A 26-year-old soulful crooner from Lucena City was declared the first-ever winner of the Philippine Idol during the star-studded finals held last night at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Maureen "Mau" Marcelo, who belted out Whitney Houston's "On My Own," was the sole female contender in the final three, including Gian Magdangal and Jan Nieto, who survived the six-month competition aired over ABC-5.

Marcelo, a daughter of a black American who returned to the Philippines to watch her in the finals, is a veteran of singing competitions having started singing when she was seven. She was a band singer before she joined the Philippine Idol.

She made it to the Final 12 during the wild card round after surviving the auditions that saw 10,000 hopefuls from all over Luzon alone. Marcelo received P1 million in cash and a recording contract with Sony-BMG and management contract with FremantleMedia.

The winner of the Philippine Idol, a spin-off of the hugely popular American Idol, was chosen by viewers who send their votes through text and the telephone.

Just like its American counterpart, the Philippine Idol has its resident judges - Ryan Cayabyab, Pilita Corrales and Francis Magalona.

Ryan Agoncillo hosts the competition that initially held its Performance Nights on Saturdays and Elimination Nights on Sundays, but the airings were lately moved to Sundays and Mondays in ABC-5's attempt to attract more viewers.*NLG

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