America has spoken and a new American Idol has been crowned: Candice Glover!
After over four months of searching and eliminating and millions and millions of votes casted, the soul singer was finally proclaimed season 12's winner last night. The 23-year-old singer from rural South Carolina beat out Kree Harrison and thousands of others who auditioned for this season, including 10 others who made it to the voting stage.
Glover is the only female winner since season six of the talent show, when Jordin Sparks was proclaimed the 'Idol.'
It also seemed like years of perseverance and determination paid off for Candice. This season is the singer's third time to audition for American Idol-each of the two previous auditions, she came short.
"I can't even...Oh, my God...Three years," the winner quipped, as reported by USA Today.
The soul singer has been a favourite among the judges this season, mainly for her powerful vocals. Singing huge power ballads, Candice has brought Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban to their feet multiple times. Carey, the legendary diva herself, even glitter bombed the singer after her remarkable performance of The Cure's Lovesong.
(Video Courtesy of AOL)
While Glover's proclamation as the new American Idol was the major highlight of the evening, there were also a number of other memorable moments during the finale. Her duet with Grammy and Oscar-award winner, Jennifer Hudson, was one of those. Singing Inseparable, the two singers went on a belting spree, hitting imaginable high notes while serenading the Nokia Theatre where the finale was held.
Judges Carey and Urban also sang their respective songs on stage, while Jackson played the bass guitar on two different numbers-one for Carey's performance and another for first runner-up Harrison's number that also included Urban on guitar and Travis Barker on drums. Third placer Angie Miller also performed live with former Idol runner-up, Adam Lambert, and Jessie J. to everyone's surprise, the Price Tag-singer invited Miller to perform with her on stage in UK.
Another highlight of the night was Randy Jackson's farewell tribute. After judging in all 12 seasons of Idol, Jackson announced earlier this month that he would be leaving the show. To mark his last day on the Idol set as a judge, a video tribute was shown, making the music producer emotional. So far, there's still no news on who will replace him as judge.
American Idol will return on Fox in January 2014.