When Linkin Park agreed to let a MySpace user create a new version of one of their songs, “The Catalyst,” they had to know it would be tough to pick a winner. The band weighed all the options, and in the end the winner of the Linkin Park: Featuring You contest is a man who goes by the name “NoBrian,” but is otherwise known as a MySpace user from Poland. Yes, Poland.

Mike Shinoda surprised the winner, who goes by “Chex,” via webchat to inform him he had won the contest. Chex’s version of “The Catalyst,” which you can hear here, will appear on Linkin Park’s upcoming record, A Thousand Suns. The band was so happy with the finalists, whose versions of the song we will feature tomorrow on the MySpace Music blog, that they are heavily considering placing some of them on “a European B-Side” or something of that nature, as you can see in the video below.



In the end, it appears the band couldn’t have been happier with their decision. For as Shinoda told the winner, “It’s almost like you heard the record.”