(Photo by Randy M. Cauthron) Shawn Mayer reacts to a familiar face in the crowd Wednesday afternoon as the final four Nashville Star competitor is greeted at Southpark Mall in Spencer. Back in one of her regular performing venues, the food court, Mayer made the stop in a very long day that included area media meetings, live broadcasts, autograph signings and a 9 p.m. concert in her hometown, May City. [Order this photo]

"I wanted to go to my house and sleep in my bed," Shawn Mayer admits.

But the 21-year-old "Nashville Star" finalist also knows her return to northwest Iowa isn't about that.

It isn't about the house she grew up in or catching up on old times with her sister. The schedule doesn't allow her to indulge such nostalgia.

(Photo by Randy M. Cauthron) Shawn Mayer signs an autograph while receiving a compliment from one of the over 300 fans that turned out to meet her at Southpark Mall Wednesday. [Order this photo]

It's about thank yous and, yes, a little about getting hometown footage for the next episode of the country music talent competition.

The film crews were on hand Wednesday afternoon at the Southpark Mall in Spencer. About 300 people formed a line with hopes of getting an autograph.

"I don't think you should be thanking me," she told the crowd. "I should be thanking you."

"Nashville Star" has Mayer on threshold of the biggest night of her professional career.

Or she could be a lame duck contestant: Mayer wrote "I'm Not Looking Back" when she first arrived in Nashville. She got to perform it on "original song night," two days before her appearance at the mall in Spencer and her concert in tiny May City.

Votes were phoned in only during the two hours following Monday night's telecast. Viewers have already decided which three contestants advanced to the season finale. The audience, and Mayer, has to wait until Monday to find out.

"My two main goals were to make it to songwriter's night and to make it home to say 'thank you' to everybody," she said.

While she's not ready to stop there, she also isn't ready to proclaim herself as a frontrunner.

"I think right now it's an open ball game," Mayer said. "My prediction is, just by the way the judges have critiqued them and just by the way people have reacted to them, I really feel like Gabe and Melissa are in the top two for sure."

"Gabe" is Gabe Garcia a 28-year-old "Tex-Mex cowboy" from Lytle, Texas, who has overcome the loss of his father and wowed the judges with his smooth voice and authentically country sound.

"Melissa" is Melissa Lawson, a 31-year-old working mom whose big voice has carried her from Arlington, Texas, to Nashville. She's charmed audiences with her devoted husband, rambunctious brood of five sons as well as her efforts to lose weight during the course of the season.

"I don't know -- I think I might be going home," Mayer said. Then she quickly adds: "But every week I've been in the bottom two I've always had the feeling that: You know what? I'm happy. I've served my time. I've made everybody proud. That's all I care about. I'm going to fight. I fought last week. I'm going to fight to stay here. If I'm in the top three, I'm definitely going to fight for it, but I'm happy either way."

If Mayer is right about Garcia and Lawson, that leaves the third finale spot open to her or the unconventional Coffey, a polite 29-year-old single dad who dotes over his daughter Savannah and tried to hold the family together by selling CDs on a street corner in Santa Monica, Calif.

Coffey's performances have been routinely panned by the show's industry insider judges Jeffrey Steele, John Rich and Jewel. Mayer, however, takes Coffey's durability, and America's results, seriously.

"He came from Texas. He probably grew up very country. His voice is just not what you're used to hearing on the radio," she said, later adding: "It all depends on what your style is. What's so neat about country music is, they do embrace anybody that really, truly believes in country music. They'll find a way to embrace you -- and America has embraced him. I'm real happy for him."

While Mayer may discount her own chances Monday night, she, too, has a backstory that appeals to a national audience. She honed her skill singing along to a karaoke track at a bar in Melvin, which is about 10 miles away from her home in Osceola County.

One of her first breaks came at the age of 15, when she opened the show for Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Clay County Fair in Spencer.

"The next day, I went to the bank, took out a loan, bought music equipment -- my parents cosigned -- and the rest of history," she said.

Camera crews have been to May City before. She's been filmed by a pickup truck with the hood popped and a wrench in her hand. She's put on fire gear and climbed up onto a fire truck and she's clapped at piglets to recreate the time she spent working on a hog farm.

That's part of who she is and she cautions: "do not treat me any different." TV hasn't changed her, she promises.

"I'm the same person I was when I left," she said. "I love politics, I like giggling, I love telling jokes and I'm just as sarcastic as I ever was."

She's also as busy as she's ever been. Mayer calls Mondays "stress days" with rehearsals, makeup and wardrobe decisions leading up to the live 8 p.m. "Nashville Star" telecast on NBC.

Tuesday is the start of a new week for the contestants who received enough votes to return. It's also mentoring day. The work with judge-mentor Steele typically lasts the majority of the day.

Wednesdays and Thursdays also are rehearsal days, but the performers focus on fine-tuning their arrangement with the band.

"Fridays are press days, which I live for," Mayer said. "Every week -- if there wasn't press days, I don't know how I'd get through the week."

The performers work with a vocal coach on Fridays as well.

Saturdays are designed to be a down day, but that had not happened until the most recent weekend. Sundays the contestants rehearse all day at the theater where the show is taped.

"It's pretty hectic," she said. "But I love that."

Naturally, Mayer's return to northwest Iowa has thrown off the routine. The remaining contestants all have trips to their home towns and a tall task ahead.

Mayer said the finalists will perform two songs on Monday's episode. Mayer is going with a couple of songs she's been performing for years.

One is a song she says she'll have a difficult time making "her own." The second song is one of her favorite songs from Garth Brooks. She says local residents who have attended her concerts over the years should be able to figure out her song choice.

"That song is going to mean the most to me just because it pretty-much sums up what this whole competition has meant to me and what taking this chance has meant," she said. "So if anybody knows Garth Brooks, they know what song is coming."

Mayer almost missed her trips to Spencer and May City. She was in the bottom two of the competition for the second week in-a-row. This time Ashlee Hewitt left the show. The talented Minnesotan brought an artistic flair to her performances.

Hewitt and Mayer spent the suspense moments of the elimination announcement laughing -- Mayer's bracelet was caught on Hewitt's shirt. The distraction also kept them from breaking a pact: "Don't cry," they whispered to each other.

It was a promise they both broke when Hewitt's name was announced for the elimination.

"We couldn't hold it back anymore," Mayer said. "I was a wreck. I think Ashlee is so talented and she's a great person."

Mayer offers that she doesn't feel like she's better than anyone else on the show.

"What America has done for me -- and what people in northwest Iowa, by doing all this stuff for me -- have made me realize is that I have something special that people see," she said. "The fact that they've given me a little bit of hope, goes a long way.

"It means more to me than a record deal."