Punjabi boy Vipul Mehta wins 'Indian Idol 6'

It was a tough call - three boys, all from Punjab, all excellent singers with a great audience connect. But it is Vipul Mehta from Amritsar, who bagged the "Indian Idol 6" title here Saturday night at a glittering grand finale.

The 21-year-old pipped Devendra Pal Singh, 17, and Amit Kumar, 20, for the winner's trophy, a cash prize of Rs.50 lakh from Sony channel, a Nissan Micra car, a Suzuki Hayate bike, Rs. 3 lakh from Max Life Insurance and a contract to record his own music album.

Mehta was on top of the world when Kareena Kapoor along with filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar announced his name for the winner's position. The actress was here to promote her film "Heroine".

"I am really very happy. I thank god for bringing me where I stand today. I would like to thank the audience too for supporting me. I am overwhelmed to see my grandfather's dream coming true," said an emotional Mehta after the win.

Mehta had earlier also participated in singing reality show "Voice of India - Season 2" in 2008, but couldn't make it to the top three. This time he was lucky.

He faced stiff and neck-to-neck competition as both the other contenders had equally powerful, melodious and heartwarming voices.

The young and talented singers displayed their ability to sing all genres during the show, but there had to be one winner.

The finale was a starry affair with judges Anu Malik, Salim Merchant, Sunidhi Chauhan and Asha Bhosle, who were in their true spirits, cheering for all the contestants.

While Sunidhi, Salim and Asha performed with the three contestants, Sunidhi and Asha also enthralled audience with their stand alone performances.

Asha brought alive the yesteryear era with songs like "Aaiye meherban", "Yeh mera dil", "Dum maaro dum" and "Piya tu", and Sunidhi sang "Halkat jawani" from "Heroine". She also matched steps

with Kareena on the stage.

Actors Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra added to the star power as they came to promote their forthcoming film "Barfi!" on the "Indian Idol 6" sets.

The finalists paid tribute to the three generations of Bollywood's Kapoor clan. While Amit sang Raj Kapoor's song "Kehta hai joker", Devender sang Rishi's "Bachna aae haseeno" and Vipul crooned Ranbir's "Sadda haq".

Cousins Ranbir and Kareena came separately on the show, which was shot at Film City in Goregaon here.