Two remarkable champions dominate the small screen tonight. One changed competitive sports forever, and the other won America’s devotion with her full-throated voice and big-hearted presence as she made her way from Oklahoma to Carnegie Hall.

¢ “Great Performances” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) presents “‘South Pacific’ in Concert from Carnegie Hall,” featuring Reba McEntire as Nellie Forbush. Set on a remote island during World War II, the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical revolves around the love between Nellie, a nurse from Little Rock, Ark., and Emile (Brian Stokes Mitchell), a handsome French plantation owner. Her rapture turns to confusion and doubt when she discovers his previous marriage resulted in a family of mixed-race children. Remarkable for its time, “South Pacific” challenged audiences with topics like racism and Nellie’s struggles to balance her feelings of love with long-held provincial prejudices.

This one-night-only production of “South Pacific” was taped last spring. It unfolds like an opera rehearsal, with singers holding sheet music. Rather than detract from the story, this technique puts the emphasis on the show’s glorious songs, including such enduring melodies as “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Younger than Springtime,” and “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame.”

¢ “Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer” (9 p.m., HBO) profiles the tennis star, a tomboy girl-next-door who not only conquered the sports world but became a symbol of the struggle for women’s equality on and off the court.

A Wimbledon champion for 20 seasons, King organized an alternative women’s tennis circuit so that female players would get their due. “Pioneer” also deals with her turbulent private life and the scandalous “palimony” suit that outed her as a lesbian in the early 1980s. Along the way, King made some powerful friends and allies, including “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schulz and singer Elton John.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Competitors ride tandem bicycles in the heat of the Australian outback on “Amazing Race 9” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ Howie Mandel hosts “Deal or No Deal” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ A black market in body parts may be linked to a rare cancer on “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ Sydney leaves the nursery on a life-or-death mission on “Alias” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Scheduled on “Dateline” (8 p.m., NBC): catching a predator.

¢ Ryan reads the results on “American Idol” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ The islanders grapple with questions of faith and reason on “Lost” (8 p.m., ABC).

¢ Kid Rock guest stars as a murder suspect on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ Hybrids sense a change in the weather on “Invasion” (9 p.m., ABC).