I wonder just how long this will be allowed to go on.  Probably as long as she continues to bring in money.

Amy, at the start of her UK tour last night, stumbled and slurred her way through her sets, finally walking off stage in tears:

The singer stumbled into the venue half an hour late, slurred her words, walked into a guitar stand and dropped her microphone at the opening date of her British tour.

She then dedicated a song to her husband Blake Fielder-Civil, drawing more boos and a mass walkout at the NIA in Birmingham.

The band had to support Winehouse as she almost collapsed in tears. […]

Following jeers from the crowd, she ranted: “Let me tell you something. First of all, if you’re booing you’re a mug for buying a ticket.

“Second, to all those booing, just wait ’til my husband gets out of incarceration. And I mean that.”

At the end of the concert, during her song “Valerie”, she dropped the microphone halfway through and walked off stage.

According to Perez, she had a few other choice words for the audience:

“[A reader writes] I’ve just come back from the Amy Winehouse concert at the NIA. In short, she was f*cking terrible. She was very very drunk, she made various rambling references to her ‘husband’ (even going as far to threaten audience members who booed with him) and worst of all, it looked like she was wearing those bloody ballet pumps again. Many audience members booed, and people were continually walking out. She referred to us as ‘monkey c*nts’ at one point, and she forgot the words to most of her songs. I really like Amy but this was awful. I’d like to tell you that her voice was her saving grace, but it was horrendous.”

And now disgusted concertgoers are demanding their money back:

One fan, James Dyas, who spent £175 on seven tickets for the first of the 17-date tour, demanded his money back.

He said: “She came on stage half an hour late. She managed four songs but was slurring her words and swaying all over the place.

“She fell into the guitar stand and dropped the microphone - it was atrocious. The song dedicated to her husband was so bad it was like swinging a cat round your head.”

Well, I’ve never swung a cat around my head, so I’ll take his word for it.

At this rate, Blake’s parents won’t have to worry about calling a boycott of Amy’s CD’s and concerts, so she won’t have money to spend on drugs.  She’s doing a great job of cutting off her cash flow all on her own, because if this keeps up she won’t have any fans left who will buy her merchandise or go to see her.

This comes not only as her husband Blake Whatever-Whatever was jailed this week, but also on the heels of rumors that Amy is off prescription medication that she needs:

I can also reveal that Amy has not been taking medication she needs to control terrifying brain seizures.

She has suffered a string of fits in recent months and has been checked over at a private clinic.

Pals say Amy relied on Fielder-Civil when the seizures struck.

One friend who has witnessed her collapse said: “Her parents are really worried. Having fits on top of taking class A drugs is not a good combination.

“The fits are scary. She had a funny turn the other week and was foaming at the mouth.”

Apparently Amy only went on stage last night if she could visit her husband, because when she had tried earlier she learned his mother had taken the only visiting spot for that day.  While at the jail, minders made her undo her beehive to make sure she wasn’t hiding drugs in there (I said when they arrested her in Norway that they should check the beehive!).

When Amy’s parents couldn’t reach her earlier in the week, they called for an ambulance to go and check on her.  Why couldn’t they have gone over themselves?  Perhaps they should think twice about that approach to Amy.

You know, I’m sure that Amy is very upset at her husband being taken to jail.  I’m sure it’s been a rough time for her.  But…for one thing, the problems are of her own making.  It doesn’t make them hurt less, but she’s caused a lot of what she’s upset about.

And for another thing, people go do their jobs every single day when they have worries and problems on their minds.  I think a certain kind of person (read: immature) gets it in their heads that they can’t possibly be asked to do their work (and let’s face it, this IS Amy’s job) if there is a drama going on in their lives.  But there’s an old saying…the show must go on.  What makes her worries any more special than Joe Schmoe’s worries, that we should have to offer her special treatment and overlook these constant mini-breakdowns?  Because she’s talented?  Yes, she is, but what does that have to do with anything?

One of two things is going to happen from this turn of events with her husband.  She’s going to hit rock bottom, that’s almost a certainty.  But when she does, she’ll either see what a mess she’s made of her life, check into rehab, and make a huge effort to turn her life around and reclaim her voice in it; or, she’ll stay at rock bottom, living in the sludge and slime netherworld of the drug addict, until she either fades into obscurity or burns out her star permanently.

In a video she was shooting for Back To Black, there was a funeral scene with a tombstone which reads, “R.I.P. The Heart Of Amy Winehouse.”  I have a feeling we’re not far from that, if something drastic doesn’t happen and soon.

Just when you thought he couldn’t get any paler…

 Is it just me, or does he look like he ought to have Oompa-Loompas dancing around him?

And has it really been twenty-five years since Thriller?  Gah….I remember staying up late to watch the premiere of the video on “Friday Night Videos”.

It would seem that Duane “Dog” Chapman’s son Tucker has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about his famous bounty hunter dad…because this isn’t the first time he’s sold information about his dad to the tabloids:

Meanwhile, a source tells TMZ that the revelation that Dog’s son Tucker was the one who sold his father’s rant to the National Enquirer isn’t so shocking — given that he’s done it before. We’re told that just a few months back, Tucker was paid by the tabloid for a story about his dad disappearing.

Tucker seems to be upset with his father because Dog disapproves of his girlfriend, who happens to be black:

Attorney Brook Hart told The Associated Press that Chapman’s son, Tucker, sent the recording to the tabloid for “a lot of money.”

“I guess because of whatever level of anger he had of his father, he felt the need to express it in that manner,” Hart said. […]

In the conversation, Chapman urges Tucker to break up with his girlfriend. He also expresses concern about the girlfriend trying to tape and go public about the TV star’s use of the N-word.

In a statement, the 54-year-old Chapman said he has “utmost respect and aloha for black people who have suffered so much due to racial discrimination and acts of hatred.

“I did not mean to add yet another slap in the face to an entire race of people who have brought so many gifts to this world,” he said. “I am ashamed of myself and I pledge to do whatever I can to repair this damage I have caused.”

Hart said his client is not a racist and vowed never to use the word again.

“I have never seen anything that suggests he judges people by the color of their skin or racial background or anything but on their character,” he said. “Duane lost his composure and made very, very inappropriate remarks, for which he truly regrets.”

Chapman said he was “disappointed in his choice of a friend, not due to her race, but her character. However, I should have never used that term.”

From what I’ve read about the incident, and heard on the recording, it isn’t the fact that the girl is black that upset Dog…it was her questionable character.  He seemed to be under the impression that Tucker could have chosen more wisely in his choice of companion, considering the family profession.  And you know what?  He’s right.  When you’re in that sort of job, you do need to be very careful about the company you keep.

It also seems that Tucker, 23, has just been released from prison after serving time on a 20-year drug charge.  Perhaps he needs to take a closer look at his choice of friends.

But wait, there’s more…

It would appear the end of the line has come for “shock-jock” Don Imus. Now with CBS firing him, the embattled radio host can’t seem to catch a break. And the nation is divided over whether he should be given a break or not. Even in my house there is division.

I think while what Imus said about the Rutger’s basketball team was grotesquely inappropriate and totally out of context, he should be given the opportunity to apologize.  And perhaps instead of being removed from his position, we could this situation and his ignorance to continue the dialogue of race in this country.  All we’ve really done is punish one man for using an inappropriate term, but it doesn’t teach him anything about his own bigotry and ignorance.  I imagine a frank discussion with the women of Rutger’s would have gone a long way to do that as well but what incentive is there now for a man like Imus to search his soul?

But wait, there’s more…