Alicia Keys still buzzing with excitement from The Voice win

Alicia Keys cannot stop smiling after singer Chris Blue helped secure her first win on America's The Voice talent show.

The Empire State of Mind hitmaker emerged victorious during the season 12 finale on Tuesday (23May17), when R&B/soul star Chris was crowned the show's new champion, making Alicia only the second female coach to win The Voice after Christina Aguilera's triumph in season 10.

Keys celebrated with Chris immediately after the live episode ended, and then hopped on a private plane to head home to New York from Los Angeles, where The Voice is filmed.

While in the air, she took to Instagram to record a video message for her fans, sharing her excitement at the big win as she expressed her heartfelt gratitude for all of their support.

"A message of love to you!!", she captioned the footage, which was posted in the early hours of Wednesday (24May17).

"I just wanna thank you," she gushed in the video, in which she was joined by her two-year-old son Genesis. "I'm so excited, I'm like, ecstatic, I can't even tell you...! It's a blessing, we're so full of gratitude, especially for you..., because you were here, you saw him (Chris) on this journey, you contributed, you voted, you downloaded...

"I mean, you chose him and it's a real, just incredible privilege to be a part of this journey with you and for him to have this opportunity to really express his heart and have his chance."

Alicia then shared a few words of encouragement to anyone struggling with self-doubt: "He (Chris) wasn't even gonna go to the audition (for The Voice)," she said. "He had a moment of doubt, and now look where it took him (sic), so anybody who's ever felt doubt, ever felt fearful about your path, keep going."

The victory was all the more sweet for Alicia as she is stepping away from The Voice following two seasons on the coaching panel.

She and fellow season 12 coach Gwen Stefani will be replaced by Jennifer Hudson and Miley Cyrus for the show's next run, which will feature the return of longtime panellists Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. musicnews.com