Amy Winehouse_ The Biography - Chas Newkey-Burden [52]
These successes made up for the disappointment at losing out to the Klaxons in the Mercury Prize earlier that month. She won a standing ovation for her performance at the ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel. She sang ‘Love is a Losing Game’, stripping the song back to its acoustic roots and sending a wave of emotion across the venue. Jools Holland, the compere, said after the performance: ‘Amy Winehouse… one of the most amazing voices. I’ve worked with a lot of people and I’m telling you, she’s got one of the most amazing voices of all time.’
However, when it came to the award, it went to the three-piece Klaxons. The band’s lead singer Jamie Reynolds said he was ‘not surprised’ that Amy did not win. He said, ‘When I came off stage I was upset because I thought she gave a fantastic performance and I absolutely loved her record, but her recording is retro and ours is a forward-thinking record and that’s what the Mercury Prize stands for.’
Polydor co-president Colin Barlow said, ‘A lot of people thought it was going to be the Amy Winehouse Mercurys, but the great thing about the awards is that they are about innovation.’ Music industry commentators added that perhaps Amy had missed out because her suitability for the prize made her a too obvious choice – especially given the predictable victory of Arctic Monkeys the previous year. However, Dan Cairns of the Sunday Times ‘Culture’ section, did speak up for Amy:
You can tell Klaxons’ hearts are in the right place and they obviously love being in a band and making the music they make, but to propose that Myths… is the best album in the past 12 months is just nuts. It’s got about two songs on and then acres of sonic mush, albeit fun mush. Bat For Lashes or Amy should have won.
Blake was more concise and direct in his support. ‘Amy was robbed,’ he spat. ‘Who knows why they didn’t give her the award. But I was so proud of her for her performance. She’s really well and she doesn’t need to go back into rehab.’
Meanwhile, Girls Aloud’s Cheryl Cole also spoke up for Amy. ‘I was glad to see Amy Winehouse looking better at the Mercury awards,’ she said. ‘I didn’t hear her singing but she looked amazing in the pictures. She’s got deep issues to deal with but seems to have a strong support network in her family. Her dad seems a decent guy.’
Janice Turner was less kind in The Times, writing that Amy ‘resembled a Barbie doll attacked by an additive-high, felt-tip-wielding toddler’. Her feelings were echoed more sensitively by the US singer Rihanna, who said, ‘I’m worried about Amy. I want her to get better, as I love her. There’s no a doubt in my mind she can still be successful in America even though she’s been linked to drugs. It’d be awesome to go on tour with her in the States. I’d love her to join me.’
In the wake of her appearance, a BBC journalist commented, ‘She’s become such a worshipped and tortured enigma that her appearances now seem like visitations from some sort of mythical figure.’ Even Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin, founder of Drugsline, stuck his oar in and offered his help to Amy. The rabbi warned readers, ‘This just shows that the Jewish community is not immune to addiction.’ Jewish News editor Zeddy Lawrence said that Sufrin told him that he was more than happy to help Amy and Blake. ‘If they reach out then my door is open to them,’ he told Lawrence.
As for record executives at Amy’s label, they were insistent that they were doing all they could to support her. There had been chatter in some quarters insinuating that perhaps they were secretly turning a blind eye to her addiction, or even quietly encouraging it because they felt it made her a more newsworthy proposition. Promoter Raye Cosbert brushes all this away. ‘We’ve been doing everything we can to help with Amy’s personal problems over the past