One winner sang a ballad fusing mariachi and hip-hop. Another belted out a song she wrote about a missed opportunity with a crush. A third wooed voters with a booming ode to Mexico.

Their stage looked much like a knockoff of Eurovision, “American Idol” or “The Voice.” Except the organizers weren’t a television network or production company, but the Mexican government.

The national music contest, the first-of-its-kind “Mexico Sings,” ended on Sunday night as the crowning event of an unusual, monthslong government campaign involving more than 15,000 contestants. The goal? To move popular Mexican music away from drug cartel culture and toward more wholesome lyrics.

“Here begins the new generation of Mexican artists who show that Mexico does not need to promote crime and violence, but that with love we can sing for hope and for the Mexico we all want to build,” Sergio Maya, 21, the singer who won best performer, said at a news conference on Sunday night.

He and his supporters face steep challenges in reaching that goal.

Corridos, traditional storytelling ballads, have been a popular part of Mexican culture since the 19th century. But in recent decades, a prominent genre has been narcocorridos, recounting — sometimes in graphic detail — the violent, real-life exploits of drug traffickers.