Thursday marks the season finale of The X Factor with the winner to be announced, awarding the $5 million prize to one of the three finalists: Melanie Amaro, Josh Krajcik and Chris Rene.

The winner will be decided by votes and announced on Thursday night's episode, which will feature performances by Justin Bieber, Pitbull and Ne-Yo.

On Wednesday, the three finalists performed with well-known singers in Pop music in addition to a solo song. Amaro, 19, sang with R. Kelly for I Believe I Can Fly, while 28-year-old Rene sang Complicated with Avril Lavigne and Krajcik, 30, with Alanis Morissette for Uninvited.

Show creator Simon Cowell touts Amaro as the frontrunner in the comptetion, saying she deserved the $5 million recording contract and Pepsi commercial debut.

Based on that performance tonight, you should be the winner of the 'X Factor','' Cowell said, admitting it is a very, very close call in choosing a winner.

The Internet, however, seemed abuzz about Josh Krajcik's recent performances, which include Etta Jame's At Last and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. While judge Paula Abdul called Krajcik the one to beat after his Hallelujah performance, Cowell agreed, saying that song has put you into the final next week.

X Factor reportedly is watched by over 12 million viewers on average for Fox, only in its first season. Simon Cowell brought the hit British show to the U.S., calling himself a little too cocky for thinking it would be a hit across the pond. However, Cowell said the second season, scheduled to air some time in 2012, would be better.

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