Y’all, you have your first Poet Idol and it is…. Neelam Gurung.

Milson Rai, Palliwib and Natha Rayan were the other three finalists competing for the title. The 33-episode season came to an end as the finale took place earlier this evening where the winner was announced.

The poet from Gangtok, Sikkim went home with a cash prize money of NPR 1 million. Another prize she won is a book publication contract with Yatra Publishing House, worth half a million. Also, another book — a poem anthology that also features poems from other thirteen Top 14 contestants – was launched during the finale tonight; and is available to order on KitabYatra.

The voting lines were open until 8:15 PM tonight and the audience could vote for their favorite contestant through OSR Connect voting app. The final four contestants performed tonight for the last time on the show, at least for this season. Poets Anup Neupane aka AJ Bob and Munu Adhikari, who were in the Top 6, also performed their poems on the stage that also had a singing performance by the winner of Nepal Idol season 4, Bhupendra Thapa Magar.

One of the four judges, Upendra Subba, was not present on the set for the finale tonight as he is currently in the UK for the London premiere of his latest directorial venture ‘Jaari’ along with the lead actors, Dayahang Rai and Miruna Magar.

Kudos to the team of this poetry television reality show for coming up with an original format in the world full of franchise shows. Aman Pratap Adhikary, who had previously directed popular franchise shows such as Himalaya Roadies and KBC, is the man behind this first of its kind reality show in Nepal. The son of late Kshetra Pratap Adhikary, a popular poet and songwriter, Aman created the format and directed the show that honored the legacy of his father. The show that was broadcast on AP1 on television and OSR Reality on YouTube was hosted by ‘Chiso Ashtray’ actor Divya Dev.

Announced in September last year, ‘The Poet Idol’ started broadcast from December 29. Fourteen poets, who were selected after digital auditions and then the physical auditions, were selected to compete in the show. Judged by Biplov Pratik, Upendra Subba, Anup Baral and Surakshya Panta; votes from the audience also played a crucial role in the progress of the competition as one contestant got eliminated every week.

Congratulations, Neelam!