When Nashville Star made its seventh season debut a number of weeks ago, a lot of media types and fans were questioning whether any of the new crop of wannabe-stars had the country chops to make it in "Music City". Although Nashville Star took a few weeks to settle into its new home on NBC, the show got better each week as the true stars emerged from the shadows.

The morning immediately following her win, The Deadbolt's Troy Rogers dusted off his saddle, grabbed his cowboy hat, and rode into a conference call with a number of outlets to get a few words with new up and coming country star, Melissa Lawson.

THE DEADBOLT: Congratulations, Melissa. My first question is: Did you get any sleep yet?

MELISSA LAWSON: [laughs] I got about two hours last night. A little power nap.

THE DEADBOLT: Now that you’ve won, what preparations are you going through for the Olympics?

LAWSON: You know, right now I’m so focused today on still trying to take in last night and making sure I get to talk to everyone that I need to talk to today. I think tonight when I get back to the hotel it will give me an opportunity to really start focusing on that performance and I’ll get to do the single. So I’m excited about that.

When my husband said to me last night at the party, he’s like, "There will be 100 million people watching that show." And I was like, "Oh, my God." That’s a huge amount of people, obviously, and a tremendous opportunity to get to have.

THE DEADBOLT: You mentioned that your boys do understand what’s going on, so I was wondering how much of a challenge is that going to be with you on the road a lot?

LAWSON: You know there’s no doubt about it that it’ll be a challenge. But I think all in all, life is full of challenges. It’s full of obstacles. But it’s our job to just go over those hurdles and keep moving forward. I’m definitely not going to be an absent parent. I’m going to be right there with them.

I Just may have to travel a lot more in the beginning, but in the end it’s going to allow me more time to spend with them. So I’m looking forward to that. And the youngest three will never even remember that I had to be gone all of these days, so it’s all good.

THE DEADBOLT: Now that you’re a bona fide star, could you see yourself coming back to Nashville Star in the future as a judge?

LAWSON: Oh, my gosh! What a great question. Well, first of all, I would definitely come back to Nashville Star to participate. You know, I think I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if it wasn’t for Nashville Star and I’m eternally grateful for that. Sometimes I hear these stories of people who’ve participated in other shows then they don’t want to come back, or they’re like, "This so and so show was horrible, the experience was horrible."

I just think to myself, "My God, you could still be living in your hotel room," or wherever they came from. You know, if I get the opportunity to come back to Nashville Star and talk to other contestants, or anything like that, it would be a blessing for me because I’ve already been in their shoes. I know what it’s like and I would love to be a part of it, yes.