Country star keeps fans close

On her new reality show, “Opening Act,” country diva Martina McBride teams up with Fallout Boy bassist Pete Wentz and pop singer Jason Derulo to scour the Internet for raw talent and then offer them the chance to warm stages for big names like Rod Stewart, Nicki Minaj and Brad Paisley.

If only McBride had the same opportunity back when she was a wide-eyed country girl growing up in tiny Sharon, Kansas — population 200.

Inspired by the likes of Reba McEntire and Patsy Cline, she had to work her way through her father’s band, then Wichita bars and rural Kansas roadhouses on her way to Nashville. But even then, it wasn’t until her fourth album, after plying the traditional country route, that she made the pop crossover a la Faith Hill and Shania Twain and started climbing the country charts.

Known for her big, bold vocal runs and powerful ballads, McBride, 45, has sold more than 18 million albums and racked up three Academy of Country Music’s “Top Female Vocalist” awards along the way. Hits like “Wild Angels,” “A Broken Wing,” “Wrong Again,” “I Love You” and “Blessed” all reached No. 1 on the country charts.

Her latest tour for the album “Eleven” is a much more stripped-down affair than her usual arena productions. But she does bring along Train singer Pat Monahan — at least on a giant video screen — for the last verse of their popular duet “Marry Me.”