Thrilled Again : Winners Enjoy Country Awards

Randy Owen, of the group Alabama, was tearful.

Hank Williams Jr. was thankful.

George Strait was relieved.

Naomi and Wynonna Judd were almost embarrassed.

“We were over in makeup and almost missed the (awards announcement),” a beaming Naomi told the press in a backstage tent Monday. Moments earlier, she and daughter Wynonna had won in the country duet category for the fifth straight year during the 24th annual Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony in Burbank.

“We just happened to walk out . . . and hear them say . . . ‘the Judds,’ ” she said with the enthusiasm of a lottery winner.

Like most country music superstars, these singers may have so many awards that they need full-time accountants just to keep track of them.

Still, it was a thrill to receive another one (or two), they said during the nationally televised ceremony at a Disney Studios sound stage.

Taking over at the microphone, Wynonna said: “Everybody needs a pat on the back. You never get tired of being told that you are good at what you do.”

For two hours Monday, others reacted with equal enthusiasm.

Some expressed the joy on camera.

Randy Owen--of the group Alabama, which was won 14 awards from the Academy of Country Music in the ‘80s, including an award Monday as entertainers of the decade--fought back tears as he thanked his fans for their support.

In similar terms, Hank Williams Jr., who won entertainer of the year for the third straight time, said: “I’m a late bloomer, a survivor, a fighter, a contender. I can be a champion, but I’m nothing without all of you in this room and all the fans out there.”

George Strait probably has a busload of awards but has seen newcomer Randy Travis beat him out in several competitions in recent years. After being named singer of the year Monday, Strait joked about how it was getting embarrassing around the house because his 7-year-old son has been asking when he was going to come home with another trophy.

“Well,” Strait told the television audience. “We we got one tonight, Bubba.”

For much of the evening, it was hard to tell whether the NBC program was a music awards show or a Disney commercial.

Actually, a bit of both.

Less than two weeks after the Walt Disney Co. yelled foul when its beloved Snow White was used without permission during the Oscars telecast, Disney trademarks were virtual co-stars in Monday’s show.

Not only did such Disney heroes as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck bid viewers hello, but the telecast cut away repeatedly to Disneyland, where nominees for top new male and female singers lip-synced their hits while standing in front of such celebrated locales as Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

The country music academy had no trouble getting permission to use the Disney symbols because Dick Clark Productions, which produces the telecast, has a five-year contract with Disney to use the studio’s facilities.

These music award shows have become such proven vehicles for promotion that it’s no wonder the world isn’t leaving them in the hands of musicians. President Bush even got in some solid PR jabs with a taped message in praise of country music.

Of the numerous music awards shows, the country ones are generally the most relaxed. One reason is that the participants have such practice. Where major rock stars often attend only if the odds of their winning an award seem good, most of the country stars treat the shows like another day on their tour schedule.

Thus, most of the field’s biggest stars were on hand at Burbank.

The Academy of County Music Awards--started as a means of bringing more attention to West Coast artists in a field headquartered in Nashville--probably aren’t as prestigious as the Grammys, the American Music Awards or the Country Music Assn. Awards. But network TV time is still valuable exposure.

Instead of the cutaways to Disneyland, the TV show would have been more entertaining if it had simply cut away to the press tent.

Where the pop artists seem to resent media questioning, the country stars stand around and answer questions with great patience.

Many, like Hank Williams Jr., reveal a side of themselves that is often not seen on stage. For all his rowdy, macho image, Williams--son of the late country legend Hank Williams--seemed especially touched by his victories, which also included an award for best video.

“I’m not one of those who is going to get up there and blab and cry and tell you how happy I am and thank everybody in the world. That’s not me,” he said.

But he admitted that he had become choked up on stage when he was shown performing a song with his father, thanks to some special editing effects.

“When I started talking about that video I had to get off that stage because the man of steel just about lost it,” he said.

On a lighter note backstage, K.T. Oslin, a late bloomer in country music who brings a bit of Patsy Cline irreverence to the field, seemed as excited with her two awards (female vocal and album of the year) as anyone. But she couldn’t resist having some fun.

Although she has been on the country scene only three years, Oslin said she already has enough awards to fill a music room in her house. Last year, her prized country music academy statuettes broke before she even got them home.

How did she cope?

She reached for a bottle of Krazy Glue.