Scotty McCreery is again hoping that his fans will come through for him in a national voting contest.

Starting today, voting began online for the Academy of Country Music’s “New Artist of the Year” Award. Scotty, the 18-year-old Garner High School senior, is one of three finalists competing for the prize.

The winner will be announced live on the 47th Academy of Country Music Awards on April 1 on CBS.

“The fans have been great to me when it comes to getting down and voting,” Scotty said in an interview last month.

We don't have dates yet, but we do have acts for the big 2012 arena-country shows at Raleigh's Time Warner Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek. And let's just say that, aside from the first two acts listed, this year's schedule is mighty heavy on The Usual Suspects (and is actually most notable for who isn't on it, at least not yet):

(UPDATE -- dates have been added...)

Sugarland (April 28)
Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Thompson Square (June 8)
Toby Keith (July 15)
Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan (July 27)
Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Eli Young Band, Edens Edge (Aug. 10)
Brad Paisley, The Band Perry (Aug. 24)

These six shows go on sale Feb. 3 as part of the venue's annual "country megaticket" package at prices from $129 to $649.

Circus (9pm, UNC-TV) - A look at the life in the circus through the prism of the Big Apple Circus opens with "First of May," in which the entertainers and crew map out a new show for a 350-performance tour. "One Ring Family" continues at 10pm with tensions at the first dress rehearsal.

Law & Order: SVU (9pm, NBC) - An environmentalist's body is found at an industrial laundry plant, and the investigation puts Benson and Stabler in danger. When more victims are discovered, Benson unexpectedly reflects on her past while bonding with a victim's daughter, played by Maria Bello.

Modern Family (9pm, ABC) - All of the ABC comedies look good tonight, but on "Modern Family," Phil is perplexed by a faulty smoke detector, Gloria and Manny pay a surprise visit to Jay at work, and Cameron tries to get Lily in a commercial.

Terriers (10pm, FX) - Listen up. "Terriers" is not about dogs. It's a great show about private detective buddies that you should all be watching. Tonight, as Gretchen's wedding nears, Hank learns some troubling information about her fiance. Also, Britt tracks down the hooker (D.J. "Shangela" Pierce) who ripped of a teenage boy. Britt also begins to suspect that Katie's odd behavior means that she's pregnant.

The Defenders (10pm, CBS) - When a Las Vegas entertainment icon is suffocated to death in his mansion and his girlfriend is charged with the crime, Pete reluctantly agrees to represent her.

In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville (10pm, ABC) - Robin Roberts interviews Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, and Miranda Lambert. And yes, ABC is air ing the CMA awards next week.

This will be a big weekend for concerts at Walnut Creek -- Creed on Friday, Brad Paisley on Saturday and Kiss on Sunday -- which is going to mean traffic snarls all three nights because road work is continuing on I-440 West between the I-40 East/I-440 split and Poole Road, with the Poole Road exit ramp from I-440 West closed. So alternate routes are advised:

Going to the concert from westbound I-40, take Jones Sausage Road to Rock Quarry Road.

After the concert, if you're using Rock Quarry Road and need to get on I-440 West, take Rock Quarry Road to New Hope Road to Poole Road to I-440 West; or Rock Quarry Road to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Poole Road to I-440 West.

After the concert, if you're using Rock Quarry Road and need to get on I-40, take Rock Quarry Road to Jones Sausage Road to I-40 East; or Rock Quarry Road to I-40 West.

After the concert, if you're using Sunnybrook Road, go north to Poole Road to access I-440.

The warm-weather hits just keep on coming: Country star Brad Paisley's summer tour schedule is out, and he opens in North Carolina. The second date will be June 5 at Raleigh's big outdoor joint -- where Paisley has become one of the venue's most reliable perennials, drawing a near-capacity crowd of 17,000-plus last July.