After three years, Carrie Underwood is no longer the country newcomer on a meteoric rise.

She has become a multiplatinum, steady hitmaker with two No. 1 albums and seven chart-topping singles. Underwood will join Brad Paisley in hosting the Country Music Association Awards, which air live at 8 tonight on ABC. The 25-year-old is nominated for album of the year and female vocalist, an honor she has won the past two years.

"It's hard to get tired of it when it still seems so new," she said of her nominations. "I've only been doing this three years. For a lot of people it takes longer to get nominated. I'm lucky."

The CMAs reflect country music sales charts, which include a rising prevalence of women. More specifically, young women. Even more specifically, young blond women, including several whose music careers got a jump-start in reality television: Besides Underwood, there are Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Nettles (of Sugarland), Kellie Pickler, Kristy Lee Cook, Whitney Duncan, Hillary Scott (of Lady Antebellum), Heidi Newfield (formerly of Trick Pony).

Several are up for awards, and several will perform, including Swift, Lambert, Nettles, Scott and Underwood.

But let's not forget the guys and the leader of the pack, Kenny Chesney.

Chesney, who has been CMA entertainer of the year three of the past four years (Keith Urban won in 2005) comes into tonight with seven nominations: entertainer and male vocalist; single and music video for "Don't Blink;" album for "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates"; musical event for "Every Other Weekend" with Reba McEntire and "Shiftwork" with George Strait.

Strait has five nods -- entertainer and male vocalist; single for "I Saw God Today;" album for "Troubadour"; musical event for "Shiftwork" with Chesney -- but King George just isn't the awards darling he used to be. His best bet is to ride Chesney's wave for "Shiftwork." (From wire reports)

"Knight Rider" is going into the shop for some serious work, shedding three of its cast members and moving closer to the template of the show's 1980s predecessor.

Three regulars -- Bruce Davison, Sydney Tamiia Poitier and Yancey Arias -- will depart the show after its initial 13-episode run (the show earned a full-season, 22-episode pickup last month). The show will also shift the focus of its stories; rather than Michael (Justin Bruening) and KITT protecting national security, they'll help ordinary people who are in a jam.

"We're moving away from the terrorist-of-the-week formula and closer to the original," executive producer Gary Scott Thompson tells The Hollywood Reporter. Thompson calls the changes a "reboot" and says he and his fellow writers are "making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping more regular people, everymen."

Viewers will see the changes start to take effect with a two-part story in episodes 10 and 11, the HR says. The first part will air after an NFL game in January in an effort to goose the show's ratings, with the conclusion airing in its regular Wednesday spot.

Davison, Arias and Poitier will be written out after 13 episodes, and "Knight Rider" will continue with a focus on Bruening's Michael, girlfriend/partner Sarah (Deanna Russo) and the bantering techies played by Smith Cho and Paul Campbell.

"Knight Rider" has scuffled in the ratings so far this season, averaging about 7 million viewers a week. The series hit a low last week, managing only 5.1 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. (Zap2it.com)