‘American Idol’ Winner Chayce Beckham Speaks out After Beating Fan-Favorites Willie Spence and Grace Kinstler

American Idol winner Chayce Beckham is practically speechless after being crowned the Season 19 winner. On Sunday night’s grand finale of the ABC singing competition, the 24-year-old singer beat out fellow contestants Willie Spence and Grace Kinstler to become the newest Idol, something he said is a “crazy experience.”

Just hours after officially being named the champion, Beckham appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America alongside Spence to open up about taking home the win, telling the co-anchors, “It was a crazy experience, and I was just happy to be up there with Willie.” Although he ultimately won, Beckham said “either way it would have gone, we would’ve been ok with it. Honestly, you really can’t put words to the way that it makes you feel whenever you win a competition like this. It’s a lot of hard work, but it pays off.” He also quipped that amid all of the excitement, he “didn’t get any sleep last night.”

Beckham won the competition after first catching the judges’ attention with his audition of “What Brings Life Also Kills” by Kolton Moore and the Clever Few. Throughout the year-long competition, he continued to impress the judges and fans, eventually landing him a spot in the Top 3. At the end of Sunday’s 3-hour-long grand finale, during which several contestants from earlier in the season returned to join music stars on the stage, Beckham was crowned the winner during a live show in Los Angeles, California.

“To me, [winning] is my redemption,” Beckham told Hollywood Life. “There’s a bigger plan with all of this. I like to think that I am in charge of this ship, but I am not. God is guiding me through and putting me all the places I need to be. So, for me, it means the world that I have been able to turn it all around from where I was and do all of this.”

Beckham went on to call his fellow Top 3 finalists “incredible vocalists… I was happy if it’s Grace [Kinstler], I’m happy if it’s Willie. I don’t know anyone more deserving. From the top 10 on, everyone deserved it.” Beckham said he “never in a million years thought I’d be sitting here as the winner. Especially with the people competing this year.”

As for what’s next, the new Idol winner said that he has “a lot of stuff” that he wants “to knock out. For me, this is just the beginning for what I want to do. This was a great start to my second chance at life.” He said his goal is “to make music for people for the rest of my life.”