Strait Repeats as Entertainer of Year : Country music: Newcomers dominate the list of nominees and winners at 24th annual awards.

George Strait repeated as entertainer of the year in the Country Music Assn.’s 24th annual awards ceremony Monday night in Nashville, but the emphasis otherwise was on newcomers.

There were so many new faces among the key nominees and winners, in fact, that co-host Randy Travis--who has sold 10 million albums since his first Top 20 country hit just four years ago--seemed very much an elder statesman.

Symbolic of the dramatic changing of the guard in the commercial ranks of country music these days, most of the artists who dominated the competition have had only one or two albums on the charts.

They included:

* Clint Black, a gritty, neo-honky-tonk singer who was named best male vocalist after winning the best newcomer award last year.

* Garth Brooks, another member of country’s growing new traditionalist contingent. He won best newcomer and best music video awards.

* The Kentucky Headhunters, a quintet with a somewhat radical backwoods/garage-band style that impressed voters enough to earn them the best vocal group and best album awards.

To underscore the domination of newcomers in the balloting, which is determined by the 6,000 members of the association, that threesome plus newcomer Alan Jackson--whose debut album, “Here in the Real World,” has been in the country Top 10 since June--received more than a dozen other nominations.

So, it’s easy to understand Strait’s surprise when he was named entertainer of the year, defeating a group of nominees that included Black, Travis and Ricky Van Shelton (whose first hit was in 1987).

“I’m truly speechless. I really don’t have a speech,” said Strait, accepting the award during a two-hour telecast from the Grand Ole Opry House.

Backstage, Strait, a 38-year-old former cattle rancher from Texas, added, “I was pretty surprised. Two times is pretty awesome. It was very stiff competition.”

Black also mentioned the strong competition--and the new crop of country stars--during interviews backstage.

“There’s a whole wave of country artists coming out . . . ,” he said. “But you always want something new, and that’s what’s happening now. There’s more new country in the stores than you can buy in one day.”

There was still room in the balloting, however, for some more veterans. The Judds were honored as best vocal duo, marking the sixth straight time that the team of mother Naomi and daughter Wynonna has been named either best duo or vocal group. And Kathy Mattea was declared best female vocalist for the second straight year.

In one of the evening’s most emotional moments, Lorrie Morgan accepted the “vocal event” award for “ ‘Til a Tear Becomes a Rose,” on which she sang with her late husband, Keith Whitley.

Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name” was judged the year’s best country single, while Jon Venzer and Don Henry’s “Where’ve You Been” was named best song.

Tennessee Ernie Ford, who had more than a dozen Top 10 country singles in the 1950s and ‘60s, was named to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Ford, 71, was also a popular television performer who helped expand the audience for country music. His biggest hit was “Sixteen Tons,” which was No. 1 on both the pop and country charts in 1955.