Marlisa Punzalan wins X Factor 2014

Monday, October 20, 2014 | 11:17pm | Jonathon Moran | The Daily Telegraph

The 15-year-old Year 9 student emerged as the shock winner of the series ahead of favourite, brooding rocker Dean Ray.

The Glendenning local was overwhelmed when she realised she had won the gruelling competition.

“I just can’t believe it. I feel like I’m floating on a cloud right now,” she said.

“Thank you so much Australia, I could not have done it without you.”

Earlier, Punzalan, who was mentored by Ronan Keating throughout the competition, told The Daily Telegraph: “My dreams have come true. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me but I am so happy, and I will make the most of this opportunity.”

She thanked the fans who voted for her and helped her win.

“It’s probably the fans out west and the Filipinos,” she said.

“I am really grateful, I couldn’t have done it without them. ”

Punzalan follows in the footsteps of previous winners like Dami Im and Samantha Jade to sign to Sony Music Australia, and she is set to release her first single, Stand By Me.

X Factor winner Marlisa Punzalan / Picture Tarsha Hosking, Channel 7

Until early yesterday, Punzalan was tracking third in votes and many wrote her off as an impossible chance to win. Even in the final hours of voting she only firmed to place second behind Ray.
Sportsbet.com.au had Ray favourite with odds of $2.10, ahead of Punzalan at $2.20 and Brothers 3 dropping to $4.50.

Punzalan, who studies at Mercy Catholic College in Chatswood, started singing at the age of four.
Her parents, Andrea and Lito, emigrated to Sydney from the Philippines before she was born, and she has a brother, Martin, who is 19.