The first season was won by Singapore Idol Hady Mirza, who was awarded an all-expense-paid trip around the world on business class, after almost two million votes were cast.

Daniel Hartono, project manager of Asian Idol, revealed during a press conference that Mohede received the highest number of actual votes at approximately one million in total.

On 7 December 2007, the contestants donated Rp12,985,000 (roughly US$1,500) to RCTI's Jalinan Kasih (Love Line Foundation) in Jakarta's Borobodur Hotel.

[28] A day later, they visited the presidential palace of Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bogor.

According to representatives of ABC, the Philippine broadcaster of Asian Idol, the glitch was caused by "a clog in the telephone companies".

Taufik Batisah, first season winner of Singapore Idol, said that the win is something their country should be proud of and hopefully this would "open the eyes and ears" of listeners.

However, there were viewers in Singapore who still doubt Hady's singing ability, claiming that his performance in Asian Idol was not as strong as other competitors and it was a matter of "luck over talent".

[32] Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim reiterated that "looks and voice" had won the title for Hady.

[30] Meanwhile, Hady shrugged off speculations that he won because he was a "non-threat", but considered himself an underdog and that he did "pretty well" in terms of sincerity and connecting with the audience.

[2] Filipino TV and movie critic Nestor U. Torre mentioned that he was not surprised about Hady's win, even lauding him for his "impressively cool yet dynamic" performances.

On Sawant, Torre noted that his "balladeer" projection was "less dynamic" with his country's large voting population failing him.