a rapper who can’t rap himself. Ugh.

More filler, this time in the form of a video montage of Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul. But not of them fighting. It’s a battle of how many times they cried. This could take until the end of Season 2 to finish.

Next up on stage is Pitbull featuring NeeYo (or however you spell his name). I really don’t care at this point. See you when this song is over.

Melanie Amaro and Josh Krajcik take the stage again to sing a duet together. Josh is really feeding off Melanie in this song. They are both giving us a great performance. I have to wonder if all three of them practiced the song in pairs to be ready for no matter who ended up in the Top 2. Did Chris and Josh have a different song practiced that they could sing together if Melanie ended up in third? Or were the producers really confident that Melanie wasn’t going to be in third?

The moment has arrived, folks. Time to find out if our first ever X Factor U.S. champion will be Melanie Amaro or Josh Krajcik. Unless Steve tells us how far apart the voting percentage was, I’m going to believe that it was a fairly close vote.

In second place is………… Josh Krajcik.

In first place is…………. Melanie Amaro.

Steve tries repeatedly to talk to Melanie about how she feels about winning, but she is just too much in shock. And she is being mobbed by her family members. Hopefully she will be able to perform in just a moment.

She does. For a moment, anyway. I am so very happy that she won. She was an early favorite and had the best voice in the competition from start to finish. Love it.

Steve tries once again to talk to Melanie after the song, but she just can’t find her voice. She is too much in shock and the tears are flowing too hard for her to speak.

And that wraps up Season 1 of The X Factor. FOX has already commissioned a second season of the show, and I will be covering it again with live blogs and radio shows beginning in September. Of course, I’ll be live blogging American Idol, The Voice, and America’s Got Talent between now and then.

So what did you think of tonight’s show? Did the correct act win? Vote in our poll at the top of the page and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

And don’t forget to join me for the Idol Radio Show tonight at 11 PM ET / 10 PM CT as I talk about tonight’s X Factor results, American Idol news, and anything else in the entertainment industry that needs to be discussed. Simply click the “Listen Live” banner in the right column when the show starts.