Country stars to shine for Fox at MGM Grand

It's National Finals Rodeo time -- which makes it prime time for Fox's second annual "American Country Awards."

The country music hoedown, returning to the MGM Grand Garden today for a live broadcast to the East Coast, gets under way at 5 p.m. (The show can be seen locally at 8 p.m. on KVVU-TV, Channel 5.)

Country singer Trace Adkins, who headlines at the Riviera on Friday, and Broadway baby Kristen Chenoweth (born in Broken Arrow, Okla.) host the show.

As country music's final 2011 awards showcase, the ACAs "try and get as relevant" nominations as possible "to reflect the whole year," according to show producer Fletcher Foster. (Jason Aldean and the Zac Brown Band lead the field with eight nominations each.)

In addition, the nominations "are not built upon a trade organization of music executives or anything like that," Foster adds. "It's based on what radio's playing -- and radio is a reflection of what fans request."

TO THE POINT: Travelers come to Las Vegas for excitement, but few consider all the hard work needed to make all the excitement happen.

The Travel Channel's upcoming series "Vegas Stripped" aims to change all that.

The six-episode show, scheduled to wrap a seven-week shoot Friday at the South Point, will provide "a different way of looking at Las Vegas" for Travel Channel viewers, according to executive producer Daniel A. Schwartz .

That means focusing less on "the fun things you can do" and more on "what it takes to make it work," he notes, whether the event is the Fetish & Fantasy Halloween Ball or a recent food truck festival.

"It's not so much a reality show as an information reality show," Schwartz explains. As such, "Vegas Stripped" will alert viewers to the fact that "not everything that's exciting about Las Vegas happens on the Strip," he adds, citing the South Point's location five miles south of the megaresort corridor.

The South Point's noncorporate ownership also plays a role; Schwartz suggests corporate megaresort officials on the Strip might not give permission to depict behind-the-scenes details.

"A show like this doesn't work unless you see what can go wrong," he contends. "That was part of the appeal of the South Point."

'CHOPPER' BLOCK: Music's usually in the spotlight at the Hard Rock Hotel.

But motorcycle mania takes the stage today and Tuesday when the Discovery Channel's "American Chopper Live" takes over The Joint for a two-night build-off, pitting father-and-son "Chopper" stars Paul Teutul and Paul Teutul Jr. against each other -- and Jesse James, who's making his first Discovery appearance since 2006.

Tonight's live show finds the three combatants introducing their customized motorcycles; fans will vote for their favorite and the winner will be crowned during Tuesday's live show.

The build-off needed neutral ground for the two-night showcase, explains Christo Doyle, "American Chopper's" executive producer. And Discovery's "first choice is Vegas, by a long shot," he notes. "It's definitely the excitement, the buzz Vegas brings to things."

QUICK TAKES: "Vegas Stripped" isn't the only Travel Channel project expected this week; "Sand Masters" is scheduled to hit the Fremont Street Experience for a second-season episode. Great American Country's reality series "Tom's Wild Life" follows Kansas City outfitter Tom McMillan around town through Wednesday, while ESPN International's "AutoExplora" hits the road to (and in) Vegas for a trio of January episodes. Speaking of hitting the road, the new reality series "Freecationers," from Britain's Bullseye Productions, follows two friends from Colorado to Vegas in an RV they won. Two projects from local filmmakers also turn up on this week's production schedule: Erica Chan's "Broke" and Marko Sakren's "Wassup America?!"

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at (702) 383-0272 or ccling@reviewjournal. com.