I just put up a post about the 2010 BET Awards nominations being announced today, but to be honest, I didn’t even look at the nominations.

So it was a surprise to me when I got a call just about an hour ago from an industry exec questioning why Monica wasn’t nominated for Best Female R&B Artist?

Here is the category again in case you missed it like I did:

Best Female R&B Artist
Beyoncé
Mary J. Blige
Melanie Fiona
Alicia Keys
Rihanna

How is Beyonce’s name on the list with a 2 year old album? I like Melanie Fiona’s music, but she isn’t even a household name. And Rihanna is clearly a pop artist.

Naturally Monica’s followers on Twitter are in an uproar. Many twitterers report BET’s Twitter page blocking them. According to the industry exec I spoke with, it seems BET deliberately left Monica off the Female R&B list so as not to appear biased towards Monica since her highly rated reality show, Still Standing, is on the BET network.

Although BET included Monica’s name in the category for Viewers Choice Award and something called a “Centric Award”, it is a slap in the face to an artist who came roaring back to the top after taking a hiatus from recording to raise her family.

Monica did express her gratitude to BET on her Twitter page for her Viewer’s Choice nomination, saying “It’s a blessing” and “Viewers choice means SO much to me.”

Earlier today, she posted a tweet asking her fans to vote heavily for her to win the Viewer’s Choice Award.