The Grammy nominations this morning were supposed to be a slam dunk. From all sides, it looked like the choices would be easy. Instead, they are perplexing. So many names no one’s ever heard of. Botched categories. Not a single nod for The Weeknd after he was touted as the leader. So many omissions.

Anyway here’s the list from the General Field, as they call it. I think they’re lucky there’s no audience this year. We’ve drifted into the bizarro world. Alicia Keys must be mortified. Nothing? Are you kidding?

The General Field (Big Four) Categories are here. I’ll add to them once I can find the rest. Also, in Best New Artist, I’m sorry, but Noah Cyrus is a new act?

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Chilombo, Jhené Aiko
Black Pumas (Deluxe), Black Pumas
Everyday Life, Coldplay
Djesse Vol. 3, Jacob Collier
Women in Music Pt. III, HAIM
Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
folklore, Taylor Swift

RECORD OF THE YEAR
“Black Parade,” Beyoncé
“Colors,” Black Pumas
“Rockstar,” DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch
“Say So,” Doja Cat
“Everything I Wanted,” Billie Eilish
“Don’t Start Now,” Dua Lipa
“Circles,” Post Malone
“Savage,” Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Black Parade,” Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King,
Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk & Rickie “Caso” Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)
“The Box,” Samuel Gloade & Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)
“Cardigan,” Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
“Circles,” Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk, Austin Post & Billy Walsh, songwriters (Post Malone)
“Don’t Start Now,” Caroline Ailin, Ian Kirkpatrick, Dua Lipa & Emily Warren, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
“Everything I Wanted,” Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“I Can’t Breathe,” Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
“If the World Was Ending,” Julia Michaels & JP Saxe, songwriters (JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels)

BEST NEW ARTIST
Ingrid Andress
Phoebe Bridgers
CHIKA
Noah Cyrus
D Smoke
Doja Cat
Kaytranada
Megan Thee Stallion

GRAMMY SHOCKER: The Weekend was totally snubbed by the Grammys. No nominations at all for his album, “After Hours,” or any of the hits on it.

EVERY predictor of the Grammys predicted The Weeknd would WIN Best Album and be nominated in many categories. He didn’t even get R&B noms. “After Hours” omission is a scandal. The album sold 1.8 million copies including streaming, nearly 500,000 CDS and downloads.

What happened???

The overall nominations are exceedingly weird. Keep refreshing for the full list.

Now we know why Alicia Keys isn’t hosting the show. She released a new album and they gave her nothing. Nothing. Her “Underdog” should have been in the mix. I’m shocked.

I did say that The Weeknd would be punished for participating in Sunday’s American Music Awards, and I was right.

Bob Dylan was totally overlooked for his acclaimed, “Rough and Rowdy.” Not even in Traditional or Pop. Nothing.

Lady Gaga’s “Chromatica” album picked up a few nods but no Album of the Year.

Coldplay, whose 2020 album sold two copies and disappeared from the charts, got an Album of the Year nod.

Justin Bieber, whose music is negligible, got nods for his records “Yummy” and “Intentions.”

There was nothing for Ariana Grande either, despite having several releases.

A key winner in the noms is Brittany Howard, of the group Alabama Shakes. Her solo debut album, a sales flop, had several entries.

The “Rock” category is a total embarrassment, by the way. Rock has been so diminished that the nominees barely matter. Many of the “lesser” categories are from people never heard of. It’s quite amazing. If the Recording Academy was going for diversity they also delved into the unknown.

And Post Malone, maybe the height of mediocrity, was nominated for Album of the Year. Don’t tell me publicists and execs weren’t influential this year.

The 2020 American Music Awards on ABC were a ratings disaster, no surprise. The show scored 4.4 million viewers in its first hour and then dropped like a rock to 3.8 and then just 3.1 million as viewers tuned out and left for “The Undoing” on HBO, football on NBC, and test patterns anywhere.

Last year’s show had 6.7 million viewers, it’s about a 45% drop.

The early bigger number was thanks to opening the show with Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes, who sang whining complaints about being rich, famous, and lonely. After that, award after award was a pre-packaged marketing chapter. The Weeknd’s head was covered in surgical tape all night, as if he were having a face lift and rhinoplasty. Why? Who knows?

Taraji P. Henson was an amiable and peppy host, but she was fighting a losing battle in the empty Microsoft Theater.

I’d say this bodes poorly for the real awards shows this winter, the Grammys and Oscars. And even the Golden Globes. This succession of “fake” awards shows has undermined interest in the real thing, that’s for sure.

But this show was particularly awful. Many of the acts lip-synched, most prominently Jennifer Lopez and Maluma, who didn’t even hide it. The few live performances were admirable. I give Katy Perry credit, she just had a baby! Her voice wasn’t perfect, but it was genuine, and she and Darius Rucker were affecting.

The presenters, however, were straight out of US Magazine, low rent, and head scratching about why they were even there. And they looked uncertain, too.

The AMAs, like the People’s Choice Awards a couple of weeks ago, were produced by Dick Clark Productions, owned by the same company as Hollywood trade papers The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, and Variety.