The tears running down Christina Aguilera’s cheek meant one of two things for Lindsey Pavao.

Either the Manteca native and contestant on NBC’s “The Voice” had just moved her R&B superstar coach to tears with her performance of Mike Posner’s “Please Don’t Go” or she was preparing herself to say goodbye to the breathy young talent that had become one of her favorite pupils in the competition.

Ultimately, Aguilera said that when deciding whether to keep Pavao or teammate Ashley De La Rosa, she had to go with her gut.

The Sierra High School grad is moving on to the semi-finals.

That means that out of the thousands of people who auditioned for the show Pavao will stand proudly in the final eight just one week prior to the show’s finale.

It won’t necessarily be taking a step toward stardom. She’s already attained that as the most downloaded artist on iTunes from the second season of NBC’s hit vocal competition. She has a steady stream of Twitter followers that pledge their undying support for her unique arrangements and unmistakable style.

Maybe it’ll be a launching pad for a music career regardless of how the rest of the show turns out. In the era when people can get record deals for recording a few good YouTube videos, it’s hard to imagine that there isn’t some A&R rep out there right now that already had a producer lined up to take her music to the next level.

Not bad for an aspiring artist who, prior to testing the waters of Hollywood – at the urging of her boss at a rural Sutter County bar – played for crowds of a few dozen at coffee houses.

Not bad at all.

There’s just something special that goes with knowing that the young woman that’s pouring her heart and soul into her performance – so much so that she covered her eyes in an emotional moment at the end – has her roots right here in this community.

When she performed Katy Perry’s “Part of Me” on Monday night with a human microphone stand and a full stage production, she earned high praise from the other coaches on the show.

Blake Shelton – who tried to land her on his team during the blind auditions – said he buys her songs every week and added that he’s “a fan of hers so she gets a pass no matter what.”

Aguilera said that she “adored her” and “there was a special place in her heart” for Pavao and her talents.

But when the crunch time hit and she was singing for her life on the show Tuesday, there was something intimate about her stripped-down version of Posner’s track. Her coach cited it as “vulnerable” but it was also packed full of emotion as she rose to the challenge and wowed not only the masses of fans that flooded Twitter with support but the one person that truly mattered.

Having the backing of somebody that’s sold 50 million records and has their own star on the Walk of Fame definitely isn’t a bad thing.

There is no doubt that Pavao is a star.

On April 30 she’ll get the opportunity to stand on a stage with seven other contestants and fight for the ultimate dream for any musician or performer.

We already know that she has 67,096 people cheering for her.

The millions of others the world over can’t hurt.