Bhubaneswar, Sept. 6: The wait is over for city girl Ananya Sritam Nanda. She has made Odisha proud by winning the Indian Idol Junior-2015 singing contest.

Ananya, a Class IX student of DAV Public School, Pokhariput, today beat two other contestants in the grand finale to win the show organised by Sony Entertainment Television. She has won Rs 18lakh in cash, Rs 3lakh worth gifts and a bike from Yamaha. She has also signed a contract with Sony.

Yesterday, she had entered the last round of the contest along with two others, Nahid Afrin from Sonitpur in Assam and Nithyashree Venkatraman from Chennai, after another hopeful, Vaishnav Girish from Kerala, was eliminated in the penultimate round.

"It is a dream come true for my sister. This was her second attempt at winning the contest. In 2013, she had made her first attempt and had reached the Mumbai round. She has finally achieved what she wanted," Amrita Pritam, the elder sister of Ananya, told The Telegraph.

A trained classical singer, who grew under the tutelage of Guru Pandit Chittaranjan Pani of Bhubaneswar, Ananya is known for her versatility. She can handle classical, modern, rock and pop with equal ease. So impressed were the judges with her performance that they fondly nicknamed her 'Rock Star'.

Amrita, a postgraduate in biotechnology from a city-based institute who also guided her sister during her performances, has been camping with her in Mumbai for a month. Her father Prasanna and mother Prashanti are also in Mumbai.

"I used to take her for practise right since her days in the playschool. Today, I feel that her hard work and all our efforts have been rewarded," said Prasanna, a coir expert with the state industries department.

Friends, teachers and well-wishers of Ananya left all work to watch Ananya win the honours on television. The moment Ananya was declared winner, they broke into celebration.

"I have known her for five years. She has excelled with her unique style, rigorous practise and discipline," said Santosh Kumar Kar, the music teacher of her school.

School principal Sujata said: "We are honoured to have such a talent as our student. Her achievement will inspire other students to excel.''

On Teachers' Day, Ananya's school had organised a special yajna for her success.

Amisha Mohanty, a classmate of Ananya, said: "We are proud that our friend has achieved her dream."

Even chief minister Naveen Patnaik has congratulated the young girl on her success.

During the auditions for the programme, Ananya was the first contestant to be called for the preliminary round. Of the 5lakh contestants who had applied from across the country, only 120 were called for the Mumbai round. Finally, only 12 remained in the fray with Ananya for the final award. Ananya's mom, an insurance professional, said: "My advice to all parents in this age of cut-throat competition is to recognise the inherent talent of their kids and create opportunities to hone them. Only then can their wards excel like Ananya has done."