Tonight's Nashville Star is once more hosted by Sara Evans, filling in for LeAnn Rimes. LeAnn should be back next week for the finale. Tonight's show will be the most important of all as the votes tonight will determine who the Nashville Star will be.
As the show opens, Sara Evans and Cledus T. Judd are in the audience, as they introduce Bret Michaels. Sparks fly from the ceiling as Bret walks on stage singing the Poison classic "Nothin' But a Good Time." Into the verse the four finalists join him on stage, each of them taking a line or two. This performance left a lot to be desired if you ask me. Compared to the wonderful job that was done on the group performances with Phil Vassar and Jamie O'Neal, this one was an unorganized mess.
After the opening credits roll, we come back to Sara on stage with the four finalists. Bret is back in the judges area and everyone gives him one more cheer. Next, Sara introduces the four finalists, Jason Meadows, Erika Jo, Jody Evans and Jayron Weaver.
Sara says "Tonight's show is going to be a little bit different than the first seven, and that is because earlier in the week, all four of our contestants were issued a challenge from one of the hottest country stars in country music today. Take a look."
Next we're shown a clip of all the finalists in a room and Jason comes in saying "Somebody sent us a letter. It feels like, to me a DVD." Jason puts the DVD in the player and they show the screen where Tim McGraw comes on the screen saying "Hey guys. Tim McGraw here. Congratulations on making it to the final four of Nashville Star. You have a lot to be proud of. But you know, being a star means a lot more than just playing to sold out arenas in front of millions of screaming fans. You need to remember your roots, and to give back to your community. You know, to help people who helped you. One way I'm doing that is through a campaign called "Neighbors Give Life;" an effort involving me, State Farm, and the American Red Cross, to educate people about the importance and ease of blood donations. And to challenge folks to donate through their local blood center or blood drives. It's a great easy way to make a difference. To learn more go to neighborsgivelife.com. I'm proud to announce that this week State Farm will kick off things with a $10,000 donation to the Red Cross chapter in each of your hometowns. Here's how it works. You will hold a benefit concert in your hometown to raise money for your local chapters of the American Red Cross. Now, get out there and put on some great shows. Raise a ton of dough. And, once again, congratulations on making it to this year's Nashville Star final four."
Back to the stage, Sara says, "Ok, let's give a big hand to Tim McGraw for helping us out tonight. Ok, here is how it's going to work. Since all four of our contestants took Tim McGraw's advice and gave charity concerts in their hometown this week, we're going to let them all perform tonight. Sound good? Ok, at the end of the show, I'll be announcing the names of the three people that will be moving on to the season finale next week. But, unfortunately we will also be saying goodbye to our seventh contestant of the year. And, if that wasn't enough, Bret "not" Michaels is going to come up here one more time to debut his country single "Open Road." How about it!"
After the commercial we are back with Sara and Cledus on the stage, and they introduce the three judges; Phil Vassar, Anastasia Brown and Bret Michaels. Again, Sara tells us that we won't know until the end of the show who America has chosen to send home.
First to perform tonight is Jason Meadows.
Cledus: "Get over here son. Alright brother I'm good. Man, this thing has been going on for a while. Have you mentally prepared that this might be your last shot tonight?"
Jason: "You better believe it, man. I play every one like it was my last one. If it is, hey man, we're going to give it all we got tonight. From here on out, we ain't never gonna stop."
Cledus: "That's awesome, man. I hear it got a little pandemoneum back when you went home for your concert. Let's take a look at this clip."
They show a clip of Jason's trip home. He introduces his family members and shows some yearbook pictures where he was voted "Most Handsome," "Class Flirt," and "Most Talented." His mom says she's been introduced as "Dirt Clod's mom." He goes to the local high school and gets a plaque, and they name the day "Jason Meadows Day." During his concert, his wife brings him his hat on a pillow and his son comes up on the stage as well.