By CRAIG FREILICH

Rebecca Branchau of Gouverneur placed second and Bill Melchior of Hannawa Falls finished at number five in the finals of the sixth annual North Country Idol competition Friday night in Watertown.

Branchau sang "Skinny Love" by Birdy for her final number.

Melchior sang "My Way."

He said before he left for the finals that “Win, lose or draw, it’s been great fun.”

It began eight weeks ago with 80 karaoke singers, whittled down week after week by the judges and voting by audience members.

For the finals, Melchior and the other top five singers were picked up by a stretch limousine, fitted for formal wear, and had their hair and makeup done by professionals before the show at the Watertown Fairgrounds.

“It will be packed,” Melchior predicted, as about 1,000 people had been at each of the earlier sessions, Melchior said.

At the end of the night, Melchior finished fifth, a decent showing after eight weeks of camaraderie and song.

This is the third year that Melchior has competed in North Country Idol.

His first year he finished in the top 35, the second year in the top 15.

"I'll probably take at least a year off,"Melchior said. "It will be hard to top this year," he said. "They treated us like royalty."