Taylor Swift Gets Zip—and Other Grammy Surprises

Los Angeles (E! Online) – John Mayer has a reason to get a date (like he needs one). Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus have a shared reason to grouse. Jennifer Hudson has a reason to smile.

We've outlined the top Grammy nominations. Now we're going to sort through all the Grammy nominations—the noteworthy, the weird, and, yes, the snubs. Here goes:

• Mayer earned his annual ticket to the Grammy party with five nominations, including one for his non-euphemistic duet with Alicia Keys ("Lesson Learned," up for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals), and one for his artistic contribution to The Bucket List ("Say," up for best song written for a movie). • Swift cohosted the "nominations concert," watched ex-Joe Jonas and his brothers score a Best New Artist nod—and got nothing. Not a single nomination. (Her just-released album Fearless wasn't eligible, but some of her earlier released songs were.)

• Like fellow teen Swift, Cyrus didn't rate any nods for her Breakout hits. • One day after her estranged brother-in-law was charged with killing three members of her family, Hudson notched three nominations, including one for her Best R&B Album for her self-titled debut. • Hudson's success helped make for a solid Grammys for American Idol. Fellow alums Jordin Sparks, Fantasia (who dueted with Hudson) and award-favorite Carrie Underwood also represented. Which is good for the show since the likes of Blake Lewis didn't.

• Tia Carrere—yes, that Tia Carrere—scored as many nominations as Mariah Carey, who can be thankful that the Best Gospel Performance category—she's up for a group sing-along—saved her from getting zip. (Carrere, the former Wayne's World vixen, is up for Best Hawaiian Music Album for her collaboration with Daniel Ho.) • Simon Cowell endorsement or no, Leona Lewis, up for three Grammys overall, failed to crack the Best New Artist field. • Where was Robin Thicke's name? Listed in the fine print of Lil Wayne's Album of the Year nomination. Thicke was one of the producers and mastering engineers. He received no other nominations. • At a combined 126 years old, Paul McCartney and James Taylor are this year's Tony Bennetts in the Male Pop Vocal category.

• At 50 years old, Madonna is still the Madonna of the Best Dance Recording category. She's also up for her collaboration, "4 Minutes," with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. • One last age thing: Mayer is the only under-40 nominee for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. • Kylie Minogue and Cyndi Lauper are both up for Best 1980s Survivor Electronic/Dance Album.

• Wayne Brady did not forget the lyrics to "A Change Is Gonna Come," up for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death by Customers

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A worker at a Wal-Mart in New York City’s Long Island suburbs was killed when a throng of shoppers broke down the doors to the store early this morning and knocked him to the ground.

The event involved a temporary employee and was “a tragic situation,” Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, said in a statement. “The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if any shoppers or workers have been killed during similar incidents during sales on the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally known as Black Friday.

“We do not know of an incident such as what happened today,” Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based National Retail Federation, said in an e-mail. “It is a horribly tragic situation. Retailers are reminded of the importance of employee safety.”

At least four shoppers were hurt in the melee at the store in the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) east of New York City, Nassau County Police said in a statement. The injured include a 28-year-old pregnant woman who was taken to a nearby hospital for observation and three people who suffered minor wounds, police said.

The 34-year-old worker, who wasn’t identified by police, was knocked down by the crowd shortly after 5 a.m. local time and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., the police said. The county medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Temporary Employee

The man was working for a temporary agency on the company’s behalf, Wal-Mart said in the statement.

About 2,000 people had gathered outside the store as it prepared to open, Newsday reported, citing police Detective Lieutenant Michael Fleming, who spoke at a briefing. Shoppers in the back of the line pushed those in the front into the doors, which then came off their hinges, the newspaper said.

Hundreds of people then surged into the store, knocking over the worker and trampling him, Newsday said, citing Fleming. Authorities are reviewing surveillance video and are considering criminal charges although it may be difficult to identify individual shoppers, the newspaper said.

Some people continued to shop despite the efforts of upset store workers, who attempted to get them to leave, Newsday said, citing Kimberly Cribbs, a shopper from Far Rockaway.

Store Closed

The store was later closed by police, said Carolyn Kasdorf, a department spokeswoman.

U.S. retailers including Wal-Mart opened their doors as early as midnight and discounted merchandise as much as 70 percent on the day after Thanksgiving to counter what may be the weakest holiday shopping season in six years.

Retailers promoted “doorbuster” deals to attract customers on Black Friday, so named because the day after Thanksgiving was said to be when retailers started to make their annual profit, having paid off their costs from sales earlier in the year.

The Valley Stream store was offering discounted merchandise including a $128 Magnavox DVD player, a $97 Garmin GPS navigation system and a $69 Samsung digital camera, according to a promotional flyer posted on Wal-Mart’s Web site.