Richard Aquilina has won the fourth edition of X Factor Malta, walking away with €50,000 in prize money. 

Aquilina looked on in disbelief as he was named the winner on Saturday night, with judge and his mentor, Howard Keith Debono, embracing the 27-year-old singer. 

The crowd erupted in applause and cheer as he was crowned as winner. 

“Thank you, thank you from my heart,” he said.

Aquilina was one of the four finalists who performed during Saturday night's final, alongside Amelia Kalabic, Lapes and Nadine, and Shanice.

During yesterday’s live final show, Aquilina performed Half a Man, the same song he sang during his first audition in front of the judges back in October.

During his audition, Aquilina said he started singing back when he was young, but never performed in front of an audience. He stunned the judges immediately and was sent straight to Bootcamp following four yes' from the judges. 

This year’s X Factor Malta made headlines earlier this week, after the elimination of two foreign competitors shocked viewers, with several claiming they were kicked out of the competition after a televoting audience favored Maltese semi-finalists. 

Rose Marielle Mamaclay, a Filipino singer who has dominated the show for weeks, was eliminated during the semi-final last week, together with Sean Kamati, who is from Namibia.

Yet, the singers insisted they had no hard feelings for those who did not vote for them. 

“If people chose to vote for the others instead of me, I have no bitterness in my heart,” Mamaclay told Times of Malta earlier this week. 

Kamati meanwhile said he was aware that people voted for those they knew.

“I definitely thought I had the potential to win, but I am also aware that there was a possibility that I would not,” he said. 

“I am not local, and coming from a small country myself, I know how things go. People vote for who they know. I don’t believe I was eliminated because the Maltese don’t like foreigners, but because my performance was not the best.”