Diane Lane is awed by the spectacle surrounding the Kentucky Derby, which she's attending for the first time.

"I'm just riveted," the actress said yesterday in Louisville. "I can't wait. Bring on the rain. I don't care."

Tomorrow's forecast for the 136th edition of America's most famous race calls for heavy rain, which could turn the sartorial splendor of some fans into a soggy mess.

"I've yet to get a hat," Lane said, referring to the quintessential fashion accessory for Derby day. "I'm working on it and it's great fun."

The 45-year-old Oscar nominee plays horse owner Penny Chenery in the movie "Secretariat," due out Oct. 8 and co-starring John Malkovich. Some of the filming was done at the Churchill Downs racetrack.

CONAN: WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT LIKE LENO

In his first post-"Tonight" show interview, Conan O'Brien said that if he had been in Jay Leno's shoes, he would not have taken back the show less than a year after publicly handing it off to someone else.

"That's me, you know," O'Brien told Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday, excerpts of which were released yesterday by CBS. "Everyone's got their own way ... of doing things."

O'Brien, in the midst of a sold-out concert tour, said he decided to leave NBC because "this relationship is going to be toxic and maybe we just need to go our separate ways."

It was the comic's first interview about the late-night television drama that played out this winter.

He has since been hired by TBS, where he will launch a talk show in November.

KID ROCK TO HOST COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS

There will be no shortage of swagger on stage at the CMT Awards this summer.

Kid Rock confirmed on his website yesterday that he will be hosting the June 9 awards show in Nashville.

He says: "All I can promise is I will be awesome."

Kid Rock is no stranger to country music. His song "All Summer Long" was a Top 5 hit on the country singles chart in 2008 and the video won a CMT award last year. He also taped an episode of "CMT Crossroads" with Hank Williams Jr. in 2001.

THELMA LOU GETS MUGGED IN MAYBERRY

The actress who played Thelma Lou on "The Andy Griffith Show" was robbed in the town that inspired the show's idyllic Mayberry setting, after moving to the area to avoid big-city crime.

Betty Lou Lynn's wallet was stolen at a shopping center in Mount Airy, N.C., the birthplace of Andy Griffith.

The Mount Airy News reports that police arrested Shirley Walter Guynn of Cana, Va. He's being held in the county jail on a $10,000 bond. It was not immediately clear yesterday if he has a lawyer.

— Advertiser News Services