Carrie Underwood to play Maria von Trapp on live TV
Jordan Strauss/AP
The hills are alive with the sound of... country music?
"American Idol" winner and country music superstar Carrie Underwood will play Maria von Trapp in the NBC live television broadcast of "The Sound of Music," scheduled to air around the 2013 holidays.
Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC entertainment, made the announcement that the golden-haired beauty was chosen to take on the role on Nov. 30.
"Speaking for everyone at NBC, we couldn't be happier to have the gifted Carrie Underwood take up the mantle of the great Maria von Trapp," Greenblatt said in a People online post.
The 29-year-old singer has just three acting credits on her IMDB page, including an episode of "How I Met Your Mother," 2011 biopic "Soul Surfer," and an episode of "Sesame Street."
Will she be able to stand up to the likes of her predecessors? Only time will tell. The role of Maria was made famous by Mary Martin on Broadway in 1960, and then further popularized by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film by the same name. The film won an Oscar for best picture that same year.
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