Grammy Nominations 2012: Five Snubs and Surprises

Taylor Swift MIA in Album of the Year?! Kanye West, too?! All the top shockers

By Joal Ryan Dec 01, 2011 1:55 PMTags
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Did anything beat Esperanza Spaulding beating Justin Bieber?

Just take a look. The top shocks, shockers and shocking snubs from the 2012 Grammy nominations:

1. Neither Taylor Swift Nor Kanye West Nominated for Album of the Year?! Is this somebody's idea of a clever-slash-sick joke, i.e., how do you bring together the all-time awards-show fun couple? Shut them both out of the top category?! The snubs, for Swift's Speak Now and West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, are all the most snub-y because the country queen and the rapper are Grammy regulars—Swift was the darling of 2010; you can set your watch by West's annual upset loss in the category. Well, at least this year Ms. Swift's old pal can get an early start on his carping.

2. "Born This Way" Is Not a Song of the Year?! It was reported Lady Gaga didn't enter her anthem in the Record of the Year race. Did she take a pass on giving it a shot at this prize, too? Or were Grammy voters the ones who passed? Either way, the song, which Gaga debuted at last February's Grammys, is stunningly out of the game.

3. Mumford & Sons Isn't Up to Snuff?! Hold the outrage. If there weren't a perfectly good reason for this British band failing to rate a spot in Album of the Year, despite nabbing nominations for Song and Record, two things which neither Swift nor West accomplished, by the by, then this arguably would be the snub in the category. But there is a perfectly good explanation: Sigh No More was released before the eligibility period.  Best to focus your energy on complaining about how Britney Spears got slighted. Again.

4. No Super Big Shockers in the Best New Artist Category?! You can usually count on at one least best-selling artist to be punished for being a best-selling artist, but not tonight. Nicki Minaj? Check. The Band Perry? Check. Bon Iver? Check. Skrillex? OK, so maybe you could've won a nice chunk of change betting on this electronic artist to get a nod, but that's called a good kind of surprise.

5. Um, Seriously, About Swift and West?! This double snub's going to take a while to process.