Amy Winehouse_ The Biography - Chas Newkey-Burden [37]
Moot is particularly positive about the effect that Cosbert’s full management has had on Amy’s live performances. ‘He is incredibly experienced in the live arena, so the production and the presentation has improved dramatically,’ says Moot. ‘It was incredibly hit-and-miss before: you really didn’t know whether it was going to be a good show or not. She is an incredible live performer now.’
On the success of Back to Black, Cosbert is hugely positive and proud. Asked how many copies the album can go on to sell, he replied, ‘How long is a piece of string? Let me put it this way, all the predictions we had initially are now out the window because of the success of the record. We all had different views of what we thought the album would achieve commercially and we’ve exceeded them all.’
Chapter Six
BEAT IT!
In October 2006, Amy Winehouse was booked to appear on The Charlotte Church Show. It proved to be a memorable performance. Church’s show had begun broadcasting the previous month and was a huge step forward for the Welsh singer, who had already appeared as both a guest and as a guest-host on Have I Got News For You. Her new show was a mixture of studio guests, comedy sketches and musical performances. It was here that Amy came in, of course.
Amy and Church had agreed to perform a duet of ‘Beat It’ by Michael Jackson at the end of the show. However, it soon became clear that Amy was not in an ideal state to perform. Rumours have it that, on the day, Amy had downed champagne for breakfast and killer cocktails for lunch. ‘When she turned up for rehearsal she was drunk, she kept forgetting her words,’ remembers Church. ‘Come the show, we had to do a few takes.’ One wonders what the rejected takes sounded like because the one that was broadcast was fairly chaotic itself.
Amy leads in with the first line but her performance is slurred and she seems to be struggling to remember the words. Church then sings her line but is clearly watching Amy like a hawk, with an expression somewhere between concern and distaste. Each time she handed back to Amy, Church had a secret signal. ‘Amy kept forgetting the words. I told her when I squeeze you it’s your turn to sing,’ she says. ‘We did it with me poking her in the back.’
As they join together to sing the first chorus, Amy’s body language is somewhat sheepish. The start of the second verse sees Amy seeming more energetic and focused, but then, as Church takes over, she pointedly sings the line ‘You’re playing with your life’ directly at Amy. As if in response, Amy makes a mess of the second verse’s final line. The rest of the song passes without incident but any rapport between the two singers has long since passed. They do, however, manage to embrace each other at the end of the performance. Amy looks little short of relieved that the ordeal is over.
Church’s decision to take the moral high ground over Amy after the show was somewhat hypocritical. She has long spoken of her own partying ways, boasting, ‘I can sink ’em.’ She adds, ‘If I’m home, I’ll start with a Cheeky Vimto – double port and a bottle of WKD Blue in the same glass. It tastes just like Vimto or Ribena. They’re lethal. Once I’m out, I’ll have about ten double vodkas. Then I’m pretty much KO’d.’
She celebrated her nineteenth birthday in February with a seventy-two-hour bender and has been photographed looking the worse for wear. To be fair to Church, she did later say, ‘From the last series I enjoyed everyone that came on, really. Amy Winehouse was wild, very different and really nice. She was lovely, a little sweetheart.’
Furthermore, given Amy’s reputation at this point in her career, to invite her onto a chat show, sit her in a green room when such places are famed for having free wine on tap, and then make her wait until the