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She is The Voice<\/a>! Gina Miles<\/strong> has officially been crowned as the NBC singing competition\u2019s season 23 champion.<\/p>\n The 19-year-old Illinois native secured the first-ever victory for first-time coach Niall Horan<\/strong><\/a> on The Voice<\/em>\u2019s Tuesday, May 23, season finale, beating out the likes of Team Blake Shelton<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s Grace West<\/strong> and NOIVAS<\/strong><\/a>, Team Kelly Clarkson<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s D.Smooth<\/strong> and Team Chance the Rapper<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Sorelle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Before her crowning moment<\/a>, Miles expressed her gratitude to the former One Direction<\/a> member, 29, stating that his \u201cfriendship and mentorship has been very special to me.\u201d She continued: \u201cThank you for choosing me and giving me this opportunity. Love you.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cSlow Hands\u201d singer celebrated his contestant\u2019s win by giving Miles a big hug. Earlier in the episode, the pair took to the stage to perform a duet of Billy Joel<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s \u201cNew York State of Mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Following her big win, Miles told the California local news station KCRA<\/a> that her time on the show was the best experience of her life. \u201cMe and my friends, like standing up there, just excited to be there at all,\u201d the teen told the outlet. \u201cI genuinely did not do this to win<\/a>, I just did it for the experience and the people. And then they called my name, which was really crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n The musician first wowed viewers and the coaches during a March episode of the Blind Auditions<\/a> with her rendition of Katy Perry<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s \u201cThe One That Got Away,\u201d earning chair turns from Horan and Clarkson, 41.<\/p>\n Her nervous demeanor was something Horan said he possessed during his early days with One Direction members Harry Styles<\/strong><\/a>, Liam Payne<\/strong><\/a>, Zayn Malik<\/strong><\/a> and Louis Tomlinson<\/strong><\/a> on the U.K. competition series The X Factor<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI can see you, like, holding the mic with two hands, because I used to be, like, barely able to go onstage,\u201d he told the young singer. \u201cI\u2019d be gripping the mic stand, holding on to the mic like you were doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Horan went on to assure Miles that she would \u201cgrow into this competition\u201d and that she had \u201cso much more to give<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Clarkson, for her part, was surprised that Miles had such a \u201cgiant singing voice\u201d given her \u201csmall speaking voice.\u201d<\/p>\n With guidance from \u201cNice To Meet Ya\u201d singer, Miles continued to blossom over the course of the season with show-stopping performances of Gotye<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cSomebody That I Used to Know,\u201d Chris Isaak<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s \u201cWicked Game\u201d and more.<\/p>\n Making it to season 23\u2019s top five contestants is something Miles called a \u201cdream come true\u201d in a May 16 Instagram<\/a> post. \u201c@niallhoran and i are so excited for the finale and i can\u2019t express how thankful i am,\u201d she captioned pics of her semi-final performance. \u201cThank you guys for putting me through and of course congratulations to my fellow contestants. every single person did an amazing job.\u201d<\/p>\n