Although the competition on Nashville Star is now down to the best of the best, this week's elimination was somewhat of a surprise, as soft-singer Ashlee Hewitt was handed her walking papers. Despite being a front-runner to many fans, including the judges, and is now on the outside looking in at the show, the Cheryl Crow-like country teen has a bright future ahead of her. Even Billy Ray Cyrus and his manager think so, as Ashlee reveals.

The morning following her departure from the competition, we caught up with the now ex-Nashville Star to get her take on what went wrong, how she handled her time on the show, and what she has planned for the future.

THE DEADBOLT: Out of all of your performances, where do you think last night’s ranked for you personally?

ASHLEE: I think last night was one of my strongest, or the strongest performance of mine. I think I really got to showcase who I am as an artist and what my style is, and hopefully America will grasp for that and continue to follow me. I feel blessed that I got to perform that song on TV. And that was one of my main goals, was to get to that night. So I feel pretty confident in my performance last night.

THE DEADBOLT: On the other hand, why do you think you were the one to go?

ASHLEE: There were a couple of performances that I could’ve done a lot better. It really is song selection. And it’s really hard with nerves and everything being on such a stressful - it’s like a rollercoaster and you never know what’s going to happen. And when you’re in the bottom two, it’s so hard to go out there and perform your best. But it’s all about song selection and not letting your nerves get to you right before the show.

THE DEADBOLT: How has Nashville Star helped you as a songwriter?

ASHLEE: I know I’m going to have a lot to write about after this experience, so it’s going to be great. And I’ve been writing in my hotel room too, a lot. So I was kind of anti-social the last few weeks because I’ve been so focused. It’s been a great experience and I’m just going to keep on writing and hopefully I’ll be able to release some original stuff pretty soon.

THE DEADBOLT: What do you think was your biggest challenge on the show each week?

ASHLEE: I think my biggest challenge was just finding songs that really fit my style and not being able to perform my originals every week. That was hard for me because I’m a total songwriter. But it was also hard not being able to talk to my family because they’re my biggest support system. So not being able to talk to them was really hard because I talk to them all of the time and I’m really close to my family. That was challenging for me, to stay focused and not think about how they were doing and everything like that.

THE DEADBOLT: Has anyone approached you or talked to you about a deal beyond the show?

ASHLEE: I haven’t been approached about a deal yet. Billy Ray Cyrus took me aside last night and said, "You are awesome. I can’t believe you got eliminated." And he said that his manager was standing backstage and his manager had been my number one fan from the beginning of the show. He said he could open a lot of doors for me, so that was really exciting.

THE DEADBOLT: How have you changed as an artist since you first auditioned?

ASHLEE: I have learned so much just being mentored by these great artists, and I’ve really gotten a lot more comfortable on stage in front of a lot of people. It’s been an amazing experience and I’ve learned so much. It’s definitely helped to jump-start my career and I feel like I’m way more ready to do good things than I was before I started the show. So I’m really excited.

THE DEADBOLT: What do you think you have to work on to take your game to the next level?

ASHLEE: I think that I just have to perform more and get to become a seasoned artist, and just really work on writing more great songs and just learning from every step of the way.