"American Idol" divided by "The Biggest Loser" equals your "Nashville Star" winner

So there was a happy ending to "Nashville Star" last night, as Melissa Lawson, a 32-year-old mother of five who dropped 45 pounds during the competition, overcame a dreadful hosting performance by Billy Ray Cyrus to win (see below). She'll now perform on another NBC series, the reality show being made in Beijing with a cast of thousands.

There are three big questions coming out of this season of "Nashville Star," the first that "crossed over" to network television after six successful seasons on cable.

Will this burst of fame do our winner any good? Miranda Lambert, who didn't even win, continues to be the standard by which all "Star" contestants will be measured -- and her career pales that next to country star Carrie Underwood, who won the mainstream "American Idol." The Hackers, last year's brother-sister finalists (she won), have vanished.

I have reasons to think, though, that Lawson actually will succeed.

For one thing, Lawson is a woman with some mileage and issues. That has endeared her to her new fan base -- which, now that I think about it, sounds a lot like David Cook's new fan base -- and made her a little "stickier" than your average TV game show champion.

For another thing, "Nashville Star" reached a lot more people this season. It averaged just under 6 million viewers during its short season, and topped off with 6.3 million for the finale. That's about twice what the show was doing on cable, and that means there are twice as many people out there to go to Melissa's concerts and buy her CDs.

Finally, as one of the judges I think said when listening to Melissa's original song, that girl can write. Not having to rely on other people's ideas of what her fans want to hear her sing about, Lawson can chart her own career in a way David Cook (who got a ton of mileage out of other people's previously lame songs) can't.

Is "Nashville Star" ready for network TV? Almost certainly. NBC didn't hype the show nearly as much as "American Gladiators," and yet "Gladiators," averaging in the low five millions, never came close to "Star's" ratings. Though beaten by a "CSI Miami" repeat last night, "Nashville Star" is one of the best things NBC has going this summer, and besides, current NBC entertainment co-chief Ben Silverman created it!

And finally....

Can we get Cowboy Troy back for next season? Seriously. If Billy Ray were made out of balsa, would he be any more wooden than he was reading the prompter on "Nashville Star"? I understand why NBC decided to shake up the judging panels (again), and this group is the best the show's had. But nobody is tuning in to see Hannah Montana's dad.