Canadian Idol ended its fifth season on a strong note, with an average 2.2 million viewers tuning in to see Hamilton, ON’s Brian Melo being crowned the winner on last Tuesday’s two-hour finale, which peaked at 2.7 million on CTV.

That’s down slightly from last year’s finale, which drew an average 2.3 million viewers for Quebec’s Eva Avila, though Idol did increase its Toronto audience by 21% compared to last year. The singing competition aired opposite Global’s Power of 10 and Big Brother, with 983,000 and 552,000 viewers, respectively.

Produced in association with Toronto’s Insight Productions, Idol ranks as the ‘summer’s most-watched program,’ according to CTV, though the season average was not available at press time.

Idol‘s number of audience votes for the final last Monday was the largest in the series’ history, with nearly five million Canadians opting for either Melo or runner-up Jaydee Bixby.

‘Five seasons later, Canadian Idol not only continues to capture the hearts of Canadians from coast to coast, but still transforms the lives of the competitors who entertain us each summer,’ said CTV programming boss Susanne Boyce in a release.

The finales of seasons one and two of Idol still rank as the biggest to date, both scoring more than three million viewers.