Candice Glover, a soul singer from rural South Carolina, was named "American Idol" last night and became the first female singer to win the television singing competition since 2007.

The 23-year-old defeated country vocalist Kree Harrison in the popular vote with her powerful voice in what judges deemed a close contest to take the title on season 12 of the popular Fox network show.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.