In an article in the Sun, retro soul-singer Amy Winehouse has been issued a warning by her label, Universal, that her druggie ways may have a deleterious affect on her career, and they reserve the option to not release any new albums. Here’s Sun’s report:

A source revealed: “Amy has been reminded of her responsibilities. Unless she is clean she will not be allowed to release another album.

“She took notice when Lucian talked to her earlier in the year and agreed to go to rehab. But she didn’t take it seriously enough.

“They would never release her from her deal, they would just not put an album out.”

On Saturday I revealed Amy’s label are now privately accepting there will be no album until 2009 after she scrapped plans to start recording in the Bahamas. And my source added: “The label were not impressed. She has been warned about her behaviour and needs to keep the standards up.”

Universal’s stance suggests this could be the last album of her deal. Otherwise they would be churning something out to capitalise on her fame. And while it’s commendable they are taking a tough stand, I think Universal need Amy more than she needs them.

I completely disagree with Sun writer Gordon Smart’s take on this situation. Amy needs a label, and so far Universal has been willing to bend over backwards for her despite her reprehensible and deplorable behavior. Not only did she drop out of her tour, disappointing and angering thousands and thousands of fans, but she has set a terrible example for those who look to her as both a role model and a fount for quality music.

This isn’t Billy Holiday we are talking about. Amy isn’t content to keep her drug abuse “her problem” instead she has allowed this deadly disease to affect her ability to perform and create. The culture does not live in a vacuum waiting on pins and needles for the next Amy Winehouse creation to spill forth from her lips. There are certainly hundreds of equally talented artists out there on the edge of breaking into the business who can and will replace anyone who fails to live up to their responsibility.

Amy take this warning to heart, your talent is undisputed, but time waits for no one. Either you get your act together or be content to live out your days consuming ever-growing quantities of drugs to achieve that elusive high that just won’t come, all the while, watching our royalty checks whither away as the industry and culture forgets you ever existed. This is harsh, but this is reality.

Our favorite dirty crackhead, Babyshambles frontman, and Amy Winehouse’s male doppleganger, Pete Doherty has been arrested and jailed for failing to show up on time for hearings related to his probation on drugs charges.

Doherty had been given a suspended jail sentence for possession of drugs and driving illegally in October last year. His supervision order required him to make regular visits to court for progress reports, as well as take part in a drug rehabilitation programme. He was threatened with up to four months in jail if he broke the law during this period.

Do crackheads even own watches? And honestly, what do they expect a reprobate like Doherty to do? Not indulge in illicit drugs? Not be too cracked out to show up on time? Man, for every Lindsay Lohan we have here in the states, there’s like ten Pete Dohertys over in the UK. God Save The QUEEN!

The worse news in all this, besides Pete’s cat going into crack withdrawals while he’s is lockdown, is he may miss a show at the Royal Albert Hall on April 26. So, how many holes does it take to fill that place anyway?

Fortunately, Pete’s label has his back and issued this statement to fans who bought tickets to the April 26th show:

Parlophone, explained the solo show will be postponed but it “is due to be rescheduled and all tickets will be valid for the new date once it has been announced. Peter was very much looking forward to the show and would like to offer his sincerest apologies to all his fans and all those concerned”.

There should be disclaimers on all tickets sold to Pete and Amy shows which stipulate there’s only a 10% chance they will actually show up, and .0005% they won’t be to jacked to play.

True story, when I was in NY a couple of weeks ago interviewing Andrew Morton, there were these doormen at his hotel (The Bowery) who wore these Pete Doherty top hats. They had these Charles Dickensesque red overcoats and looked straight out of Oliver Twist. As I was waiting for a cab I said, to the really tall one, “Has anyone ever said you look like Pete Doherty, after a nap, rehab and industrial strength scrub?” And just as you’d expect, he said in an authentic British accent, “Yeah, it’s the top hat!” Well, it certainly wasn’t the nicotine stained fingers (this guy was cute!). He shared an Amy Winehouse encounter he had when he was back home in London, but since it didn’t involve crack or BLAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEE, why bother.

I’ve not seen any hard evidence, and mind you, I’m just speculating.  So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…

I’d heard that Amy Winehouse’s performance at the Brits left a lot to be desired, but when I finally got to watch footage I realized just how much she has slid backwards since the Grammys.  In the style of music that Amy sings (I call it a sort of jazz/blues/rock fusion), you can play around a lot with the lyrics and main beat…syncopation and improvisation are the names of the game.  Her performance at the Grammys was a great example of it.

But at the Brits…what a difference.

The problems started long before the performance.  It seems that in the midst of a two-day alcohol bender, Amy tripped and fell on her face while rehearsing, and the shaky rehearsal left programmers wondering if she’d even show up at all…indeed, they were thinking of scrapping her performance altogether.  She eventually arrived at the awards 45 minutes late and did her set with Mark Ronson, apparently attempting to hide behind him during their song Valerie.  (I have yet to see this performance, as all the video I’ve found of it has been pulled.)

Later that night, as she performed her song Love Is A Losing Game (oddly apropos), she was visibly nervous, shaky, and out of time with the music.  She managed to pull it together enough to finish the song, but ended it with a shout-out to Blake Incarcerated-Druggie, which the crowd ignored.

But wait, there’s more…

No, don’t worry Blakey fans, he survived. I don’t know whether to rejoice or cry. Decisions, decisions….

Recent five Grammy winner Amy Winehouse’s husband Blake Civil-Fielder has been in a UK jail awaiting trial on his gross bodily harm charge and a later added charge of “perverting the course of justice” when he tried to bribe the very witness (a bartender) he and a group of buddies roughed up one night at a bar.

According to reports, Blake, and five other inmates were some how able to get a hold of heroin while in lockdown, and Blake took so much he OD’d and was rushed to a prison hospital after he was found passed out in his cell.

Amy Winehouse’s jailed husband nearly died after a heroin overdose, it was claimed today.

Blake Fielder-Civil was reportedly hurried to Pentonville Prison’s hospital block, writhing in pain, after guards found him violently vomiting in his cell.

Prison officers later discovered that the drug was a toxic hybrid of heroin and other potent chemicals.

A jail source said that it was a “close call” for Blake and warned he might not be so lucky next time.

This seems like a desperate bid to derail his wife Amy’s recovery as she works hard to overcome her various addictions, after being semi-forced into rehab by her father and her record label.

It has long been suspected that Blake’s presence in Amy’s life was the impetus for her epic fall from grace. Since the two married last year, she’s been witnessed in various degrees of undress, disarray and dishevelment, including a video of Amy smoking crack, as well, having admitted on the same video to having dropped six Valium.

Hopefully, as Amy takes a closer inventory of her life, in a clearer state of mind, she will see that Blake is merely an Albatross of lameness dragging her down from her own destiny with greatness.

Behind every Tina Turner is an Ike that must be kicked viciously to the curb. KICK HIM AMY, especially while he’s down.

I didn’t watch much of the Grammys last night, although I did catch Beyonce in an ill-fitting outfit and Tina Turner looking and sounding great, but as far as awards being handed out goes, not everyone was as pleased as Amy Winehouse was with her Grammy nominations, let alone her five wins.

Natalie Cole, singer and daughter of the late and great Nat King Cole had this to say about Amy’s recognition from the Grammys:

“”I don’t think she should have won. I think it sends a bad message to our young people who are trying to get into this business, the ones who are trying to do it right and really trying to keep themselves together. We have to stop rewarding bad behavior.”

I’m sorry. I think the girl is talented, gifted, but it’s not right for her to be able to have her cake and eat it too. She needs to get herself together.”

I mean, she could die. This isn’t something that’s cute and fun just to throw around in the press. The girl really has a problem, and I think for those of us who have been in the business long enough, we know the sacrifice it takes. This is about discipline and hard work, and you don’t get to just do your drugs and go onstage and get rewarded.”

I couldn’t agree more. In fact we had the same conversation in my house last night. Yes Amy is immensely talented and certainly under normal circumstances would deserve these nominations and recognition for her talent, but the recording industry as a whole (and the entertainment industry for that matter) needs to take a stand on all of this off-stage behavior.

Glorifying dangerous and excessive drug use sets a bad example to anyone who looks up to these young stars. As a mom, I find it reprehensible that my children are bombarded with images of
people like Amy Winehouse or Lindsay Lohan half in the bag or worse yet, ACTUALLY using illegal drugs on film.

They aren’t just irresponsible, apparently they are stupid as hell for allowing themselves to be filmed.

Hey, I am all for having a good time, but sucking off a crack pipe, dropping pills like tic tacs and then washing it down with Dewar’s isn’t fun, it’s reckless.

And Natalie should know, she’s had her brush with Dr. Feelgood.

This is for all of you wondering why Amy looked stoned out of her gourd at her husband’s hearing a few days ago. Simple, really…it’s because she’s a drug addict, and now there’s new video to support what we’ve been saying all along.

Video posted by The Sun in the UK show the singer smoking and snorting crack, snorting ecstasy, looking for her kitten (what??? A kitten in that mess? Well, I guess we can at least be thankful it isn’t a baby, but a poor defenseless kitten is bad enough), telling her sleazy friends she just popped six Valium (whatever doctor is prescribing those needs to seriously be brought up on charges), and saying she has to be up at 8AM to attend her husband’s hearing:

At one point, lank-haired Amy is warned to watch out for smashed glass on the floor as she scours a bedroom for her kitten barefoot.

The dazed and confused star accuses a guest of taking the pet from a quiet room into the drug-fuelled hubbub of her house party. […]

Amy threw the party at her trendy home in the early hours of Friday — just before she went to court to support husband BLAKE FIELDER-CIVIL at a remand hearing.

Within seconds of greeting pals at the door, she greedily snorted powdered ecstasy offered on the corner of a credit card.

Minutes later, with her head swimming, she is seen on the video being offered cocaine.

A friend cautions her not to take too much because the drug is from a highly-concentrated stash.

But Amy disregards the warning and hungrily snorts a clump. […]

Just before 5am, Amy heads up a spiral staircase to her dimly-lit bedroom, where she squats on her leopardskin print duvet and chats to scruffy pals as she primes a glass pipe with rocks of crack. […]

The voice that has sold millions of records is transformed into a weak, breathless croak as she tries to talk. […]

Pals ask her to go out with them, but she mutters: “I’d be useless to you because I’ve had about six Valium.”

Ironically, she insists she cannot party too heavily as she has to be up at 8am to get to the court on time.

So, there you have it. The Death of Amy Winehouse. Can’t she be brought up on some sort of charges for this? I mean, it’s all on video!

I don’t really know what to say here, because there’s not a lot one can say. You can’t force someone to see who willfully remains blind, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want help. What else do you do at this point?

And remember, Amy herself feels the same way:

The pop superstar admits to being a heavy drinker, and said she is a terrible drunk and insists that the legal stimulant is worse than injecting illegal drugs. […]

“Drinking long-term is a lot worse than doing heroin. Alcohol’s a real poison.”

Although with her well-documented problems with drink and drugs, and her failure to address them, it’s clear Amy is not exactly the voice of reason.

And despite her terrible problems with drug and alcohol abuse, when it comes to rehab she still says no.

A newly bleached Amy said: “I’m of the school of thought where if you can’t sort something out for yourself then no one can help you,” she told a U.S. magazine.

It’s not too late for her to get help, but Amy seems hell-bent on destroying herself. Get a good look now, folks, because she probably won’t be around for long.

While I could not care less about what 2008 holds for Britney Spears, though I am hoping something between herpes of the face and losing her children permanently for being a selfish, uncaring pig rank high, I do care a fair amount about what happens to Amy Winehouse.

Because Amy, unlike Britney has A.) real talent, B.) a real problem. This is not to say I don’t still harbor some very serious anger towards Amy for throwing her life down the drain for a complete loser like her husband Blake Field-Civildouche (where do these hanger-ons come from?), I have empathy for her. Maybe my shriveled, whithered little heart has grown three sizes larger during this time of peace and giving, or perhaps, I really want to see Amy get her life together and triumph over her Blake/drug addiction.

In any case, my hopes may be dashed on the rocks as Amy faces new hurdles besides her depressive nature and a crippling drug and alcohol addiction.

While police were investigating her husband’s “grievous bodily harm” charges and subsequent witness bribery charges, (Blake and some pals beat up a bartender, and then tried to pay witnesses to change their story) authorities have concluded Amy may be involved. When bribery sums in the amount of $200K were being thrown around, cops must have figured the unemployable Blake couldn’t be the mastermind behind this plot. They started looking into computer and phone records of Amy’s — and low and behold — they found some corroborating evidence implicating the diminutive and troubled songstress.

“As soon as the figure of £200,000 emerged, the finger of suspicion started to point in her direction. How could Blake, who is not wealthy, be expected to come up with that kind of money? Police want to see where Amy’s money goes to. They will account for every penny.”

Amy was arrested in London today, though no charges have been filed. She later posted a $40K bail and is scheduled to appear in court on the matter in March.

Other rumors persist that Blake and Amy have a suicide pact should they be given stiff sentences for their involvement to “pervert” justice.

If found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice Amy could face life in prison. We can all imagine how well Amy will be taking that news. Amy canceled her entire tour due to stress over not seeing her Blakey - life sentence would be the final nail.

Can this get anymore overly dramatic? Did Shakespeare write some sort of previously unknown comedy/tragedy and Blake and Amy are punking us all? Is there a major gas leak in the entire country of Great Britain and only Amy and Blake have been affected?

This bums me out, because I see no hope for Amy. She has the “look.” That last time I saw that look was in October of 1993 at a Nirvana concert. Kurt Cobain was wearing it, and we all know how that turned out.

Does that title even make sense? It’s like a very “special” after school program or something.

HolyMoly is reporting repeat drug offender and Babyshambles member Pete Doherty was bitchslapped for refusing to buy drugs off of some local dealer. Here’s what they are saying happened:

The dealer reportedly said to him, “You should get your gear from me,” at the Sun Inn in Whiltshire before punching him in the face.

“It was horrible. Pete was really shaken up and upset. He had been enjoying a quiet pint on his own, just him and his cat, and went out to make a phone call.

“Pete has never seen this bloke before, he just attacked him for no reason.”

This is one of those stories that’s WAY too full of irony to be completely true. First of all, I have a hard time imagining Pete Doherty turning down drugs from any sort of shady cat, second of all, doesn’t Pete have a damn cell phone? I mean I know four-year olds with cell phones. Are you telling me international drug sniffers like Doherty can’t get a cell plan (do they call them telly-plans in the UK)?

And thirdly, what’s up with the cat? Is this the same cat he gets high on crack for fun? ‘Cuz I’d have thought that cat would either be dead, whoring itself out for some rocks, or wised up and run away?

Must be one of those 80’s new-wave “Stray Cats” looking for a fight.

Well, here’s one for Pete’s pussy:

That’s not a metaphor, that sadly folks, is the truth. Amy Winehouse either has taken to snorting powdered sugar, which considering this is the season of baking is possible, or she’s been wharfing huge rails of coke.

The above pic (more here) was taken while Amy was out and about London last night. Mr.Paparazzi also has a very *interesting* picture of the back of Amy’s car. There was a very suspicious looking bag of white powdery substance just sitting there in her trunk. Again, it could be powdered sugar for all those cookies Amy’s been baking, then again Amy doesn’t bake, unless braincells count — so what on earth could it be?

Save your guesses, because it doesn’t matter. What does matter is Amy is slowly quickly destroying her life and doesn’t seem to give a crap. So, guess what, neither do I. No more molly-coddling this dumbass. If you want to destroy your life, break your fans hearts, cheapen your talent and be an all-around drug-addled douchebag, go for it. I am sick of feeling sorry for you. Your husband Blake’s a scofflaw, a loser and ultimately a scumbag. You are an idiot. Please stop feeling sorry for yourself and shoving crap up your nose or in your veins. Better yet, do us all a favor and wharf that whole bag of coke, cook up a big old heaping spoonful of heroin and chase it down with a bottle of cheap vodka, ya know why? ‘Cuz you suck.

At least Billy Holiday had the decency to not walk around flaunting her addiction, or Ray Charles, or Johnny Cash for that matter. What is it Amy, are you trying to romanticize your life by going out the way of your so called peers? Trust me, as they look down at you from heaven they are shaking their heads in mutual disgust at your pathetic life. Shame on you and the crappy example you’ve set for your fans, and any young person who might have looked up to you for your talent. Disgusting.

(Editor’s note: To those who are all in twitter over my post, save your insipid vitriol - because I don’t care. This is my opinion, you don’t like what I have to say about worthless junkies who sh*t all over their talent, go barf your nonsense all over some other site.)

Heaven only knows if this is true, but rumors abound that Britney Spears is pregnant again. Hell why not, she did a great job the first two times. Total success I say.

The always accurate, never false InTouch Magazine’s lead story this week is Brit-Brit is preggo with JR Rotem’s baby. They are citing email exchanges with her friends as the damning proof of her fertility, which are said to contain ultra-sounds. Apparently, JR Rotem, that fat-faced producer scum she was hanging out with is the father. InTouch says he admits it. Well, you know what they say, admitting you have a problem is half the battle. And if Britney’s pregnant, we have a problem.

“It’s true,” he says. On November 16, she proudly e-mailed a copy of the ultrasound to her inner circle. For all her recent troubles, she seems convinced that having another baby will turn her life around — and she believes that J.R. will make a great father, even though he explicitly talked about their sex life in Blender magazine earlier this year. “Britney’s not looking for another husband,” an insider says. “But she does like having a man in her life.”

Seriously, if this is true, and it could go 50/50 either way, this would be an act of terrorism against responsibility. It would be on scale with some of the worst atrocities known to mankind. The UN Council on Domestic Responsibility is having a special meeting at this very moment to decide how to react if this is true. I have it on good authority that the National Guard is standing by with authorization of the leaders of the free world to deal with this event using the most extreme measures.

The potential magnitude of this horror can not be underestimated. We all must brace ourselves for the worst.