ABOVE: Diana picks a song on the jukebox at the Nashville house. CREDIT: Ron Jaffe

Below is part of the story I wrote for the print edition, plus extra info about Diana I gleaned from my 30-minute interview with her earlier this month. I enjoyed the pilot episode, especially watching Dee Snider looking for coffee in the mansion and bitching that he needed his caffeine. And Diana in that episode showed plenty of confidence after sizing up the competition. “I’ve been doing this [singing] since I was five,” she told the cameras. “For John Rich [the country artist and producer] to believe in me, I won’t let him down. I’m going to take this baby all the way!”

Snellville’s own Diana DeGarmo, at age 20, is already a reality show vet thanks to her time as runner up on “American Idol” four years ago.

But after a brief pop career and a successful stint doing Broadway musicals in 2006, she spent last year trying to find a new path. When she heard CMT was pitching a show called “Gone Country” in which non-country singers try their hand becoming country stars, she was intrigued.

And her two weeks in Nashville truly inspired her.

“It was the craziest thing,” she said. “I didn’t realize I’d have such a change of heart. I grew up loving country and had gotten away from it. I missed it. A little lightbulb went off inside my head. It re-sparked something, an old flame that was already there.”

The show, which debuts tonight at 8 and 10, blends elements of “Surreal Life” and “Idol.” A group of celebrities of varying star wattage are placed in an outrageously large house with copious amounts of alcohol, given visually entertaining things to do (cleaning horse poop, skeet shooting on Gretchen Wilson’s ranch) and compete to put together a country song to be performed in a concert at a honky-tonk venue. The winner gets to record the song with country artist and producer John Rich.

Taped in November, Rich gathered DeGarmo, former Atlantan Bobby Brown, Julio Iglesias Jr., singer Sisqo (“Thong Song”), Dee Snider of Twisted Sister (“We’re Not Gonna Take It”), Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady) and Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips).

For DeGarmo, this show was more than just a publicity ploy or quick paycheck. It’s her entry into Nashville where she’s now spending time recording music for an upcoming album, that will skew in country-pop. “I’m turning 21 in a few months, which is scary,” she said. “I really truly believe I found my identity with country music.” In promos after the first episode, DeGarmo is seen crying, saying “I want to be a country singer more than anything in the world.”

Here’s extra stuff gleaned from my notes:

Diana said she may try out acting in a movie this summer and is doing voiceover work for the Georgia Aquarium as well as work on that new album.

She said she had no idea show the cast was until she arrived. “I was just hoping it wouldn’t be Vanilla Ice,” she said. But when she saw her fellow celebs, she said she thought the competition “would be fierce!”

Her take on Carnie Wilson: “What you see is what you get. She’s that crazy aunt who’ll take you to a party.”

Julio Iglesias Jr.: “I knew his father’s music. He’s huge overseas.”

Sisqo: “Like me, people only know him for one thing. But he’s really talented.”

Dee Snider: “I was kind of intimdated. He has kids my age. We joked around. I called hiim Big D and he called me Little D.”

Maureen McCormick: “She’s a sweet sweet person. She enjoys life fully.”

Bobby Brown: “He has his demons but he’s a soft, sweeet soul. He was definitely into the country music.”

The bond between Maureen and Bobby Brown: “They’re the new odd couple. Opposites attract! They both have such jaded pasts. They really bonded over that — and the cigarettes. Makes great TV.”

Her response to Simon’s recent comments that Diana is not “current” or even “relevant.”

“The thing with that, I was 16 when I was the show. At that time, we were singing a lot of old school stuff. They made us sing Elton John and Barry Manilow. How current is that?” So she figures Simon’s image of her is stuck in the past. “He just loves me,” she joked later. “He just won’t admit it!”

Her reaction to Ruben and Taylor losing their record contracts: “I totally feel their pain! The record industry is really funky. People aren’t making money. Labels aren’t into artist development anymore. We Idol folks were catapulted from zero to hero in 2.5 seconds. They expect you to be the full package, this model, shining pop star. But you’re still getting your bearings.”

Her favorite reality shows: Bravo’s “Project Runway” and guilty pleasure “Girls Next Door” on E! (I didn’t see that latter one coming!) She also is friends with Casey, who is on Bravo’s “Make Me a Supermodel.”

Her thoughts on Jordin Sparks: “I’m really proud of her, holding it down for the young kids! She didn’t get as much flak about her age as I did because when you see her, you don’t necessarily think she’s that young. I unfortunately looked as young as I really was.”

Her own songwriting skills: “I’m no Diane Warren by any means. I’ve been writing for myself for a long time but it’s very intimidating to perform them. You are completely exposed. I’ve never had the chance or courage to perform my own stuff.” She worked with two veteran Nashville songwriters to put her song together for the show. “At first, I was a little scared, but once we got the band together and the song together, we made a really, really great song.”

And if you enjoyed Renaldo Lupez’s “We’re Brothers Forever,” Atlanta band the Brilliant Inventions’ singer Eliot Bronson does a lovely acoustic version of the song. The band happens to be playing at Red Light Cafe this Saturday. More info here.. This is what I call smart promotions!

Finally, my colleague Wendell Brock reports that box office receipts nosedived after Fantasia left “The Color Purple” earlier this month and the show will shut down Feb. 24 on Broadway. Bummer for LaKisha Jones, who had just joined the cast!