From Solutions To Stardom: Former CDW Employee Wins 'American Idol'

A former member of the channel went from IT to Idol after singing his way to stardom for the last four months.

Former CDW employee Nick Fradiani took the crown last night on the Fox TV talent show "American Idol." The 29-year-old from Guilford, Conn., worked as a K-12 Atlantic account manager for the Vernon Hills, Ill.-based solution provider for three years beginning in the fall of 2011.

[Related: Channel Star: Former CDW Employee Fights For Top Spot On 'American Idol' ]

He won the reality TV singing competition over fellow finalist Clark Beckham after the two performed with star acts such as Fall Out Boy, Ricky Martin and Andy Grammer during the two-hour season finale.

CDW, No. 8 on the CRN Solution Provider 500, has been cheering on its former employee via social media, urging followers to vote Fradiani to the top and congratulated him this morning on the company Twitter account.

Huge congrats to former CDW co-worker for WINNING season 14!

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Will be the next ? This coworker hopes so!

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Congrats on your win! Way to make and CDW•G proud!

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Fradiani's win came on the back of his strong Tuesday night performance of Matchbox Twenty's "Bright Lights," Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up" and Fradiani's first single, "Beautiful Life." According to his biography, Fradiani has been singing since he was 3 years old and he's also been on the hit NBC show "America's Got Talent" with his band, Beach Avenue. After he was informed he was the winner by host Ryan Seacrest on live TV, Fradiani exclaimed, "this is the best day of my life!"

"We loved working with Nick, and it’s been a lot of fun to cheer him on this season," Joe Simone, director of K-12, CDW-G, said in a statement. "We are so proud of Nick and everything he has accomplished on the show. We know he will continue to do great things."

CRN reached out to CDW for additional comment but did not hear back.

This completes the 14th season of the long-running reality show, which is set to begin its final season in January.

Fradiani will begin his professional career with Big Machine Records and will be part of a summer tour starting in July, featuring the top five "Idol" singers.

Here is a YouTube clip from the official "American Idol" account of the moment Fradiani got the big news.

PUBLISHED MAY 14, 2015