Prize Money = US$108,000. Nice start

Gwalior boy wins X Factor India title

A small time radio jockey from Gwalior Geet Sagar, 26, surprised everyone after he won the singing talent hunt show, X Factor India on Friday.

He walked away with the prize money of Rs. 50 lakh in the grand final defeating Seema Jha from Patna and the Sajda sisters from Ahmedabad, who were touted as the favourites to win the contest.

Along with the winner's cheque, Geet also took home a Tata Manza Car and an opportunity to record a song for an upcoming Karan Johar production.

Geet, who has had no formal training in music, was mentored by singer Shreya Ghoshal on the show. He was often on the receiving end of criticism from singer Sonu Niigaam and filmmaker-composer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the other two mentors on the show.

Geet's ability to add spice to his performances apparently helped him bag the title which was wholly based on viewers' voting.

His sense of humour, gift of the gab and ability to create instant drama were often highlighted by the show producers in a bid to rake in the TRPs.

"There were many singers in the contest who were better than me and had formal training in singing. However, I believe this show is about spotting the X factor in a performer. That worked in my favour, I think," a surprised Geet said after special guest Katrina Kaif announced his name.

Imran Khan and Ali Zafar were on the show along with Kat to promote their upcoming film Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.

"I have studied music as a subject in my graduation, but I never took lessons in singing because of a throat problem. However, after entering this show, I constantly worked on improving my singing skills," he added.

The radio jockey who works for the Gwalior- based Lemon FM, had earlier surprised the mentors when he managed to make it among the top three finalists. Most people on the show rooted for 20- year- old Seema Jha who belonged to Niigaam's team.

"Sonu was heartbroken to see Seema lose in the final. But then, Geet did perform brilliantly on the final day and received the maximum number of votes," a source said.

Although Geet did not prove to be a great singer on X Factor India, he often entertained the audience with his glib talk and mimicry.

His profession must have imbibed these qualities in him which eventually helped him win.