What a Week for Winehouse!

A week in the life of Amy Winehouse would never be dull, well….especially not this past week!


Last night the Bee-hived Brit picked up only one award at the NME Awards in London – for Worst Dressed Star. It seems her style isn’t a favorite of the music magazine’s readers.

This comes only a few days after The Sun revealed the singers plans to launch Cosmetics and Fashion lines.

The tabloid said:

“Trampy Amy Winehouse is launching her own brand of clothes and make-up so fans can copy her unique style…The range will include hairspray, but the signature piece is set to be the heavy liquid eyeliner the Rehab singer has made famous.”

The Sun also reported that a friend of the star has been discussing the new range.

“Amy’s style has been copied by girls around the country and there’s a lot of money to be made. It’s a very distinctive look. She wants to bring out a range of cosmetics and fashion products. There could be hairspray, head scarves, liquid eyeliner, perfume. All the things that are distinctive of her look.”

Not everyone is so sure.

Excited Style Life said:

"Signature clothing item? We wouldn't like to say. Oh all right then. Greying wife-beater worn over a brightly coloured bra? Manky piece of leopard print carpet worn as a bandana? Stone washed mini with bare legs and pixies? The possiblities are endless. ..Leave it to the experts. If Primark tells you to wear it, think about it. If Amy tells you to wear it. Don't. You'll look like a turkey."

Harsh? Apparently not...

It was echoed by Blog, Get Fame.

“Yay! Maybe Amy will get some new clothes out of the deal. Who knew drugs were such a fashion statement. Tiny fine point red liner will be part of the makeup line for drawing avant-garde blood scratches for that freshly cracked-out look!...I love it! Good for Amy. I like that people are accepting her just he way she is! She doesn't have to be anything more than a crackhead to get love. That's big!”

But the NME awards wasn’t the only event to draw attention to Winehouse being a bad dresser.
She came second in Richard Blackwell’s 48th Annual Worst Dressed of 2007.

So Feminine were quick to remind us.

"Forgive us, but we're not convinced it would take off...Amy's all-too-well-documented problems with drink and drug abuse have left her looking rather less than fresh of late…The style guru [Richard Blackwell] said of Amy: "Exploding beehives above, tacky polka-dots below, she's part '50s carhop horror."

Blogger Jane Murphy, for Orange’s Celeb page is some what confused by the plans.

“Hmmm... what exactly will the perfume smell like, do you suppose? And why stop with the eyeliner and head scarves? We want wigs! Fake tattoos! Cigarettes! Incarcerated husbands! Oh no - hang on..."

Here is to hoping that the recent award won’t put a spanner in the works for the singers extra-curricular activities.

Regardless…Winehouse is still considered a style icon, even if NME readers disagree.
Colleen Last, MSN’s Celebrity Editor http://msnukentertainment.spaces.live.com/ explains why.

“No matter what the general public thinks, top fashion house Louis Vuitton loves Amy’s style, so much so that its paying her £500,000 to perform a one-off gig at Paris Fashion Week. Lucky Amy flew by private jet to France today.”

The self harmer, who wore a skinny white vest revealing red scratches on her arms, managed to find time to visit her hubby this week.

Blake Fielder-Civil, or maybe more recognisable as “Blake Incarcerated”, pleaded not guilty against his charges of assault and trial-fixing today while Wineo was jet setting and living the showbiz lifestyle.

Maybe this will make her realize what she is missing out on.

Good on her…Lets hope she finds herself a nice young French Fancy to take her mind off bad-boy Blake.

As the saying goes…When the cat is away, the mice will play!

The Best of British Talent?

It has been a busy weekend for British celebrities, with the BAFTA awards in London and the Grammy’s in America.

Dressed from head to toe in designer clobber, the stars graced the red carpet both here and Los Angeles to collect their awards.

Or in some cases, not.

At the awards in London in recognition of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the biggest shock of the evening came when the Best Actress award was announced.

A Press Release said:

"Marion Cotillard received the BAFTA for Leading Actress for La Vie en Rose for her portrayal of Edith Piaf. The film also won awards for Music, Make Up & Hair and costume. "

The triumph for the young French actress raised suggestions that Brit stars had been disregarded.

The Sun wrote:

"Brit stars Keira Knightley and Julie Christie were sensationally snubbed at the Baftas - in favour of an unknown actress from France.

In a night of shocks at the star studded bash, Marion Cotillard beat both our girls to pick up the Best Actress award."

The Times echoed this by saying:

"Two of the film industry’s most reclusive and revered stars were thrown under the spotlight last night at the Baftas…but only one went home with a prize.

But Julie Christie, 66, left empty-handed, even though it was assumed widely that her portrayal of an Alzheimer’s sufferer in Away From Her would earn her the Best Actress prize.

Instead, the award went to a 32-year-old French actress, Marion Cotillard, for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose."

They also suggested that the win was a shock.

"Few [critics] had predicted her win because Baftas, Oscars and Golden Globes tend to relegate foreign films to their own categories."

Marion, who is already a Golden Globe winner, is the first ever French winner of the Best Actress award at the ceremony.

Molly Flatt from the Guardian was pleased with the outcome.

"I am thrilled Marion Cotillard has won the best actress award at this weeks baftas. Now she really has a fighting chance to bag the Oscar. Surely."

Knightley herself was also supportive of the decision and is a fan of the French actress.

Contact Music reported the star as saying:

"Marion [Cotillard] is my hero at the moment. She's amazing in La Vie En Rose."

Hotly tipped British film, Atonement, was nominated for 14 of the English equivalent of the Oscars but only acquired two.

Comments on the BAFTA website reflect the disappointment, especially after Knightley’s ‘snub’.

"Wow. Keira Knightley's performance in Atonement hasn't been fully respected in yet another award show."

However the 22 year-old did win a best actress award elsewhere this week.

Hot Online News reported:

"Keira Knightley finally got the appreciation she deserves last night as she took home an award for best actress.

The 22-year-old missed out on a BAFTA and an Oscar this year but scooped the title at the Elle Style Awards in London."

Other winners of BAFTA awards included ‘This is England’ for Best British Film, ‘Ratatouille’ for Best Animated Film and Daniel Day Lewis won Leading Actor for his role in There will be Blood.

Over the pond, the British were triumphant at the Grammy’s with Amy Winehouse winning five out of the six awards she was nominated for.

The star preformed at the event via video link after being refused a visa to be in LA because she is currently in rehab addressing a drug addiction.

There has been a lot of criticism over the awards, especially from Natalie Cole.

The singer doesn’t think Winehouse deserves her Grammys.

"We have to stop rewarding bad behaviour…I think it sends a bad message to our young people who are trying to get into this business.

It’s a slap in the face to artists who work very hard that they give it to someone who really obviously doesn’t have a grasp of what she has."

This has reiterated comments made by Antonio Costa, head of the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime, last November.

He suggested that the soul singer [and other celebs such as Kate Moss] is glamorizing drugs which could be the reason for the amount of young people in the UK using cocaine doubling over the last ten years.

Costa said:

"Rock stars, like Amy Winehouse, become popular by singing: 'I ain't going to rehab,' even though she badly needed and eventually sought treatment."

However, it is not just the awards than critics are hung up about.

John Lundberg from The Hiffington Post was not impressed by the stars performance of “Rehab” and “You know I’m no Good”.

"The rail thin, strange and sultry singer fight for coherency in front of millions was breathtaking. She spoke like there were pieces missing, like the embodiment of the last few moments of a game of Jenga. God bless her for holding it together."

However, he does go on to praise her musical abilities.

That's not to say I don't like her music, I like it a lot. Her voice is kind of delicious, and you have to admire how she's brought Motown and 50's jazz club sounds to a new audience.

Despite the criticism, an online poll conducted by PopSugar has revealed that 58% of voters loved Amy Winehouse’s performance this week. [Results taken Feb 20th 2008]

This was echoed by others, who believe that Winehouse was most deserving of the highly acclaimed music awards.

The Daily Swarm published an article which stated that:

"She’s a great example of art and commerce achieving a perfect balance. Seeing an artist like Winehouse break and get award recognition is a gratifying reminder of the major label system at its best."

This was mirrored by a blog titled ‘MomPopSon’ who said:

"Amy Winehouse is a good singer and performer, and unlike in the Olympics, drug-taking is not a problem for someone to win a Grammy. She proved to everyone that she deserved them by performing live via satellite…Congratulations!"

Another big winner on the night was Kanye West who won awards for Best Rap Solo Performance (for ''Stronger''), Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (''Southside,'' with Common), Best Rap Song (for ''Good Life''), and Best Rap Album (for Graduation).

Other Grammy winners included Herbie Hancock receiving Album of the Year for “River: The Joni Letter” and “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace” winning Foo Fighters Best Rock Album.

In terms of the controversy surrounding the British stars at the awards ceremonies it is strongly suggested that Amy Winehouse is as deserving as any other artist to receive her five Grammy awards.

Her addiction does not make her any better or worse of a singer.

She has been talented from her very first album, Frank in 2003 which was nominated for an Ivor Novello Awaerd, and continues to be one of the best British singers to date.

Comments by Natalie Cole, can also be taken with a pinch of salt after the Grammy award winner herself has been reportedly mixed up in drugs in the past.

In her biography “Angel on My Shoulder” it describes incidents when:

"Cole continued to spiral out of control - including one incident where she refused to evacuate a burning building, and another where her young son Robert nearly drowned in the family swimming pool while she and her first husband, the late Reverend Marvin Yancy, were on a drug binge."

As for the BAFTA awards, it is a shame to see British talent such as that of Keira Knightely not being awarded for their talents.

However it is clear that there is a lot of respect for Marion Cotillard in the film industry and therefore her talents must also be recognised.

It is prehaps unfair to say that she should not have been named “Best Actress” just because she is French and therefore should have stuck to her category.

If she is in fact best actress, which she was awarded, then isn’t only right that she is given the title?