Emily Maynard—and Charlotte—Premiere on 'The Bachelorette' Tonight

Millions of people will tune into the premiere of The Bachelorette at 9:30 p.m. tonight on ABC to see 25 single men begin the ritual of competing for the heart of Emily Maynard of Charlotte. The hour-and-a-half long premiere follows Dancing With the Stars, which should bring in high ratings for The Bachelorette, now in its eighth season. I've never seen more than a few minutes of the show, but I have my DVR set to record the series, which will play out over the summer, because the city of Charlotte is getting a lot of face time.

A scene showing Emily being courted on season eight of The Bachelorette. Credit: ABC 

As you probably know by now, the producers agreed to bring a large portion of production of The Bachelorette to Charlotte to accommodate Emily's life as a single mother. It's the first time the series has ventured outside of its traditional home base of filming from a mansion in California. Instead they filmed from a large house in south Charlotte. Viewers can expect to see Emily and some of her suitors as they go on dates throughout Uptown, such as at NC Music Factory, and other parts of the city. They will also travel around the country for dates, as is customary for the series.

Below are some news links you can read to glean insight into the show:

Why 'Bachelorette' Emily Maynard came back: 'Dating's hard. Why not?' — The Charlotte Observer

New 'Bachelorette' season will be 'drastically different' — USA Today

The Bachelorette: Meet Emily Maynard's 25 Sexy Suitors — US Magazine

'The Bachelorette' starts tonight -- will you be ready? — Entertainment Weekly

Visit abc.go.com/shows/the-bachelorette to keep up with The Bachelorette over the next 10 weeks.