Mariah Carey has cancelled more shows on her holiday tour. Now the first two shows at the Beacon in New York– her hometown– have been scratched. Carey says it’s because she has an upper respiratory infection but we know better.

Last week tickets for those shows were put on discount on GoldStar.com because they weren’t selling. And they didn’t sell. It’s an infection that spread right through the Beacon.

There are still three shows at the Beacon. And like the song says, All Mariah wants for Christmas is you. On secondary markets, already purchased tickets by bots and dealers are going begging through the whole house on all three nights. On Ticketmaster’s website I was able to request groups of 6 or 8 in every section.

It might be fun just to go the Beacon on a lark and see what’s going on. Mariah has just engaged Jay Z’s Roc Nation as her manager, which means she’s not giving up hip hop. She has a dead in the water single from the Christian movie “The Star,” which is too bad since the song is good. Total sales to date are 4,500. That’s FOUR THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED. It’s not getting airplay, but maybe it will during Christmas week.

Mariah’s whole career is one train wreck after another. Or, to use another cliche, a rollercoaster. She goes way up, then way down. There are reports that she had gastric sleeve surgery recently. That is no fun according to people who’ve had it. It’s certainly not what you do right before a tour. Let’s hope she’s in good shape when she hits town next week.

The 2018 Grammy nominations are coming on Tuesday. Which collections will be nominated for Album of the Year? Here’s an idea:

Ed Sheeran’s “Divide” will be nominated not only for Best Album, but Best Song, Best Record, Best Male Pop Vocal. He could win all of them. “Divide” is the big hit of this Grammy year. All of it is Sheeran’s to lose.

Lady Gaga’s “Joanne” came out right at the beginning of eligibility last year. It didn’t make much noise despite how good it was. Then Gaga played the Super Bowl and there was mayhem. “Million Reasons” is certainly a Best Song/Best Record combo. Gaga should get an Album of the Year nomination. She deserves it.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Damn” was the rap hit of the year. Album of the Year, with all of his tracks top the Streaming chart last April. That’s an accomplishment that shouldn’t be ignored.

Kesha’s “Rainbow” is a likely Album of the Year candidate, especially since it was her persistence that kicked open the door for women who felt harassed or otherwise abused. Plus, the songs– including “Praying,” her big hit– are excellent. Kesha poses the biggest threat to Ed Sheeran.

And then something from the country world. Miranda Lambert’s “Weight of these Wings” would be a good choice. So would Chris Stapleton’s “From a Room, Volume 1.”

As for R&B, Bruno Mars had the biggest hit of the year with “24K Magic.” Lots of hits, and wouldn’t it be swell to have him perform on the Grammys?

This was not the greatest year in music. The big build up to Harry Styles’ album was a bit of a disappointment considering several of the songs sounded like they were lifted from 70s tunes. Very weird. Styles acquitted himself in the movie “Dunkirk” so it all worked out. I’m sure “Sign of the Tunes” will get him into Best Pop Male Vocal.

But no album this year had a real vision. I’m not sure that any album has had that in two decades. What we’d give for a real masterpiece in pop, rock, soul, rap, country– anything. The Grammy nominations have always been a mystery to me. I’m sure on the 28th we will all have a long list of WTH’s.

Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” will be number 1 this week when all the sales are counted at the end of today.

But the sales difference from week 1 to week 2 is unprecedented: “Reputation” fell around 87%, from 1.3 million to around 165,000. That’s  a first, and maybe the biggest drop ever.

Swift”s “1989” album, which also debuted with 1.3 million back in 2014, dropped just 69% in its second week with sales of over 400,000 copies.

“Reputation,” very simply, doesn’t seem to have legs. As I’ve said before, this week, the album has singles but no hits. There’s no “Hello” as Adele had or even a “Shape of You,” a la Ed Sheeran. The biggest hit so far from “Rep” is based on “I’m Too Sexy,” from the 90s.

At this rate, “Reputation” should drop at least 50 to 75% over the next week. The debut week will comprise most of the sales.