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The Grammy nominations end up causing a bit of a debate every year when they're announced, but this year's list of contenders -- which was unveiled Wednesday night -- boasts more snubs, surprises and head-scratchers than usual.
For instance, why did "Rolling in the Deep" singer Adele only get six nominations when she was easily the artist with this year's most successful album both critically and financially? Why did Kanye West lead the pack with seven nods, but fail to earn a nomination for best album? And, most importantly, how did Beyonce end up with only two nods, both of them in minor categories?
Some of the answers make sense. Adele was nominated in every category that she was eligible for. So next year, if she wants to open up her nomination pool, she had better record a rap song with Lil Wayne or something. (Please add this to the list of things we desperately hope happens in 2012.)
And the main reason Kanye got so many nominations is because all of them were in rap categories -- though we still don't understand why he didn't get a best album nod for the fantastic My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
And Beyonce, who has always been a Grammy darling, ended up with just two nominations because categories have been streamlined this year. While Beyonce's new album 4 hasn't done quite as well as her previous efforts, girl still got snubbed big-time.
And how does the Grammy committee determine who qualifies for best new artist honors? We're not denying that Bon Iver's 2011 self-titled album was amazing, but did the nominations committe just ignore the fact that the band's first album -- For Emma, Forever Ago -- came out in 2007 because it was released independently?
At least the recognition going out to musicians like Rihanna, Bruno Mars and Mumford & Sons makes sense. Still, nothing would please us more than to see Bon Iver walk away with a nice big stack of Grammys.
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards will air live on Feb. 12 on CBS from Los Angeles' Staples Center. For a complete list of the nominations, check out the official Grammys website.
