According to one of my Espacio Terra which is one of my favorite sites, Alison Iraheta of American Idol has already won a similar contest to American Idol. Two years ago she competed on the Telemundo show "I Want To Be An Artist," and walked away with the top prize of $50,000 and a record deal.
The writer for Espacio Terra could not determine whether an album was released, but I'm guessing Alison got her $50,000 though. I'm not even sure what the rules are on Idol anymore about having previous record deals and winning televised contests. It seems lately like there have been several contestants with record label pasts and nothing has been done so this doesn't seem to be much different.
It is strange that no one has mentioned until now, especially Alison. As I have said before I don't really watch the show but she does seem to have at least changed her look, if not her singing style.
Below is her winning appearance on the Telemundo show.