The All-American Rejects are part of a Sunday-night Fremont Street lineup that also includes Rock Star: Supernova, OK Go, Five for Fighting, Smash Mouth and Chicago.

With its canopy of more than 50,000 lights, the stars never come out on the Fremont Street Experience -- until now.

On Sunday, a loaded lineup of bands will take to a pair of stages on the street for a New Year's Eve bash to be broadcast live on DirecTV.

Featuring such radio staples as Rock Star: Supernova, OK Go, Five for Fighting, Smash Mouth, the All-American Rejects and Chicago, the show promises to be one of the biggest parties in town.

"It's pretty heavy-duty because of the sheer scale of the thing," says the executive producer of the show, Conor McAnally. "Anytime you've got 4 1/2 hours of live television, it's a challenge -- more so because it's taking place in the midst of an expected crowd of 15,000."

Because of the crowds, operators for three of the cameras "will have to run down the street" to get to the other stage -- by riding golf carts along Ogden Avenue.

In addition to the DirecTV telecast (live on Channel 101), portions of the show will be featured on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" and Fox News Channel, while NBC's Carson Daly-hosted show from Times Square "will be dipping in and out."

If all goes well, McAnally hopes to bring the festivities back to Vegas next year.

"We're committed to it becoming an annual event," he says. "Of course, if we all take a bath, next year we'll all be sitting around a sparkler."

The event starts at 8 p.m. at the Fremont Street Experience, 425 Fremont Street. Tickets are $80 and are available at www. vegasexperience.com.

The Black Eyed Peas are happy-go-lucky hip-hop populists, a big dopey grin in a genre full of scowls. At the onset of their career, the group was defined by a biting social awareness, but since then, they've favored dancing over politicking, hence songs like "Let's Get Retarded." Check your cerebellum at the door. The group plays at 8 p.m. today in the Mandalay Bay Events Center, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Tickets are $49.25-$133.25; call 632-7580.

Erykah Badu's singing is as raw as a skinned knee -- and just as pained. She hisses, whispers and moans on the mic, occasionally speaking in tongues and sounding as if she's trying exorcise the ghost of Billie Holiday. But see her live, and it's you who'll be haunted. Badu performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Tickets are $42-$65; call 632-7600.

Few artists have been able to make the ladies sigh like Van Morrison, a man whose wizened voice has never met a genre -- or a heart -- that it couldn't tame. He's cut straight country and jazz records and helped define misty-eyed soul and Celtic folk. Through it all, he's remained obstinate and uncompromising, a fount of idiosyncrasies that gushes forth like the emotions he stirs. See him at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Tickets are $47.25-$157.50; call 632-7580.

Lionel Richie has one of those bedroom voices that's the sound of clothes hitting the floor. There'll be plenty of fireworks in the sky -- and in the boudoir-- when Richie hits town on New Year's Eve. See him at 10 p.m. in the Showroom at The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Tickets are $94 to $204; call 414-7469.