SHANGHAI, Sept. 30 -- Shanghai's Shang Wenjie, a 24-year-old who didn't let her lack of voice training or previous failures slow her down, took the first prize last night in the "Super Girl" contest, the Chinese version of "American Idol."

Shang, a graduate of Fudan University who majored in French, polled nearly 5.2 million votes after singing several Chinese pop songs and a French number.

She beat Tan Weiwei, a 24-year-old professional singer from Sichuan Province who got 4.8 million votes; Liu Liyang, a 23-year-old university student from Beijing; and Ai Mengmeng, a 23-year old Chongqing University student, who came in fourth.

Shang's victory in Changsha in central China's Hunan Province concluded the third year of the five-month-long weekly performance show.

This year's event faced competition from similar programs, including "My Hero" and "My Style, My Show" by Shanghai Oriental TV. It captured 2.7 percent of the viewing audience in 14 mainland cities, about half of the audience for last year's competition, which was won by the popular Li Yuchun from Sichuan Province.

Despite the tension among competitors, there was a party atmosphere at last night's "Super Girl" final, as each contestant performed a series of songs.

Fifteen finalists - the top three from each provincial level competition - entered the last round.

Shang's journey to the top began with several disappointing performances.

Shang, an administrative assistant at a French firm, went to Hangzhou in March to sign up for the contest, but she failed in the first round.

After persuading her boss to give her a long holiday to pursue her dream, she flew to Sichuan to try again.

This time she made it into the top 20 but failed to score after that.

Undeterred, she traveled to the competition in Guangzhou, her turning point.

In south China, her rendition of Mariah Carey's "Hero" found favor with the judges and a TV audience that began phoning in votes for her in large numbers.

Though many visitors to China's Internet chatrooms say they don't find her overly attractive, they have been touched by Shang's compelling voice, quiet stage demeanor and never-give-up spirit.

"I found her to be resolute, persistent and modest, which touched me," said Miumiu Yu, a 25-year-old Shang's fan who works for ZhiLian ZhaoPin, a jobs Website.