Blake Shelton Credits ‘The Voice’ Finalist Dia Frampton for Getting Him ‘Excited About Music Again’

Throughout the first season of NBC's 'The Voice,' coach Blake Shelton helped mold the career path of two talented young ladies on his team: Dia Frampton and Xenia. Week after week, Shelton helped give his "girls" the confidence to take the stage and deliver the very best. Frampton and Xenia literally blossomed on national television in front of millions of viewers. Even though Team Blake was not victorious in the end, the singing superstar still keeps in close contact with both of his finalists on a regular basis.

"I still keep in touch with both of them," Shelton tells Taste of Country. "I talk to both of them a couple of times every week. I really embarrass Dia a lot -- still -- to this day. Every time I see her, I just gush over her. I'll start drinking and get drunk, and send her these sappy emails about how she made me excited about music again and I love her. She's always [replying back with] 'Thanks ...' [laughs]."

While the girls both gained priceless knowledge and information about having a long-lasting career in the music business, they too helped shape Shelton's way of thinking on his own career.

"When you do this this long, it's easy to fall into that 'This is what I do' mindset, when really, I'm very fortunate to do what I do," he says. "It's easy to forget that sometimes. You get tired, and people are pulling at you and stuff. If you ever get the chance to know Dia, she has that thing about her that reminds me of myself when I first moved to Nashville ... that fire and that eagerness to be creative. It's awesome, you know? Xenia has that, too. I think that's why I got so attached to them because they were bringing that back out of myself again. It's really cool. They're about to put some music out [on Dia] finally, and Xenia's getting close to figuring out what she's going to do. They've both got record deals, and it's so much fun to see that and be a small part of helping them. It's a good feeling."

Look for Shelton to return to 'The Voice' for the second season, which will begin taping this fall. The show will air on NBC early next year.