I like the music of the troubled songstress Amy Winehouse, with her retro sound and appearance. Her ginormous Ronettes-style beehive and cleopatra eyeliner brings me right back; after all, I was into retro when it was 'now-tro'. I was piqued a couple years ago when she cancelled
a gig I'd bought tickets for. But I was bowled over by her string of
awards at last year's Grammys. Her beatific rapture upon winning Record
of the Year for
'Rehab' was best described by TV critic Mary McNamara in the next day's LA Times--as she put it, Amy had, upon winning the award, 'the look of fearful joy on her face -- like a beehived Christian mystic catching a glimpse of the risen Christ'. And, also in the LA Times, music critic Ann Powers said Winehouse was 'the most exciting performer of the evening. Her desperation to do well
was palpably human, and her delivery was a gamble -- a harder push, and
a more electric one, than you usually see during a staged event like
the Grammys.' But the best take was by Judy Rosen in Slate: 'Doubtless
many viewers had tuned in to witness the latest chapter in the
drama—another disastrous performance, or, if things went well, a
tear-jerking moment of redemption. What they saw was something more
banal, and more uplifting: a professional.' The entire article is just as perceptive.
Here's a clip of Winehouse, live via satellite from London, during the Grammys last year; you'll see the professional at work, followed by her stunned reaction upon receiving Record of the Year. I've read she's doing better these days since, contrary to the song, she finally did wind up going ...to rehab.
