Adele, Alicia Keys and Katy Perry are among Grammy nominees for '08

If the Grammy Awards are any reflection of the general population's musical taste, it would appear that we all appreciate women artists, as long as they are country singers, pop stars or paired with a male counterpart. This year's Grammy nominations have been announced, and while women are prevalent, they are also shut out of some key categories.

Janelle Monáe's song "Many Moons" is up for Best Urban/Alternative Performance, but her full-length debut Metropolis: The Chase Suite was not nominated for any other awards. The only woman in any rap category, in fact, was Estelle, who collaborated with Kanye West on the track, "American Boy." Otherwise, it's Lil' Wayne's year. (Did they not even give a listen to Yo Majesty?)

Janelle Monáe

The Ditty Bops' Summer Rains was nominated for Best Album Packaging, and Cynthia Nixon was nominated, along with Beau Bridges and Blair Underwood, for Best Spoken Word Album, as they all participated in Al Gore's recording of An Inconvenient Truth. Unfortunately, that's where the lesbian representation ends.

In faux-bisexual land, Lady GaGa was nominated for Best Dance Record and Best Dance Album. She has stiff competition in the latter category, however, as she's up against Cyndi Lauper, Kylie Minogue, Robyn and Brazilian Girls. (My vote is for Robyn.)

Lady Gaga

Katy Perry received one nod for "I Kissed a Girl" (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance). That's still one too many, if you ask me. Surprisingly, she was not included among her peers Adele, Duffy and Sara Barellies in the Best New Artist or Record of the Year categories.

It's great to see that M.I.A. is receiving praise for her song, "Paper Planes." It's up for Record of the Year, and will hopefully win against Adele's "Chasing Pavements," Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and Robert Plant/Allison Krauss' "Please Read the Letter." Maybe it'll bring her out of retirement, at least after she pops out her baby.

M.I.A.

Here are a few other nominations:

Song Of The Year
"American Boy" (Estelle Featuring Kanye West)
"Chasing Pavements" (Adele)
"I'm Yours" (Jason Mraz)
"Love Song" (Sara Bareilles)
"Viva La Vida" (Coldplay)

Adele

Best New Artist
Adele
Duffy
Jonas Brothers
Lady Antebellum
Jazmine Sullivan

Duffy

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
"Chasing Pavements," Adele
"Love Song," Sara Bareilles
"Mercy," Duffy
"Bleeding Love," Leona Lewis
"I Kissed a Girl," Katy Perry
"So What," Pink

Katy Perry

Best Contemporary R&B Album
Growing Pains, Mary J. Blige
Back of My Lac', J. Holiday
First Love, Karina
Year of the Gentleman, Ne-Yo
Fearless, Jazmine Sullivan

Mary J. Blige

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
"Me, Myself And I," Beyoncé
"Heaven Sent," Keyshia Cole
"Spotlight," Jennifer Hudson
"Superwoman," Alicia Keys
"Need U Bad," Jazmine Sullivan

Alicia Keys

Who do you think should win in February?