For five years, "Nashville Star" seemed to be quietly in the shadows.

It was a modest cable show, producing modest stars. Nashville used to be like that.

"Country music is so huge now," says John Rich, one of the judges for the sixth "Star" edition. "When you have a Kenny Chesney show drawing 80,000 people, you know it's big."

So now "Star" moves to NBC, with big plans. The winner will sing at the Olympics in Beijing, then tour and cut an album.

"I'm also producing the album," Rich says. "I intend to put out a country winner."

He's shown he can do it.

"Every now and then, somebody kicks the door open, with something new and fresh," says Billy Ray Cyrus, the "Star" host. "John Rich ... brought a whole new vitality."

This year's edition, premiering tonight, will be stuffed with crossover types.

The judges are Rich (of the Big & Rich duo), Jewel (freshly converted from pop music) and a songwriter. "Jeffrey Steele is today's Kris Kristofferson," Cyrus says.

And the host? Cyrus is a country singer whose first hit ("Achy Breaky Heart") was a rock song and whose daughter (Miley) is a pop star.

The show's original producers, Ben Silverman (now head of NBC) and H.T. Owens, are city guys. "Ben and I literally put on cowboy hats, got on a plane (and) went down to Nashville," Owens says.

From the beginning, they've aimed for crossover with some of their hosts (Nancy O'Dell, Cowboy Troy and, last year, Jewel), judges (Warren Brothers, Bret Michaels of Poison) and guests (Big & Rich).

That's still a goal, Owens says. "We want our contestants to play Lynyrd Skynyrd, ... to play Bob Seger."

When "Nashville Star" debuted in March 2003 on the USA Network, it copied "American Idol" in key ways. There were three judges (two men, one woman), with viewers making the decisions.

Still, there are key differences. There are no age limits. Winners have ranged from Buddy Jewell, 41, to Erika Jo, 18.

Contestants have always been allowed to bring instruments — which many play well. "When Jason Castro on 'American Idol' (was) up there playing a guitar, you never saw a shot of his fingers," Owens says.

One week requires a never-recorded song. The singers don't have to write it themselves, but most successful ones — Jewell, Miranda Lambert, Chris Young — did.

There's another difference this year, allowing a vocal duo or trio to compete as one act. Owens raves about three sisters; "they are the most down-home, cool personalities (and) absolute songbirds."

The biggest change, however, is in the style of its people.

Jewel's first pop album sold 11 million copies; Cyrus crosses genres easily. "It's just a great time to be rocking and rolling," he says.

And Rich is one of the reasons for changing times.

A former Lonestar bassist, he started working with Big Kenny Alphin in the '90s. In 2001, they dubbed their friends the Muzik Mafia and launched rowdy, weekly shows at a Nashville pub.

"Nobody had anything to lose," Rich says. "We were already losers, so we had nothing else to lose. ... You're going to really blow up big or fail big."

Their success started when Rich wrote "Redneck Woman" for Gretchen Wilson. She hit No. 1 and brought other Mafia members on tour; soon, Big & Rich had their own tours and No. 1 albums.

Other nontraditional types have soared, Rich says.

"There's a whole new breed out there. Look at Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson. ...

"People say, 'I don't like country music, but I like Keith Urban.' Well, guess what: He's country now."