Marlisa Wins The X Factor Australia!

In the closest grand final in show history, Marlisa won this season of the X Factor

Fifteen-year-old high school student Marlisa Punzalan has won The X Factor Australia 2014.

The once-shy Sydney vocalist has come into her own in recent weeks after a string of solid performances, mentored by Ronan Keating.

"As a mentor I couldn't have asked for a better contestant," Keating said of the year nine student, who beat out Melbourne rocker Dean Ray and the trio Brothers 3 from rural NSW.

"You are so authentic, you are so real... they say that good girls finish last, I don't believe that."

The Grand Finalists of this season of The X Factor

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Punzalan's transformation from timid schoolgirl to self-assured rising star has been marked by power ballads and striking, eclectic costumes, while the strength of her vocals has garnered repeated standing ovations.

After suffering from flu a week before live performances started in mid-August, Punzalan recovered to deliver what Keating called an "electric" rendition of Pink's "Try."

She also brushed off the storm of controversy she landed in when Dannii Minogue criticized her performance of Celine Dion's "All By Myself" as being "too old" for her.

"I've gone from just the normal schoolgirl into a real pop star on the stage and I'm happy with the transformation," Punzalan, who forgot her words during the last audition rounds, tells WHO.

Stepping up her game in recent weeks, "I've been working really hard, especially at this age, and I think I've been stepping it up each week and I think my improvements define a star," said Punzalan, whose winner's single "Stand By You" is out now. "Winning means the whole universe to me."