Carrie Underwood to star in new Sound of Music project

The hills are alive with the sound of music for country singer Carrie Underwood - she is following in the footsteps of Julie Andrews after signing on to play Maria Von Trapp in an upcoming TV adaptation of The Sound Of Music.

Andrews played the singing nun-turned-governess of a widowed naval officer's seven children in the Oscar-winning musical back in 1965, and now the American Idol champion is set to take on the role in a revival for NBC.

Further casting decisions have not yet been announced.

Executive Robert Greenblatt tells People.com, "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. She was an iconic woman who will now be played by an iconic artist."

The three-hour live special will air during the holidays next year (13).

The Before He Cheats hitmaker has only acted twice before - she made her film debut as a church leader in 2011's Soul Surfer and portrayed a medical sales representative in one episode of hit series How I Met Your Mother a year prior (10).