Photo by Paula Buenger [Order this photo]

By Randy M. Cauthron, Managing Editor

For May City native, Shawn Mayer, making the final four of NBC's "Nashville Star" guaranteed her the opportunity to perform an original song on national television and a chance to celebrate with over 3,000 of her closest friends with a concert on the streets of her hometown. Mayer had a whirlwind tour of northwest Iowa Wednesday, complete with media visits, autograph sessions and a concert on a makeshift stage in her home town. With production staff in tow, Mayer smiled, signed, shook hands, and wiped away tears at the support and love poured out from communities where she had played in mall food courts, event grand openings and public festivals. After arriving on a Harley Davidson, decked out in her leather jacket, Mayer took the stage and treated everyone to a show that punctuated the reason she's in the running for the Nashville Star's top spot. It was announced at the concert that a Cherokee radio station, in conjunction with a local travel agency had arranged for the Mayer family to travel to the show's finale in Nashville.

Final vote takes place Monday

Ratings up on 'Nashville Star'

By Russ Mitchell, Daily Reporter staff

About 5.9 million viewers watched the drama unfold at the Acuff Theater Monday night in Nashville, according to NBC, the network that airs "Nashville Star."

Area viewers may have a interest in the upcoming episode as well. Shawn Mayer, 21, of May City in Osceola County is one of four finalists still in the competition. "Nashville Star" airs at 8 p.m. Monday night on NBC.

The local affiliate is KTIV, channel 4, in Sioux City.

One of the four contestants will be removed with an elimination announcement at the end of the show. Phone lines will open for the three remaining contestants the moment the show goes off the air. Those votes, which are toll-free from land lines, will decide which contestant of the remaining three contestants is named "Nashville Star."

The winner of "Nashville Star" will receive a recording contract with Warner Bros. Nashville and a chance to perform at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

The show is described by the network as the original grassroots talent search to find America's next great country music star. It was the longest-running competition series on cable before moving to NBC in 2008.

The first five seasons of the series have launched the careers of promising artists including Chris Young, Buddy Jewel, Miranda Lambert, Lance Miller and Angela and Zac Hacker -- the siblings who made it a family affair by coming in first and second, respectively, last season.

The 5.9 million viewers who watched "Nashville Star" was up 10 percent from the 5.4 million who watched the show a week earlier. It also was the largest audience since the June 16 episode.