The 2020 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. Mariah Carey, who’s never written a song by herself and was accused of plagiarism many times– and settled many lawsuits– is in. None of her collaborators are in– not Walter Afanasieff, who wrote “All I Want for Christmas” or Ben Margulies, who penned “Vision of Love.” None of ’em.

Mariah has made it into the SHOF before Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey.

Other inductees this year include Motown great Mickey Stevenson, Steve Miller, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, The Isley Brothers, and Pharrell William and Chad Hugo. I’m looking forward to the interview in which Mariah explains her process of songwriting alongside these others.

Mariah’s fans will inundate me today with Tweets and messages. They’re already writing in. But the facts are the facts. Many of her songs were sampled from other hits, including “Fantasy,” and “Emotions.” You can read all about it here. There were settlements for $1 million. And read about it here.

This doesn’t take away from Mariah’s voice, or her personality. But really, the Songwriters Hall of Fame has done itself a disservice. The fans who write to me and say Margulies or Afanasieff “only wrote” some songs are discounting the fact that those were the hits, and they don’t come anymore.

Mariah has no songs that she’s “written” by herself. Some of the songs– like “We Belong Together” — has a roll call of writers longer than a grocery list, including the late Bobby Womack who was sampled: Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, Johntá Austin, Kenneth Edmonds, Darnell Bristol, Bobby Womack, Patrick Moten, Sandra Sully. Except for Bobby, will they all take the stage?

Mariah’s not the only problem for the SHOF. Pharrell, good as he is, has the spectre of “Blurred Lines” hanging over him. Marvin Gaye’s family may have a few things to say about his induction.

Elton John has a dilemma. Every year he and David Furnish host their Oscar dinner and party in West Hollywood for their Elton John AIDS Foundation. The evening is the hot ticket with dozens and dozens of celebrities attending.

But there’s a problem this year for the first time in 25 years: Elton is an Oscar nominee himself. He and Furnish will be at the Dolby Theater where Elton is nominated for Best Song for “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” from his biopic, “Rocketman.” What to do?

A little history: In 1995, Elton and Tim Rice had an astounding 3 of the 5 Best Song nominations from “The Lion King.” They won for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” They were also cited for “Hakuna Matata” and “The Circle of Life.”

Wait– hello? Can you imagine that? Three of the five nominated songs were theirs. Frankly, Elton and Bernie deserved a nod this year for “Never Too Late” from the new “Lion King.”

David and Elton  appointed four hosts to watch over the party while they’re preoccupied. The hosts are Diane Lane, Eric McCormack. Heidi Klum, and, of course, Billy Porter. They’ll be helped out by the “Queer Eye” hosts Bobby Berk, Tan France, Karamo, and Jonathan van Ness. There will be a musical performance, as well, by up-and-comer Sam Fender. My old pal, Dave Karger, and Aisha Tyler will host the live stream.

Should Sir Elton win Best Song, and it’s a good bet, there will be post-Oscar mayhem. His famed lyricist Bernie Taupin, will be on hand, and so, too, I think will be Golden Globe winning actor Taron Egerton who played Elton in “Rocketman.” The EJAF dinner and viewing party will have something the other after parties won’t: an actual Oscar winner as host.

with additional reporting by Leah Sydney

Only one of the top 3 vote-getters in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s public voting will be inducted this year: the Doobie Brothers.

The top 2 — Pat Benatar and the Dave Matthews Band– have been ignored.

The other four who made it are Whitney Houston, T Rex, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and the Notorious Biggie Smalls, aka Christopher Wallace.

Three of those inductees are dead: Whitney, Marc Bolan of T Rex, and Wallace.

So why did the RRHOF have a public vote simply to ignore it? Good question. The answer is, they don’t care what the public thinks, and never did.

Not inducted: lots of people who should have been.

The whole thing stinks. Not only should Matthews and Benatar have made it in, but the Hall owed it to older groups or acts that are alive now and can benefit from the induction. I’m thinking of Chaka Khan, who’s far more Rock and Roll than Whitney, and the MC5, which has waited and waited.

But back to that fan vote: Dave Matthews received 1 MILLION votes. Benatar garnered 882 thousand! And they were simply rebuffed. If I’d voted in good faith on the Rock Hall’s site, I’d be pissed. If you did vote on the site, and are angry, you can sound off on our poll.

What idiots these people are.