This year’s Grammy nominations were announced on Friday night during the Grammy Nominations Concert Live. Among the expected names were, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Lorde, Taylor Swift and Daft Punk — all of whom dominated the radio waves this year. However, this year’s nominations came with its fair share of surprises as well as shocking omissions. From Justin Timberlake’s head scratching miss to Kendrick Lamar’s surprising triumph.

Justin Timberlake was locked out of the top awards categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year) despite his seven nominations in other categories. JT’s “20/20 Experience” was considered a heavy favorite for Album of the Year. The single “Mirrors” looked like it might win both Record of the Year and Song of the Year awards but somehow did not get nominated. Timberlake’s past albums “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” and “Justified” were both nominated for Album of the Year in past years. This year, his epic “20/20 Experience” received very positive reviews, tons of radio play, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and went just short of platinum in it’s first week of sales. Despite all this, Justin was shockingly left out.

Some are still scratching their heads as to why Lady Gaga is conspicuously missing in the big list. Turns out she didn’t make the cut because “ARTPOP” missed the eligibility period and her single “Applause” didn’t get enough time to build up steam before eligibility ended. Chances are she’ll be named for a number of awards come next year.

Kendrick Lamar managed a massive seven nominations, topped only by Jay-Z’s nine nods, for his debut “Good kid, m.A.A.d city” album. Among Lamar’s nominations is the nod for the coveted Album of the Year award. Could this be the year rap music takes the top honor? A rap album hasn’t won Album of the Year since 2004, when ‘Outkast’ walked away with the award.

Newcomers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are also in the mix with seven nominations of their own. This year they are contenders for Album of  the Year for their rap album, “The Heist” and Song of the Year for “Same Love”. The duo from Seattle also opened the Grammy Nominations Concert Live with their hit song, “Thrift Shop”.

2014 Grammy Nominees:

Record Of The Year

Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams – “Get Lucky”
Imagine Dragons – “Radioactive”
Lorde – “Royals”
Bruno Mars – “Locked Out Of Heaven”
Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell – “Blurred Lines”

Album Of The Year

Sara Bareilles – “The Blessed Unrest”
Daft Punk – “Random Access Memories”
Kendrick Lamar – “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “The Heist”
Taylor Swift – “Red”

Song Of The Year

Pink Featuring Nate Ruess  – “Just Give Me A Reason”
Bruno Mars – “Locked Out Of Heaven”
Katy Perry – “Roar”
Lorde – “Royals”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert – “Same Love”

Best New Artist

James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran

Kendrick Lamar On Getting Grammy Nomination

Kendrick Lamar On Tupac And Dr. Dre

(main image via Wikipedia)