Any good will and future hope Amy Winehouse garnered during her triumphant Grammy performance and multiple wins has been pissed away by now. At this point, even her most ardent fans are getting fed up with her refusal to get help for her obvious substance abuse problems- to the point that she cannot reliably perform live anymore. This was evident after Winehouse disappointed a group of fans who waited over an hour for her to show up at her first concert since appearing on the Grammys. Not only was she late, but she was, as expected, a complete and total mess. The fans even booed her.
Amy Winehouse kept 90,000 fans at the Lisbon music festival waiting almost an hour at the first concert she has given since leaving rehab.
“Hey Lisbon, I’m sorry I’m late,” the Grammy winner, 24, told the sold out crowd, which had started to boo when she failed to arrive, the Associated Press. The singer said she was suffering from a sore throat, but disappointed many with her distracted performance of hits like “Rehab.”
Her voice cracked repeatedly and she often stopped to fix her microphone or talk with her band members.
The singer, who had visible cuts on her left arm, and a bandage on her right hand, left the stage without performing an encore.
I really wish Amy had a Daddy Spears in her life who would come in, take charge, and get her back on track. While her parents seem to care about her a lot, they don’t seem to be able to give her the “tough love” she needs right now. Instead, they run to the tabloids or write long, rambling letters to magazines that Amy doesn’t read, because she’s too busy getting cracked out with Pete Doherty. I’d love to see Amy’s dad march into her apartment, throw her over his shoulder and carry her off to a rehab clinic. It might be the only way she’d go.
Amy Winehouse is shown performing at Rock in Rio Lisboa on 5/30/08, thanks to WENN.
Here’s the video:
damn. she sucks these days. 😕
Was she actually in rehab long enough to claim it as time spent? Overkill.
No matter how good the rehab, no matter what treatment or program you’re in, you have to WANT to quit. She hasn’t hit rock bottom yet (although to most normal people it would seem she lives there). I hope she lives long enough to turn things around.
I love Amy but, to describe her as having been in rehab is, at best, disingenuous. She only ever did ‘celebrity’ rehab – ie. the kind you can nip in an out of as you please and pretty much do as you want while you’re there. No accounting for Amy, no bottom reached, no 12-steps, no nothing.
Think you’re a bit unfair on her parents tho’, MSat. Don’t believe all your read in the UK tabs. Her dad, in particular, has been trying to get her sectioned for over a year now but, last I heard, he was having difficulty persuading the powers that be that she was a real danger to herself. As anyone knows with addiction, she’s got to want to do it herself and that’s where Amy’s biggest problem lies. Nothing good will ever happen for her until then.
A shooting star that’s fading fast. I guess this is why we have so much shitty music, it seems quality artists are very emotional and erratic. When all you do is feel, I guess you’re naturally prone to things that intensify it, or dull it in some cases.
Whereas a blank face lip syncing in a bra and mini-skirt can be inserted anywhere and is basically a slave to the corporate machine. That is until Sam Lutfi moves in with her…
i think a major difference between spears and winehouse is that spears has problems which are mental, so when the power is taken away and she is made to medicate she becomes aware and wants to fix things. winehouse is an addict, and sadly she seems to be more far gone than many who get over it. i have known several in my life and it is a very sad thing, one was a friend i grew up with and i loved dearly. at one point, the point at which i had to decide to move on, i was once again trying to help and i said to my friend that we would go strait to rehab and fix this and she said to me, “but, i dont want to be clean. i want to make you happy and i want to be the daughter that my parents want, but i don’t want to stop. maybe later this year.” my heart just got too sad and i realized that that was probably the first truth she had told in a long time, and probably the last she would tell. i miss her and love her, but can not be a part of what she is doing any longer.
I agree with RaeJillian, that’s some really good insight.
On a slight tangent: if I were Nelson Mandela and knew Amy was slated to play at my 90th birthday, I’d disinvite her (somehow, through back-channels, whatever) after seeing this trainwreck. At my 90th birthday, I would only want people I actually like and can understand and appreciate when they’re giving a performance. I would want it to be my special day, not some crackhead’s bound-to-fail “comeback”. Whoever dreamed up this gig for Amy: I am mad at you for trying to ruin the day of such a venerable man as Nelson Mandela.
And Amy: GET. SOME. HELP. and clean your nails.
Anna, very true. As long as she continues to get these high-profile gigs (actually, who am I kidding, any gigs at all), the more, in her drug-addled state, she’s going to think that things are still ok. It’s like, look at me, how bad can I be if Mandela wants me at his 90th birthday party??
Why did they even let her near Rock in Rio Lisboa? Management definitely at fault here.
I’m a huge fan of hers, but watching that clip was painful; I couldn’t finish it. She sounded barely coherent. What a terrible frigging waste.
What a shame…her voice in gone. 🙁
anne – she had a sore throat.
… because smoking crack gives you a sore throat. And the inability to hold onto a microphone.
She hasn’t got any kind of sore throat like most people get. Even if she cleaned up her act like, yesterday, I’d be really surprised if she ever got her voice back how it was before. She’s completely mangled it.
While I’m not disputing that Amy is an out and out addict, I don’t think it’s fair to say that drugs are the only reason for her death-spiral.
Poor dear obviously has mental issues, the likes of which cannot be resolved by a routine inpatient rehab facility. (Or by daddy stepping in and putting his foot down.) The self-mutilations on her arms, the desperate, co-dependent relationship with her husband Blake, the self-medication with hard drugs . . . it all points to deeper psychological issues that need to be confronted and addressed by Amy, herself. This is a profoundly depressed woman living her life recklessly, because she has no appreciation for herself, or her own self-worth.
If she was strapped down and throughly detoxed tomorrow, poor bitch would still be a wreck. Sure, cleaning out her system would be a step in the right direction from a sociological and neurological point of view, she still needs to address the issues that compelled her to use in the first place.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Amy is willing to face those issues anytime soon. It’s sad, but I still hope that eventually she’ll come to the realization that she’s worth more than an abusive relationship and a life clouded by excess drug use. People were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt, so I feel compelled to offer it to her, as well.
That was painful 🙁
To think only yesterday she was stumbling drunk onstage doing a duet with Charlotte Church.
sunrise,sunset.
Isn’t all addiction connected to personal issues anyway? I’m not being snide, I’m asking because I don’t know. Can you be addicted to substances and NOT have “issues” that caused it in the first place?
All of us can make armchair diagnoses about Winehouse’s addiction. There are plenty of thoughtful, well-meaning posts in here. Yeah, I know I make cracks about her, but that video of the performance bought back painful memories. IMHO, it showed an addict desperately trying to hang on and actually give her all, but failing miserably.
She had a ‘sore throat’ from smoking crack, and was CLEARLY coming down off of it, too. The disgraceful part is that her management, and PR firm are dragging this physically and mentally troubled young lady, out in front of a microphone.
Winehouse was sick, filthy (look at her ‘alleged’ bandaged right hand), and incoherent. Even some of the loonier fans are having a hard time supporting her. They’re trying like hell, but even they are starting to give up the fight.
Anna, you are so right. To have this sick woman performing for one of the greatest human rights warriors, is at best, troubling. If she’s REMOTELY high, Winehouse may be vilified for years.
The most shocking thing about this article, to me, was her age. 24 – really? REALLY? Can a person look THAT old while being THAT young? Holy shit!
Jay, Winehouse has been an hardcore alcoholic since her mid-teens. I’m 42 and work in one of the roughest neighborhoods in my town, Winehouse looks older than me!