And then someone from State Farm comes out to give a check for $40,000 to go to the contestants' hometown school districts. That's good and all, but I'm not sure if it really inspires new possibilities for humanity or anything important like that.

And now we begin the process of learning who gets the boot. The first contestant who is safe, and thus will advance to next week's finale, is Shawn Mayer. Get out! Let us pray that this means Cof-FAY is toast. Shawn tells us that she has a dream, and is dreaming that dream for anyone who ever had a dream. In days gone by. When hope was high and life worth living. Shawn gives her final performance. She sings "The Dance" by Garth Brooks. It's okay, but I think she might have gotten more traction with a kick-ass fast song. John Rich tells her that no matter what happens, it's a huge deal that she's made it to the final three, and a huge thing to be proud of. She's also light years ahead of where she was ten weeks ago. Jewel likes that Shawn has a vision for herself as an artist, and would help her label find herself. Jeffrey again says that Shawn is a pro, and thinks that John was a fool for letting her go. Shawn smiles and tears up a little bit, and is happy. Yay.

The second person who is safe is Melissa Lawson. She throws her head back in relief. She sings "Jesus Take the Wheel," and I have to say it's not that great. She's a little rough on the belty parts, even though the low notes sound lovely. Jewel says that people don't understand how hard the music business is, and then talks about how much she likes Melissa's husband and kids. Jeffrey loves Melissa, and says that even though he thought the low notes were a little low for her, she's great when she's in the zone. That's exactly the opposite of what I thought! Huh. John Rich talks emphatically, and the upshot of it all is that Melissa has a shot of becoming the Nashville Star. Well, yeah, she's in the final three. But, I mean, awesome critique.