marlisa punzalan is named the winner of x factor australia 2014

after rose fostanes won x factor israel, another filipina captured the x factor title not in the philippines but in australia. 15 year old marliza punzalan, who was mentored by ronan keating, was named the winner of the x factor australia 2014.

she bested dean ray (who place 2nd) and the wild card group brothers 3 (who placed 3rd) in a nation wide voting that was decided in the slimmest of margins. according to the host, this is the closest race in x factor australia history.

marlisa came a long way from her first audition as a shy girl that sang "yesterday" to a great performer. i really think that she did not have a weak performance in the competiotion and she only landed in the bottom 2 once, which was during the top 4 semifinals week.

here is marlisa's winning moment:

marlisa's winner's single, "stand by you" is now available in itunes. here is marlisa performing the song during the grand finals performance show:

hoping that marlisa's career will take off from here and hope she visits the philippines soon!

videos are from J1MZO7's YouTube channel and image is from X Factor Australia Facebook page