Amy Winehouse got yet another confirmation that drugs and booze don't keep the critics away - on the contrary. The troubled British singer who recently turned 24 was awarded the MOBO Award for best Female artist last night at a ceremony in London. Amy in fact won a double victory, seeing that she was also named best female singer at the Vodafone Live Music Awards, the rival Brompton Hall ceremony which took place at the same time as the MOBOs. However, although she had all the reasons in the world to celebrate, Amy once again lived up to the unfortunate reputation she has crafted for herself over the past months - that of being an irrecoverable drunk.
As proof, this is the list with the singer backstage requests for alcohol - which, as you can easily see, would have probably been enough to satisfy the whole of the audience present at the O2 arena last night: one large bottle of vodka, two bottles of Jack Daniels, two bottles of Veuve Cliquot, two bottles of red Rioja wine and 48 bottles of Heineken beer.
And if booze and drugs won't kill Amy, the rest of the things she eats will probably do an equally good job, although probably slower and more painful. Winehouse also requested from the MOBO organizers chips and dips, packs of Haribo sweets, chicken drumsticks and chocolate bars. Yes, that's definitely the way to keep fit and stay healthy.
Unfortunately, Amy couldn't be convinced to keep off the booze until after she performed, so she went on stage quite tipsy, muttered a "Thank you - hello" that didn't sound very convincing, stumbled and giggled as she ran on-stage, and gave a performance that wasn't altogether her best yet and a far cry from the spirited, touching appearance she put in the Mercury Prize Award just weeks before. She is even reported to have been out of sync with the band at several points and - in the unfortunate fashion created by some of her previous concerts - she forgot some of the words to Tears Dry On Their Own.
Although Amy still received a standing ovation, some of the stars present at the award ceremony were not impressed by the fact that her drug-seeking behaviors and alcohol abuse are not severely sanctioned by music industry representatives. Jamaican singer Shaggy was very critical about Winehouse's behavior, that he saw as setting a bad example for the young generations. "As long as you are a public figure, you have got to really look at the type of image and what you're portraying. Kids aren't going to look up to you regardless. I still think that the biggest influence should be from the parents. But I do think we, as artists, hold a little bit of responsibility" he said. He may be right - but as long as people still love her and there's spare cash for booze, I doubt anyone can stop Wino from draining glasses and slowly killing herself.