February 4, 2008. Copyright 2008, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Will Amy make it to the Grammys?
By Susan Shepherd

LONDON, February 4, Graphic News: As troubled British singer Amy Winehouse continues to receive treatment at a clinic for drug addiction, the doubts deepen over whether or not she will be able to attend this yearÕs Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Winehouse is due to perform live at the awards -- the music industryÕs equivalent of the Oscars. She has been nominated in no less than six categories, following the huge international success of her second album, Back to Black. The album was released at the end of 2006 and sold more than any other in the UK last year, topping the 1.85 million mark.

However, the pressure of life in the spotlight has taken a very public toll in the last six months. Recent photographs of the star show her looking frail and sporting bleached blonde hair in place of her trademark black beehive. Her weight is said to have plummeted and a controversial video, posted on a newspaper website and claiming to show Winehouse smoking crack cocaine, has apparently been studied by the police. Her family and friends have spoken of their fears for her mental and physical health and AmyÕs father, Mitch Winehouse, has reportedly said that he hoped his daughter would not go to the Grammys, but concentrate on her treatment which, he said, was going well.

Meanwhile, AmyÕs husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, remains in custody awaiting trial for grievous bodily harm, after an incident in which a man was allegedly attacked in a pub. In an interview for the music newspaper, NME, he says he fears his wife of nine months will not survive her present crisis and daily expects the prison chaplain to tell him she has died. The couple married in May last year, surprising those who had witnessed their volatile, on-off courtship. 

ItÕs all a far cry from the early days of her career when the fresh-faced 20-year-old made her debut with the album, Frank, and drew comparisons with jazz greats such as Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. Fans were disappointed by her concert appearances last summer during which she seemed to forget lyrics and staggered around the stage in distress. The tour was eventually abandoned with AmyÕs spokesman citing ÒexhaustionÓ. Then, in October, she and her husband were arrested in Norway and charged with drug possession.

According to her record company, Universal Music, AmyÕs planned appearance at the Grammys will go ahead on February 10, despite her entering a London clinic on January 24 for rehabilitation treatment. Her desire to attend, however, may yet prove immaterial as there are conflicting reports over whether her legal difficulties will prevent her from procuring a visa necessary to enter the United States.
/ENDS