The second season of The X Factor came to a close Thursday night with 37-year-old Tate Stevens scoring the $5 million recording contract over Carly Rose Sonenclar and the group Fifth Harmony.
"First and foremost I got to thank the man upstairs for taking care of me, my family, all the country music fans – God bless you. Thank you so much for all the votes. This is the best day of my life,” the Missouri native said after the results were revealed.
Stevens’ mentor L.A. Reid praised his work. "You deserve this. I'm proud to work with you. I think you represent The X Factor really, really well. So on behalf of Simon and myself and all the judges, congratulations,” he said.
Sonenclar, who was Britney Spears’ contestant, took second place. Fifth Harmony, mentored by Cowell, landed in third.
After the show, Stevens said it will “take a while” to get used to his new life. "I think it's going to take a while. I think it's going to take a while to sink in and really get the magnitude of what happened tonight. This is huge,” he said.
Stevens is not sure how he will celebrate with his wife and two children. “We have the rest of our lives to celebrate this! [My family] sacrificed a lot for me to even do this, which means a ton … it's very amazing,” he added.
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