Trent Harmon became the winner of the 15th and final "American Idol" finale, after defeating fellow contestant La'Porsha Renae.
Trent praised god as he was showered with confetti upon his victory on Thursday night.
"God is real," he said while embracing the runner-up La'Porsha. He held back tears as he sang his winning song "Falling", reports aceshowbiz.com.
The last two finalists had also teamed up for a rendition of Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston's "It takes two".
The two-hour finale also brought back former judges, including Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. DioGuardi performed Pink's "Sober" with Tamyra Gray and Jordin Sparks, while Cowell took the chance to apologise for the judges' mean comments to contestants.
Singer Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first season of "American Idol", stole the show with her performance of "A moment like this". Carrie Underwood teamed up with Keith Urban for a duet of "Stop draggin' my heart around". Jennifer Lopez, meanwhile, performed her new song "Ain't your mama" live for the first time.
Kellie Pickler, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, Skylar Laine, Kree Harrison, Constantine Maroulis, Caleb Johnson, Chris Daughtry, Bucky Covington, Ace Young, Katharine McPhee, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard and Jessica Sanchez were among other musical performers in the farewell episode.