Brooks Still in Country Awards Spotlight : Pop music: While in Nashville for the birth of his second child, he is named the entertainer of the year.

Garth Brooks casts a long shadow.

Even from 2,000 miles away in Nashville, the country star’s unerring nose for the spotlight was undiminished during Tuesday’s Academy of Country Music Awards show at the Universal Amphitheatre, where he upstaged Alan Jackson, the evening’s other key winner, at the last minute.

Not only has Brooks been staring out at grocery shoppers from the cover of TV Guide for the past week, with an announcement of another sort-of semi-retirement inside, but he was also named entertainer of the year at the end of Tuesday’s ceremonies.

It was the fourth straight victory in that top category for Brooks, but this time the odds favored Jackson, who had earlier capped his strongest year by taking the trophies for best single and best album.

If that wasn’t enough, Brooks and his wife Sandy managed to have their second baby in Nashville while the show proceeded here. The nation was informed of August Anna’s arrival by executive producer Dick Clark on the live telecast.

Anyone out there want to top that?

Beyond the ongoing Brooks dramatics (he’s appearing on “Entertainment Tonight” today to clarify the “King of Country’s Farewell” headline in TV Guide), the 29th annual edition of the ACM Awards--co-hosted by Jackson and Reba McEntire--was marked by predictable choices and a couple of overdue honors.

Among the former: Vince Gill as male vocalist, Brooks & Dunn for vocal duet and the popular Jackson for single (the warmly nostalgic “Chattahoochee”) and album (“A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ‘Bout Love)”). The male and female new artist awards went to the commercially dominant nominees, John Michael Montgomery and Faith Hill.

Other winners were Little Texas for best vocal group, the Gibson/Miller Band’s for best new vocal group, and “I Love the Way You Love Me” for best song (for singer Montgomery and writers Victoria Shaw and Chuck Cannon). The video for “We Shall be Free” won awards for Brooks and producer and co-director Tim Miller.

John Anderson’s career achievement award provided the evening’s warmest segment--and judging by the crowd of other musicians who gathered around to congratulate him as he made his way to the press area backstage, it was clearly the most popular.

Anderson, whose rich, earthy vocal style has been a major influence on today’s generation of country singers, acknowledged the influence of Charley Pride (who was presented with the Pioneer Award), Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and George Jones, and he told the media that he’d like to serve the same role.

“I do hope that through it all we inspire some other young ones to pack up their guitars and head for country,” the bearded singer said.

Much more so than in other fields of music, country artists regard these awards as true measures of accomplishment, so Wynonna Judd’s female vocalist honor--the singer’s first major award since she began her solo career 2 1/2 years ago--sparked the event’s liveliest moments backstage, courtesy of her mother, Naomi Judd.

After accepting the trophy for her daughter, who is confined to a bed with a back injury, the feisty Naomi--whose retirement due to chronic hepatitis ended her long musical partnership with Wynonna--reflected on the earlier snubs.

“She’s been comin’ to these shows and she hasn’t won a single thing,” Naomi said. “She kept askin’ me, ‘What’s wrong, why haven’t I won anything?’ ‘Cause I keep tellin’ her that she’s the best singer not only in this genre but possibly in any genre right now. . . .

“I think Wynonna Judd is out there in no man’s land. I think that she is so stinkin’ good that people don’t know quite what to make of her . . . I’m being objective. I think Wynonna Judd, simply put, has more soul than a moccasin factory. . . . There are a lot of great singers, but Wynonna needs to be in there and be recognized too.”

Look for Naomi to score big on Mother’s Day.