Amy Winehouse was let out of the “virtual prison” that is her home (I say that with marked sarcasm) to perform at the Rock in Rio music festival yesterday. Amy’s record label let her off her leash – or maybe just got one of those invisible fences people use to keep their dogs from wandering – to perform her third concert in a week. By most accounts she did a decent job – but she openly drank red wine throughout her performance. Because having a couple drinks is much, much more important than doing a good job performing for people who spent a lot of money to see you. And it’s more important than your career. Or your life.

Soul diva Amy Winehouse sipped from a glass of red wine and looked a bit unsteady on her feet as she appeared in front of a large audience at the Rock in Rio music festival southeast of Madrid on Friday.

Then, as tens of thousands cheered, she threw off a pair of high stiletto heels in favor of white moccasins, donned a white electric guitar and settled into an intense rendition of some of her best known songs, including “Rehab.”

Winehouse delivered a strong vocal performance accompanied by her octet plus two male backing vocalists.

Once finished at Rock in Rio, she did not stay for an encore and left the outdoor concert venue by helicopter.

[From the Huffington Post]

There’s a new website out there that has people guess when Amy will die. The winner gets an iPod or something. I know it’s meant to be funny, but I think that’s pretty crass. Clearly the girl needs all sorts of help, and it’s hard to have much faith that she’ll be able to get her act together anymore. Every two weeks we hear some proclamation about how she finally gets how badly off she is, and she’s ready to change. And of course nothing comes of it. But there’s a big difference between losing hope and essentially placing a wager on when someone will die.

Here’s Amy Winehouse out in Golders Green looking for her favorite snacks. The troubled singer popped into one shop and was given a gherkin to try, which she smudged on the glass counter – then bizarrely cleaned it off with her rear. Although to be fair, that’s not the weirdest thing we’ve seen her do. Images thanks to Splash.

Update by Celebitchy: Here are photos of Amy drinking on Friday on stage at the Rock in Rio festival. The images Jaybird mentioned are at the end of this set. Thanks to WENN.

And here are the videos, thanks to user tejeral on YouTube:

Rock in Rio Madrid 2008 – Amy Winehouse – Part-1

Rock in Rio Madrid 2008 – Amy Winehouse – Part-2

Rock in Rio Madrid 2008 – Amy Winehouse – Part-3