Cowell's protege has the X Factor

Pop mogul Simon Cowell was celebrating last night after his protege Steve Brookstein sang his way to victory in the X Factor final.

09:38 12 December 2004

Pop mogul Simon Cowell was celebrating last night after his protege Steve Brookstein sang his way to victory in the X Factor final.

Pub and club singer Steve beat classical quartet G4 to victory in the final part of the 16-week ITV1 talent contest.

The 35-year-old south Londoner will release a single later this month after scooping the prize of a 1m record contract.

Bookies had put the finalists at neck and neck to win the public phone vote, deeming the contest too close to call.

Hugging mentor Cowell on the announcement of his victory, Steve seemed overwhelmed by his triumph.

"This is not happening. I do not believe it. I just can't believe how far I've come," he exclaimed.

Celebrating his victory with a rendition of the Phil Collins hit, Take A Look At Me Now, Steve struggled to contain the emotion of winning.

Despite emerging as the viewers' favourite, Steve attracted harsh criticism from judge Sharon Osborne, for an earlier performance of the same song.

"He is not what he seems, believe me. All that is BS that he gives out," said Osbourne.

"He is full of crap and he is an average singer. Ask anyone in the contest, he is overly confident."

The show has been dominated by bickering between the panel of celebrity judges, each of whom mentored different groups of contestants.

Pop mogul Simon Cowell was frequently at loggerheads with Sharon Osbourne and G4's mentor Louis Walsh also got into disagreements with his fellow judges.

The show's alternative format saw older performers, groups and individuals all competing against one another to win the talent series.

The X Factor is set to return for a second run, ITV announced last week.

Reports suggest that a US version of the series is also planned following the show's success in the UK.