Agencies, Aug. 16: After nearly nine months of searching, Indian Idol 12 has finally crowned its winner, Pawandeep Rajan.

The ‘greatest grand finale,' which began at 12 noon on Independence Day and ended with judges Himesh Reshammiya, Anu Malik, and Sonu Kakkar handing over the shining trophy, a car, and a cheque for Rs 25 lakh to champion Pawandeep, culminated with the judges Himesh Reshammiya, Anu Malik, and Sonu Kakkar handing over the shining trophy, a car, and a cheque for Rs 25 lakh.

Pawandeep said, Indian Idol is a platform that shows artists a lot of respect, and the visibility it provides is unrivalled. They got to sing a lot of songs during the show, and they had the best judges and guests guiding them. It wasn't his desire to win that drew him back into the arena, but rather his greed to learn. And he's grateful that, after months of work on the concert, they all are ready to playback.

Arunita Kanjilal and Sayli Kamble were named first and second runners-up from the Top 6 Finalists, receiving a check for Rs. 5 lakhs each. Mohd. Danish and Nihal Tauro, the third and fourth runners-up, were each given a cheque for Rs. 3 lakhs. All the top 6 finalists received a cheque of Rs. 75,000 from Raj Superwhite Soap and gift hampers from Colgate and Denver respectively.

The top six candidates —Pawandeep Rajan, Arunita Kanjilal, Mohd Danish, Nihal Tauro, Sayli Kamble and Shanmukhapriya.— gave some magnificent performances on the 75th episode of one of the longest-running singing reality shows.

Joining them were acclaimed singers Sukhwinder Singh, Mika Singh, Amit Mishra, Kumar Sanu, Javed Ali, Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, who surprised the audience with their melodious acts.

Guests included Sidharth Malhotra, Kiara Advani, WWE champion Khali, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain lead duo Nakuul Mehta and Disha Parmar, among others, for the 12-hour climax.

Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa, a prominent television couple, joined the team for a special segment and had everyone in stitches. Vijay Deverkonda, the South star, also sent a video greeting to his favourite Shanmukhapriya, which made the young singer blush. Aditya Narayan and Jay Bhanushali co-hosted the grand finale.