Beau Monga celebrates with his fans after winning The X Factor NZ. Photo/TV3
Beau Monga celebrates with his fans after winning The X Factor NZ. Photo/TV3
Beau Monga has been crowned this year's X Factor NZ champion after the most controversial season in the global franchise's 11-year history.
The beatboxer beat Nyssa Collins to claim a Sony record contract and Mazda car. Rockers Brendon Thomas and the Vibes were earlier sent home after getting the fewest votes of the three finalists.
Runner-up Collins thanked the crowd and her supporters at home. "Thank you all and thank you for making me be here. I love you all. Thank you."
A stunned Beau Monga said he was "buzzed out". He thanked everyone and said "Really, I'm just speechless."
His fans were quick to show their joy on social media.
However, reports emerged of problems with the X Factor voting system, with one viewer saying it appeared to be "overloaded".
In a statement, MediaWorks confirmed that because of the high numbers of votes cast, a "small number" of people experienced problems with Facebook voting.
"This was due to a system overload, and was not a widespread issue."
MediaWorks added that most people were able to successfully cast their vote on Facebook and there were no issues with text voting.
"We [...] will be looking closely how to prevent a repeat of this issue.
"However it is important to note the number of people affected was too small to have any impact on the final result."
Fans had to sit through a two-hour live final, featuring multiple live performances and over-stretched pauses from Dominic Bowden, before the winner was announced.
Ratings for the grand final won't be available until mid-morning Tuesday, however, Sunday night's episode drew just 326,000 viewers, well below the 553,000 that tuned into the series one final.
The second series of X Factor NZ has delivered lacklustre ratings, only once topping more than 400,000 viewers. That one-off peak came the day judges Willy Moon and Natalia Kills were sacked from the programme, with 438,000 people tuning in to see their empty chairs.
Media commentators says it is unlikely the series will be renewed for another season. Previously, New Zealand on Air confirmed it would not fund another season, after contributing $800,000 to this year's series and $1.6 million in 2013.
Moon and Kills made international headlines in March when they launched a cutting verbal attack on contestant Joe Irvine, accusing him of copying Moon's sartorial style.
Shae Brider told viewers he served time in prison after he was involved in a "commotion" that left a man dead. But the Herald revealed Brider was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter, after a violent attack on 16-year-old Jeremy Frew.
His mother, Donna Travers, accused Brider and the producers of misleading the public and was upset her son's death was raised on the show, without any warning.
The producers issued a formal apology and edited Brider out of future episodes. X Factor founder Simon Cowell weighed in on the debacle, describing it as "a very poor editorial decision".
Willy Moon and Natalia Kills were axed as X Factor judges. Photo/Getty
