And according to sometimes pal Mark Ronson, she is no longer recording any music, because she isn’t fit to work (cue my shocked face):

The singer has been recording with Mark in his studios in Henley, Oxforshire, but the plug has now been well and truly pulled on the project.

The pair fell out amid Amy saying the song was “rubbish” and Mark cancelling the sessions, claiming she is not fit to record music.

Mark, who confirmed the split yesterday, told The Sun: “We did work on it but we never finished it. I don’t think it will happen unless by some miracle it gets recorded and someone sings on it.

“I’m not sure Amy is ready to work on music yet.”

Well, I’m sure there is no shortage of famous musicians who are queuing up to record the theme to Quantum Of Solace.  Of course, I couldn’t care less…the Bond franchise is dead to me after what they did to Pierce.  You hear me?  Dead to me!  Dead, I tell you!

Okay, anyway.  I don’t have the space (or the patience) to link to every article we’ve done concerning Amy’s woes, so please check out our full coverage here.

(obviously taken in happier times…look how good she looks)

Wow.  I have been asking for a while now what has happened to the family of Amy Winehouse, and look at what I found…an explosive interview with her father Mitch where he lets loose on a whole number of subjects concerning his wayward daughter.  I know it sounds hypocritical, but as much as I wanted to know where they were in her obvious time of need, perhaps there was some of this info he could have kept to himself, y’know?

Well, anyway, he said it, I read it, and now I offer it to you.  So gird your loins, we’re gonna dive right in…

But wait, there’s more…

This whole Amy Winehouse thing just gets curiouser and curiouser.  On the heels of yesterday’s story where her mother said Amy had a new boyfriend and is fixing to kick hubby Blake Incarcerated-Druggie to the curb, now today we have Amy categorically denying it all and saying she and Blakey are tight:

It was reported at the weekend that the singer was romantically involved with her manager’s assistant, Alex Haines, 22, and planned to divorce Blake Fielder-Civil.

But at her home in North London, Miss Winehouse has insisted: “I am not divorcing Blake. I am totally in love with him.

“You’ve seen us together and you know how much we’re in love with each other. We’re going to be together for ever.” […]

She added: “We’re not splitting up. I don’t have a new boyfriend.

“I’m totally in love with Blake and I’ll be going to court with him every single day to support him throughout his case.”

Shortly after she spoke yesterday, Mr Haines arrived at the house. A source at Miss Winehouse’s management company denied any relationship between the pair.

Well well well.  So which is it…Amy’s denials that there is any new relationship and she and Blake are still together, or Janis Winehouse’s claims that Amy has a new man?  After all, Janis has her claims…but if you read carefully, you’ll see that she never actually comes out and says Amy has a new fella, just that she hopes Amy does:

“Blake has sent her down the wrong path - drugs and self-harm. She needs a man she can depend on, who can look after her.

“I’m praying Alex is that man.”

And y’know…right there is one of the keys to this whole thing.  Janis hopes Amy is changing while at the same time refusing to blame Amy for this whole mess that her life has turned into.  Of course, it could happen, but I seriously doubt that Blake forcibly held his wife down and made her take drugs against her will.  And from what I know of self-harming, that is something that is already inside a person…somebody else can’t plant that idea in your head and you just one day decide cutting yourself is a fabulous idea.

So what about this going to court every day and supporting Blake thing?  I wonder what Amy will do when she gets to court and sees her man making googly eyes at a blonde?  Don’t forget, it was just a few days ago that he was caught mouthing sweet nothings to a woman named Sophie, who was in the public gallery and who describes herself as Blake’s “best friend.”  Oh man…Amy will tear Sophie’s head off and snort her blood like a line of coke if she sees that happening.

But wait, one more thing…it seems Amy’s dad Mitch has finally resurfaced and he’s none too happy about the direction his daughter’s life has taken lately:

Miss Winehouse, who received a police caution for assault last week , was also visited by her father, Mitch.

An onlooker said: “You could hear screaming and shouting inside.

“He was telling her, ‘You’ve got to pull yourself together’.”

If there’s anyone who has been able to get through to Amy lately, it’s Mitch Winehouse, so I hope he continues with whatever it is that will get through to her, whether that be talking or yelling or tough love or gentleness or whatever it takes to break through to her.  Because, I’m telling you, she won’t last the year if she keeps this up.  I truly hope it doesn’t happen, and I’ll be thrilled to be wrong, but at the rate she’s declining I don’t see how she will be around if she doesn’t get serious help, soon.

I’m starting to think that if I ever wanted to do something like hoover up a line of coke or go all crazazy on somebody, I’d need to move to London to do it, because they seem to be pretty lenient on stuff like that over there.  Witness Amy Winehouse, fresh off a night in jail, who was let go after the face-punching/headbutting incident with a frowny look and a stern finger-waggle:

Winehouse was questioned about a street brawl in which she allegedly attacked two men in the early hours of Wednesday.

But when she originally arrived at the station, such was her state that a doctor deemed her “unfit to be interviewed”.

Her spokeswoman said today: “Amy Winehouse was questioned this morning at a London police station in connection to an incident in Camden in the early hours of April 23, 2008.

“She admitted to a common assault by slapping a man with an open hand and accepted a caution.

“Amy was fully co-operative with inquiries and apologised for the incident.

“She thanked the police for their professional handling of the matter. There will be no further action taken.

“Amy is looking forward to continuing her work on new music in the studio.”

“Unfit to be interviewed”?  What they probably meant was she was stoned off her face and had to have some time to detox that stuff out of her system a bit.

But on the news that husband Blake Incarcerated-Druggie has a new blonde woman in his life, Amy herself has picked up a new man:

Janis Winehouse told the Sunday Mirror: “I’d spoken to Alex [Haynes] a couple of times over the phone, but this was the first time I’d actually met him.

“He’s a lovely boy - gentle and sweet. He really looked after Amy popping out to buy cigarettes, papers, anything she wanted.

“He works for her manager so their relationship was professional to begin with but if they’ve made something of it, I’m thrilled.

“Blake has sent her down the wrong path - drugs and self-harm. She needs a man she can depend on, who can look after her.

“I’m praying Alex is that man.”

Oh…one of her family members finally emerges from the shadows to speak?

Look, I like Amy as much as the next person, but I also realize that no man is going to help Amy.  If Amy wants to be drug-free and clean, then Amy has to make that decision for herself.  Yes, having supportive people around you does help (isn’t that what one’s family is supposed to do?), but ultimately you have to make the decision to be clean because you want to be clean…just like you made the decision to take drugs in the first place.  I’ve no doubt Blake was a negative influence on Amy, but she’s the one who made the decision.

Oh well.  It’s always been Amy’s dad who has had to step forward and take charge.  He may have made mistakes in his life, but at least he has made attempts to help her (and I hope he is doing so now behind the scenes).  Her mom has usually sat in the background, wringing her hands and making pithy statements while Mitch has stepped in and done something:

Little wonder her father, Mitch, who remains devoted to his daughter but increasingly frustrated, is said to be “at the end of his tether”.

Together with some of her older, loyal friends, and Amy’s record company, Island Records, he is even considering mounting another drastic intervention and forcing Amy to rehab - or more pertinently back to rehab, as she has already been there on a number of occasions.

And what about, oh, I don’t know…this little thing called a marriage?  Couldn’t these two knuckleheads at least make an attempt at a divorce before they start picking up replacements?  And when’s she getting that “Blake’s” tattoo removed from her chest?  One more thing…you gotta wonder what it is about this guy.  Why take up with Amy now, if he’s so clean-cut?  Maybe he’s been assigned as her minder.

It’s pretty sad when the voice of reason in all this turns out to come from none other than Keith Richards, himself no stranger to the vices of drugs and alcohol:

Perhaps the best advice comes from a hell-raiser of a much older vintage, Rolling Stone Keith Richards, who has expressed concern for her future. 

“She isn’t going to be around long unless she sorts herself out pretty quick,” he has remarked. “She needs to get smart.”

UPDATE:  Amy has been arrested and is currently in custody.

Maybe, if what I’m reading on the internets is true.  She’s in big trouble for headbutting one man and punching another in the face while on a drug and booze-fueled frenzy, and word is the police are gonna come after her:

The troubled singer, 24, is expected to be arrested this afternoon after a 38-year-old man told police in Kentish Town she had allegedly assaulted him in Chalk Farm Road, Camden.

Winehouse, dressed in a Lacoste t-shirt and mini skirt, was driven from her Camden in a state of distress, with her make-up smeared across her face. [..]

The Met inquiry began after it was reported that Winehouse assaulted two people outside a bar early on Wednesday.

She faces up to six months in jail if convicted of assault.

But wait, there’s more…

Maybe they will let Amy and husband Blake Incarcerated-Druggie share a cell.

Yes, Amy Winehouse has really put her foot in it this time. She’s facing arrest after a booze-fueled attack on two men:

The junkie singer, 24, is to be quizzed by police after claims she HEADBUTTED a Good Samaritan who hailed her a cab outside a bar.

Rehab star Amy, said to have PUNCHED a second victim in the face, sank to a horrific new low while high on Class A drugs.

Onlookers told how the married singer also SNOGGED a mystery fella at a nightspot and shocked punters by overturning tables and drinks.

She was later seen smoking drugs in the street, walked into a lamppost, and riled a cabbie by paying only HALF her promised fare home.

It all started earlier in the night, when Amy and friends started drinking at home before heading out to a pub. While there, she punched a musician in the face who refused to give up his spot at a pool table for her. She played her game and returned home, only to come back out later and visit another pub:

But wait, there’s more…

Well, they say the first step is knowing you have a problem, but then you actually have to do something about it.  Amy Winehouse apparently understands her need to return to rehab (and hopefully for more than a two-week clean-her-up dust-her-off make-the-junkie-pretty-for-the-cameras stay this time):

The singer is said to be close to returning to rehab, and has reportedly admitted that “she needs to check into rehab again”.

A source told The Sun: “There are too many temptations for her in the UK — people around her in London are making it impossible for her to stay clean for any length of time.

“Her management had considered flying her to a clinic in Israel but are now looking further afield. They are assessing a clinic in Cape Town in South Africa.”

Look, I don’t care if they fly her to Penguin Rehab Center in Antarctica, just get her out of London and into rehab somewhere, now.  Her previous two-week vacation spa treatment rebab stint was just to get her cleaned up and prettied up for the Grammys, but in terms of lasting effect it was obviously destined for fail.  But while getting her to an out-of-town/state/country/continent rehab is probably a good idea, at some point she will have to return home if she plans on continuing to live near her Blake Incarcerated-Druggie, who’s visiting hours she recently missed.  That’s the problem facing all recovering addicts…returning to daily life after rehab is over.

And it doesn’t look like her face is clearing up either:

[T]he heavy make-up could not hide the unsightly scabs on her face which some sources have blamed on her ‘drug-taking’ lifestyle.

The award-winning singer is in desperate shape and the pan-stick make-up failed to conceal the spots and scabs on her wrinkled cheeks, chin and nose.

Amy’s spokesman has insisted she is suffering from the bacterial skin infection impetigo - which is highly contagious and can develop by repetitive scratching of a sore.

He said the 24-year-old has been put on a course of antibiotics to clear it up.

But friends fear the scabs on her face are a sign that her drinking and drug taking is once again spiralling out of control.

Amy, if you do indeed have impetigo, do everyone in London a favor…STAY HOME UNTIL IT CLEARS UP.  Nobody wants your nawsty, scabby germs, okay?  How selfish do you have to be?  I mean, it’s not a personal thing…if it is in fact impetigo, that is highly contagious, and nobody else wants it!

Friends blame multiple sources for her facial problems, including drugs, medications, and diet:

Miss Winehouse’s spokesman has insisted she is suffering from the bacterial skin infection impetigo - which is highly contagious and can develop by repetitive scratching of a sore.

He said the 24-year-old has been put on a course of antibiotics to clear it up.

But friends fear the scabs on her face are a sign that her drinking and drug taking is once again spiralling out of control.

Her love of junk food has also not helped the condition of her skin. She was pictured emerging from a fast-food outlet with fish and chips and a bottle of Lucozade.

A source said: “Her friends are worried these sores have been caused by an excessive use of crack cocaine, which can cause these kind of blemishes.

“Pete Doherty used to have similar sores under his nose.

“Her skin also suffers because Amy takes in barely any nutrients. Fruit and vegetables never pass her lips.” […]

Another source said: “When Blake was in solitary confinement recently they both started self harming again.

“It is like some kind of pact to show how much they love each other.”

Sally Penford, of the International Dermal Institute, said: “This is very much what impetigo looks like. However your skin mirrors what is going on inside your body.

“If you are taking medication, or you are not getting any nutrients and toxins are not being flushed out of the body, it will show on the skin.”

Amy is a self-confessed junk-food junkie, and loves her crisps, candy, fish-n-chips, and KFC.  It’s true what is said about the skin being a mirror of what goes on inside our bodies…just this week, as I’ve been dealing with the flu and all its assorted deliciousness, my skin has looked dull and lifeless and I’ve had a few breakouts.  That always happens when I get sick.  But I also haven’t been eating right this week (or much at all, for that matter), so that hasn’t helped my skin either.  I don’t even take drugs, outside of OTC flu medication…I can’t even imagine what one would have to ingest to cause this sort of reaction to one’s skin, if indeed that is what it is, and not impetigo.

If it isn’t impetigo and it is some sort of reaction to illegal drugs, then she must be in more serious trouble than anyone thought.  Her lips alone show there is a problem…dry and scabby, they look like she possibly is dehydrated.  All told, it’s a far, far cry from what she looked like at the Grammy Awards just a couple of months ago.

It’s interesting to me how her family were always pictured with her in the weeks leading up to the Grammys, but they are nowhere to be found now.  Yes, they could be working in private to get her help, and I sincerely hope they are.  It’s just that before the Grammys, they preferred to do their good deeds before men.  Perhaps her going out with her scabs and her carved-up arms, presumably from self-harming, is a desperate and possibly unconscious cry for help.  You’ll notice in the photo above, taken just before the Grammys, she is wearing longer sleeves even though there were no marks to cover up, but now that she has marked up her arms (see previous photos), she’s got on short sleeves, with her scabs on display for everyone to see.

I hope something is done soon, before we’re writing her obituary.  That would be sad, indeed.

Huh?

It wasn’t Brit-At-The-VMA’s level, but it certainly wasn’t all that exciting.  Where was the crazazy?

You could barely hear her singing (and it isn’t my TV, I have the Surround Sound going).  I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics except “Dance like there’s no tomorrow!”  You could tell she was lip-synching (I realize she wouldn’t be singing live, but she could have faked it better).  The dancing was energetic but dull.  And I was just waiting on that microphone stand to hit her in the head.

Plus, what was dancing peepaw Randy Jackson doing?  He was totally doing the white boy dance!  Come on, dawg, put your back into it!

Can’t wait to hear what Simon has to say about it.

Two words:  Bo ring.

Okay, back to my hot wings.  At least they got some spice to them.

UPDATE:  In contrast, Alicia Keys is totally bringin’ it!

I would love to come in here one morning, sit at the computer, pull up various websites, and see that Britney had a “normal” night the night before…had a nice supper, was home at a decent hour, watched some television, went to bed, had a good night’s sleep.  But I don’t think that’s going to be happening any time soon.

I saw this going on before I went to bed, but I thought I’d give it until this morning to calm down a bit before I reported anything, and there still may be yet more happening today.  Apparently Britney had somewhat of an emotional night…I hesitate to say she had an emotional breakdown, though.  So here’s what we’ve gleaned thus far:

But wait, there’s more…

And it’s a good thing, because nobody wants Tractor-Trailer Possum instead of turkey.

I’m not going to even attempt to paraphrase the article.  Suffice it to say that Brit’s uncle (the brother of her father Jamie) has given an interview to The Sun, and boy…it’s a doozy.  Or a boozy.  A boozy doozy.  About a floozy.  Okay, I’m running out of free association.

Just read it.  Wait, I’ll give you a bit, just as a teaser:

We tracked William - known as Willie - down to his camper van home near Britney’s childhood town of Kentwood, Louisiana.

After her turbulent early years, Willie says she went “buck-wild” on turning 18, snorting cocaine on her birthday, adding: “She has tried just about everything - cocaine, crystal meth, ecstasy.”

Now, it bears repeating at this point that The Sun PAYS for interviews, and it does appear that Uncle “Road-Kill” Willie is in need of some spendin’ green.  And it also bears repeating that The Sun is the UK’s version of Weekly World News.

Okay, maybe not that bad.  They are right sometimes…they were spot on with the Amy Winehouse dope video thing.  So maybe the National Enquirer.  But Newsweek, they ain’t.  So nobody write me and tell me how disreputable The Sun is, because I already know.

So just read it and then come back here and tell us what you think.