Melanie Amaro Talks Winning The X Factor

Los Angeles - Melanie Amaro has the showbiz X factor and she has a $5 million recording contract to prove it. The 19-year-old from Sunrise, Fla., was crowned the winner of the first US series of talent show "The X Factor" in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

On Friday, Melanie joined us live on GDLA... check out the interview video in the media player.

Amaro, who was mentored on the FOX show by its creator and producer Simon Cowell, was overcome with emotion after being crowned the winner, People magazine reported.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Amaro exclaimed before dropping to her knees to pray.

Host Steve Jones stepped in after Amaro struggled to keep her composure. She paused and cried several times during an emotional encore performance of Beyonce's anthem "Listen."

"That isn't a $5 million performance, that is a $50 million performance," judge L.A. Reid told her, according to the New York Post.

"Listen," which Amaro sang at her first "X Factor" audition, helped the college freshman seal her victory when she performed it again Wednesday night.

"Thank you so much!" she said. "I don't know what to say. Thank you. God is good."

Cowell immediately labeled Amaro "a star," adding, "America, thank you for giving this girl an opportunity."

Along with a $5 million recording contract, Amaro will also star in a Pepsi commercial as part of her prize. The money -- an advance against future earnings -- will go a long way for Amaro and her family.

During the competition, Amaro revealed that her family was once so poor, she was briefly sent to live with her grandparents in the Virgin Islands. Last year, her parents' home in Florida was facing foreclosure.

"I have always told her, 'Melanie, if you win, the money is yours,'" mom Debra Amaro told the Post. "If you want to help us, that is fine. If you don't want to help us, that is fine also. We just want you to be happy."

"But I know we raised her well. And she has always been a grateful young lady. I think she is still going to try to do right by us. She doesn't want to see us struggling," Debra Amaro added.

As the winner, Amaro will release her first CD next year through Sony Music.

"I have a big voice, so there will be ballads," she said. "But I guarantee there will be upbeat songs that will make you want to dance. I would also like to do a collaboration with Mariah Carey."

Amaro defeated Josh Krajcik, 30, of Wooster, Ohio -- who made burritos for a living before his star turn on "The X Factor."

Krajcik paid tribute to Amaro, saying, "I feel amazing. Melanie deserves it. She has a wonderful voice. I've had such an incredible experience here ... I couldn't be happier."

Earlier in the two-hour broadcast, Chris Rene, a former trash collector, was announced as the third-place getter.

Auditions for season two of "The X Factor" will begin in January.

FOX is owned by News Corp., which also owns NewsCore and the New York Post.