Sunday, March 6 2005 09:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Abhijit Sawant was yesterday (Mar 5, 2005) crowned the first Indian idol as the popular talent hunt organised by Sony TV came to an exciting finish last night.

Mumbai-lad Abhijit beat Amit Sana from Bhilai in the popular show in which over three crore votes were cast in favour of either contestants through SMS and telephone.

The show was an Indianised version of the 'American Idol' TV show and had attracted over 25,000 entries. Eventually, 129 contestants were short-listed and as the rounds progressed, two of them, Amit Sana and Abhijit Sawant made it to the finals.

The first final of the contest was held on February 25, while the mega final or 'Mahayudh' as it was termed by the organisers, was held last night.

In the run-up to the finals, both the finalists toured several cities to present shows and even participated in the golden jubilee of the Filmfare awards.

The judges of the contest, well-known choreographer-turned film director Farah Khan, music director Anu Mallik and playback singer Sonu Nigam, were overwhelmed by the performances of both participants, as they had been associated with the show right from the beginning.

The winner took home a Rs 1 crore contract from Sony and a luxury car. Both the finalists also won a weeklong trip to Switzerland along with their families.