The most anticipating and India’s most popular singing reality show Indian Idol season 9 came to an end yesterday and it saw LV Revanth take home the big prize. The grand finale episode was full of surprises with Sachin Tendulkar and comedian Sunil Grover.

Yes, LV Revanth was announced as the winner of Indian Idol Season 9 by none other than the cricketing legend, Sachin Tendulkar. Social media was abuzz over the master blaster’s debut on small screen.

While the first runners-up was Khuda Baksh, the second runners-up was PVNS Rohit. The season finale witnessed three contestants – LV Revanth Kumar, Khuda Baksh, and PVNS Rohit battle it out to win the title of Indian Idol.

Here’s The Winning Moment:

It was indeed tough for judges Sonu Nigam, Farah Khan and Anu Malik to pick the winner from the final trio – LV Revanth, Khuda Baksh, and PVNS Rohit. Revanth, the winner, was also awarded prize money of Rs 25 lakh, a Mahindra KUV100 and a singing contract with Sony Music along with the coveted title.

“Right now I am on cloud nine. I am very happy for winning the show. I would say that my life has just began right now. It’s not easy to win that title being a south Indian singer. I saw this show as a big opportunity. The four-month journey in this show has completely changed my life,“ Revanth told IANS.

LV Revanth, the South Indian playback singer, has reached a major milestone — he has bagged the trophy of Indian Idol Season 9. What’s next? He wants to prove those who mocked his Hindi wrong by learning the language and making a mark in Bollywood.

But before that, it’s time for celebration. “I will go back home and celebrate with my friends and family who supported me, but I will come back to Bollywood and settle here,” says 26-year-old

Revanth, who has won prize money of Rs 25 lakh and a contract with Universal Music.

“I want to thank all the people who have supported me in my journey to win the first ever show of my life.”

Revanth, who’s from Hyderabad and is already an established singer in the Telugu film industry, aka Tollywood, sang the song Manohari in Baahubali: The Beginning. Determined to make it big in Bollywood, he says, “I have big dreams and I have to make it big in Bollywood. I have one eye set on Bollywood and the other on Tollywood, but I want to work on my Hindi first.”

Revanth, whose original name is Lolla Venkata Revanth Kumar Sharma, is the second Telugu singer to win the Indian Idol title, the first one being Sreeram Chandra who bagged the title in the Season 5 of the Indian Idol.

Revanth had difficulty with Hindi lyrics initially, but he managed to overcome his weakness and went on to become one of the most popular contestants, giving some memorable performances during the entire season.

The winner recalls the time he drew mockery for his poor Hindi on the show: “When I started my journey in Indian Idol, a lot of people laughed at me for not knowing Hindi very well. I did feel bad about it, initially, but I did not let anything negative affect me and kept my willpower strong.”

Besides the outstanding and foot-tapping performances by the three finalists and the judges, the big highlight of the show was when legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar appeared for the world television premiere of his debut track “Cricket Waali beat”, on which he has collaborated with Sonu Nigam.

Sachin was welcomed with loud cheering, as always, which Sunil Grover tried to woo Farah Khan with his Darr performance.

Another interesting element of the show was when comedian Sunil Grover appeared in the avatars of Dr. Mashoor Gulati and Rinku Bhabhi and took viewers on a laughter ride. The finale also featured Sabse Bada Kalakaar judges – Raveena Tandon, Arshad Warsi, and Boman Irani.