X Factor Winner: Tate Stevens Wins Season 2

America waited for months, and Thursday night we finally learned the Season 2 winner of The X Factor; and country music ruled with 37-year-old Tate Stevens winning the season. Wednesday night's episode yielded the final performances in preparation for Thursday night's decision making. The three finalists up for the $5 million record deal were Carly Rose Sonenclar, Tate Stevens, and Fifth Harmony. 

On Wednesday night, Sonenclar, who is 13-years-old and mentored by judge Britney Spears, sang Nina Simone's "Feeling Good." 

For his solo, country singer Stevens chose Randy Houser's dramatic "Anything Goes." 

The all girl group Fifth Harmony made their finale the crowd pleasing Beatles song, "Let It Be." 

PolicyMic pundit Teddy Bommarito had already hypothesized that the season's crown would go in Stevens' favor: "Since the live shows began, Stevens and Sonenclar have been clear frontrunners, passing back and forth the top and second-best spot on the weekly voting leaderboard, a new aspect of the show this season. However, just in the last couple of episodes, Fifth Harmony has come in strong, gaining some momentum. But, in my opinion, the winner should be Sonenclar, given her strong singing chops beyond her teenage years. But, given a visible pattern of country/country-alternative singers taking the crown in many recent singing shows (most recently Cassadee Pope, who took home the crown in The Voice’s 3rd season finale), it would be no surprise to see Stevens come out on top (American Idol’s last two seasons also follow this trend with Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips)."

Congratulations to Tate Stevens! We'll be looking for you on the charts.