The king of the British reality television shows, The X Factor, crowned its seventh winner, Matt Cardle, last weekend. Early figures show that 20 million people watched Cardle take home the title and £1 million (Dh5.8m) record deal. Here are five other reality TV finalists:
Take five... American Idol - Jennifer Hudson
AI has produced several winners who have gone on to achieve great success. Hudson, though, came seventh in the 2004 series but nevertheless went on to win an Academy Award for her role in Dreamgirls.
Take four... Australia's Next Top Model - Amanda Ware
The 18-year-old Ware didn't realise she had won at first because of the confusion when the runner-up, Kelsey Martinovich, was mistakenly told she had won during the live final. We can't feel too sorry for Martinovich, though, as she was given a cheque for A$25,000 (Dh92,000) and a trip to the US to make up for the mishap.
Take three... The Prince of Poets - Hassan Baiti
Baiti, a Syrian, took the Dh1m prize at last year's competition, which saw 35 poets compete for the title of Prince of Poets.
Take two... The Eurovision Song Contest - Lordi
The notoriously cheesy show, which has been running since 1956, has produced some questionable champions over the years. Our absolute favourite winners have to be the Finnish heavy metal band, Lordi, who won in 2006 with Hard Rock Hallelujah.
Take one... Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - John Carpenter
We have to give it to Mr Carpenter, a revenue officer from Connecticut, who became the first person to win the top prize on the US version back in 1999. Managing to keep all three of his lifelines until the last question, the contestant used one to call his father, not to ask for help but to tell him he had won the $1m. That's what we call winning in style.
