When a huge competition gets whittled down to the final three competitors, the sad reality is that someone has to go and someone will be crowned the winnder. During this season of Nashville Star on NBC, after 40,000 auditions, Gabe Garcia and Shawn Mayer went from unknown country hopefuls to household Nashville names, as the two made it into the final round of competition. Although Gabe and Shawn gave it their all, growing by leaps and bounds throughout the season, both couldn't top mother-of-five Melissa Lawson, who was crowned this year's Nashville Star.

The very next morning, we caught up with Gabe Garcia and Shawn Mayer on a conference call to relive their Nashville Star experience and find out what's in store for their immediate musical future.

THE DEADBOLT: Hi Gabe. Hi Shawn.

SHAWN MAYER: Hello.

GABE GARCIA: Doing all right.

THE DEADBOLT: Congratulations to you guys for making it this far.

MAYER: Thank you.

GARCIA: Thanks.

THE DEADBOLT: When I was speaking with John Rich last week, he said the two finalists that didn’t win would have to get something going within 20 days. So what’s the game plan?

GARCIA: Well, we’ll find out... Warner Brothers has first choice of us and we’ll see what happens there. And if nothing else then we’ll put on a showcase and - but also we got the "Nashville Star Tour" coming up soon, too. That’s within about another month or so and we’ve got that to look forward to also.

MAYER: And I know with me, I talked to Jeffrey Steele just a little bit last night after the show and, just like he’s talked to Gabe and John has talked to Gabe, Jeffrey pulled me off to the side and said, "You know, I really - I know you’re going to probably want to take a couple days to relax. But when you get done relaxing, make sure you give me a call." And the first thing that came right out of my mouth is I want no free time. I want to start working now because I really think John has a point. We really need to start - you know, keep the ball rolling. And so I plan on calling Jeffrey up and start writing, and start finding songs, and hopefully set up a showcase really soon.

THE DEADBOLT: For both of you, what was the most challenging part?

GARCIA: Probably the Pop Goes Country. Yeah, probably that. You know, that was definitely out of our comfort zone right there and - but it was - every show has been a great experience, you know. And it’s cool, too, because I get - It’s funny. Every show has been like, "Man this is the best show ever." This is the best show ever, you know, it’s - because it’s been different every time. But yeah, I think Pop Goes Country for me - has been the most challenging.

MAYER: That was such a hard show to do. I think the most challenging for me was more of - on a personal level, was just getting over putting myself down all the time and really starting to bring out my true personality. And it really shows America that I was truly thankful to be there and show them that they really made an impact on my life as much as I’ve made an impact on theirs.

THE DEADBOLT: What was going through your heads when George Jones walked in the room?

MAYER: Oh, my gosh.

GARCIA: She started crying.

MAYER: It was a dream come true. I never, in my wildest imagination, would’ve ever thought I would’ve been able to meet, "The Possum". And oh, to see him walk in that room, I had to look away because I wanted to pull myself together. And it’s so weird, you look up to these artists and you have so many questions for them. And then when they sit right in front of you, you can’t get anything to come out. I couldn’t say anything. And then when I did ask a question, it was something about how he pronounced "Frigidaire". I was like, "Did I really just ask him that question?" But it was so great.

THE DEADBOLT: Gabe, I was curious, how does it feel to be an ambassador for Hispanic country singers?

GARCIA: It’s great. I mean, it’s just an honor to be a representative, you know, and be among the few Hispanic artists of the world. You know, Emilio and Rick Trevino, and Freddy Fender and Johnny Rodriguez, and I have some big shoes to fill there with these guys. But it’s just great. But I’m just here to represent all our country fans, too, as well, you know, and just to record the best stuff I can and do - I mean, hopefully be successful in the near future.