"The X Factor": Country singer Tate Stevens wins second season

Tate Stevens attends the "The X Factor" season finale at CBS Television City on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, in Los Angeles. / Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

NEW YORK Tate Stevens, who was mentored by music exec L.A. Reid on the second season of "The X Factor," has won the Fox singing competition.

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"The X Factor" season finale

The 37-year-old country singer from Belton, Mo., beat runner-up Carly Rose Sonenclar, a 13-year-old schoolgirl from Westchester, N.Y., and teenage girl group Fifth Harmony on the finale that aired live Thursday night.

Stevens wins a $5 million recording contract.

More than 35 million votes were cast by viewers after Wednesday's performance show.

Besides Reid, judges this season included Demi Lovato, Britney Spears and series creator Simon Cowell.

Thursday's show was also the grand finale for Reid. Earlier this month, he said he wouldn't be returning to "The X Factor" next year. No replacement has been announced.

[zebra8835]

Tater did a fantastic job! Some of the melodies he sang were extremely complex and he sung them so effortlessly. He deserves a future in country music. No more asphalt for him! Good job!

[KentGoldings]

L.A. did a fantastic job with Tate this season, and I'm really happy to see that he won. I wasn't able to watch the finale live last night, so I watched it today using PrimeTime Anytime on my DISH Hopper. I got stuck working a night shift at DISH last night, but luckily my DVR automatically records all the prime time shows on the four major networks for me, so I never miss my favorite shows anymore.

[phetzoph8]

Tate Stevens has made me a country western music fan! I have been cheering for him since day one! Love his talent, the love for his family and friends. An honest to goodness genuine man. I voted for him as much as I could and the rest was history! I will be there at his first concert. He's talented, no matter what is said about him. There will always be someone saying something negative, that is a given. But as you can see, there were more people who loved him. The proof is in the pudding. One of your million fans...signing off.

[tsigili]

His story is a heart warming one, of an ordinary guy, with some talent, finding success, late in life.

I thought he was that good, and I know when he starts to record and perform, on his contract, he is going to be right up there with the country stars at the top of the charts.

[pammmmmm]

Cool he is a nice man!

[tessa3737]

Congratulations to Tate! My DISH co-workers and I have loved him all season so this makes me happy. Not that the other two finalists weren't also really talented, but I think Tate deserved it the most. I actually haven't gotten to watch this episode yet, but I'm really looking forward to catching up on it with my DISH Hopper. It's really convenient because I never even have to worry about setting any DVR timers. Everything on all four major networks during the primetime hours gets recorded for me automatically.

[markpanthony]

The rural American viewership will always be the focus of FOX Reality TV. Therefore country artists will consistently win these competitions. The $5 Million is a % of AD revenue. No record company in their right fiscal mind would award a $5 million contract to ANY new artist. Its about Reality TV drama and Ad money and very little correlation to the real music industry. So Tate got "his cut" of the revenues for holding in the middle American Fox audience. Story over. Sorry Tate but you were crowned as a reality TV personality, not an artist. Just keeping it REAL.