Congratulations to Karise Eden (Team Seal), the inaugural winner of The Voice Australia. Karise beat out Darren Percival (Team Keith) for the top spot, leaving Rachael Leahcar (Team Delta) in third and Sarah De Bono (Team Joel) in fourth.

In another song-filled episode of the show all the past team contestants returned to perform with the finalists in a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” as the opening number, and each finalist performed a duet with their coach showcasing their talent. A special return duet from Prinnie Stevens and Mahalia Barnes of “River Deep, Mountain High” was made even more special by Keith Urban accompanying on electric guitar and a surprise inclusion of Mahalia’s father Jimmy.

Karise went into the finale as firm favourite with all of her Live Show performances having hit Number One on iTunes downloads, and in spite of a global push for votes for Sarah through Joel Madden’s social media presence. The series has been a smash for the Nine Network, rating above 1.9 million viewers for every episode across the 10 weeks it’s been on air.

As The Voice of Australia, Karise wins a recording contract with Universal Music Australia, $100,000 and a Ford Focus. Karise performed her debut single, “You Won’t Let Me”, for the first time tonight. The single, penned specifically for Karise, will be available on iTunes from tonight and launched to the Australian media at the same time.

Karise Eden’s debut album, My Journey, will be released on Tuesday, June 26(!). It is a collection of the songs she performed on the show, the winner’s single, as well as newly recorded tracks. PRE-ORDER NOW @ www.kariseeden.com.au. Her new single, You Won’t Let Me, will be available physically in stores this Thursday, June 21.

Hopping straight on the promotional bandwagon, Karise will be performing and signing copies of her new album, plus T-shirts and posters at sponsor Westfield’s stores around Australia. See full dates below and more details at www.westfield.com.au.