If you thought Amy Winehouse’s life couldn’t get any worse, here’s news. News of the World - which often seems a British equivalent to some of the American half-truth rags - is claiming that “gangsters” sharing a jail cell with her husband Blake Fielder-Civil are threatening to kidnap Winehouse if hubby doesn’t pay up 100,000 British Pounds (approx. US$200,000).

Um. I don’t want to make light of something as serious as this - if it’s true - but usually don’t you kidnap first and then ask for ransom? And how exactly would Fielder-Civil make the payment into a secret bank account when he’s in jail? Is this all b.s.?

If it’s all true, then it’s very scary for the couple. Since Winehouse is possibly facing prison herself for interference in her husband’s case, the question is will she be safer in or out of jail? Rock and a hard place?

Popularity: 27% [?]

Singer Amy Winehouse has reportedly told friends friend that she wants to get her life together - once she can get past New Years Eve, that is. 

Winehouse, who has been nominated for 6 Grammy awards, has reportedly told a friend that she’s promised to make amends in January in an effort to get her career back on track, after saying she’s determined to attend the award show in February. 

 The friend says:

“Amy has agreed she will sort her life out in the New Year. She wants to give the performance of her life in L.A. But she’s going to throw a party over Christmas - which will probably be a messy affair.”

Popularity: 29% [?]

It’s one thing to make the list of the ”Super Beautiful” and yet quite another to make the list of ”Top 10 Hollywood Meltdowns of 2007.”  That said, who now can say she’s had the honor of being tops in both? Why, it’s our Miss Brit - who else?! 

Britney had some stiff competition this year, and even managed to beat out Owen Wilson for the coveted spot, but with her no panties philosophy, shaving her head, a couple of weeks in rehab, a forgettable performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, and a divorce from Kevin Federline, not to mention that ongoing custody battle over the kids, there’s nobody who came close this year - but Wilson did come in at the number two spot for his suicide attempt in August.  

That said, I give you the Top 10 Hollywood Meltdowns of 2007, as compiled by Us Weekly:

1. Britney Spears
2. Owen Wilson
3. Paris Hilton
4. Lindsay Lohan
5. Amy Winehouse
6. Cameron Diaz
7. Rosie O’Donnell
8. Ellen DeGeneres
9. Alec Baldwin
10. David Hasselhoff

Popularity: 34% [?]

A rep for Amy Winehouse says that despite the pop star’s recent setbacks, she’s determined to attend the upcoming Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, where she’s been nominated for a whopping six awards.  

According to a Winehouse spokesperson [via People.com]:

“Amy is thrilled to be nominated for six Grammys and is very much hoping to attend. She is determined to be ready and well for that performance.”

In the meantime, Amy’s mother Janis has written an open letter to her daughter and had it published in the News of the World newspaper, begging her daughter to seek help before it’s too late. 

“This letter is my way of making sure that you know that all you have to do is come to us, Amy, and we’ll do everything in our power to get you well again.  After all, you are still my baby and you always will be.”

Winehouse and her mother are said to be speaking to one another, however the letter was a push to get the troubled singer going in the right direction and hopefully persuade the singer to go home and get help. 

Janis Winehouse continued:

“We want to help you, but we know that unless you want to be helped - unless you come to us - anything we tried would be in vain. Remember: you’re just an ordinary human being, no stronger than any of the rest of us.”

People magazine also recently reported that Winehouse is currently in a program and under a doctor’s supervision. 

Popularity: 44% [?]

Kanye West and Amy Winehouse have taken the lead in the nominations for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. West’s “Graduation” is nominated for both Album Of The Year and Rap Album Of The Year, while ”Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Good Life” have both been nominated for Best Rap Song.

Winehouse’s “Back To Black” has been nominated for the Album Of The Year and her hit single “Rehab” is up for both Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year. 

The nominations:

Record Of The Year
Irreplaceable, Beyonce
The Pretender, Foo Fighters
Umbrella, Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z
What Goes Around…Comes Around, Justin Timberlake
Rehab, Amy Winehouse

Album Of The Year
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters
These Days, Vince Gill
River: The Joni Letters, Herbie Hancock
Graduation, Kanye West
Back To Black, Amy Winehouse

Song Of The Year
Before He Cheats, Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins
Hey There Delilah, Tom Higgenson
Like A Star, Corinne Bailey Rae
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
Umbrella, Shawn Carter

Best New Artist
Feist
Ledisi
Paramore
Taylor Swift
Amy Winehouse

(Want the whole story? Keep Reading…)

Popularity: 37% [?]

Amy Winehouse has been photographed wandering the streets of London, wearing only a bra and jeans. According to the Daily Mail, Winehouse was spotted barefoot and only partially dressed leaving a friend’s house at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday. Witnesses told the Mail she appeared disorientated and agitated as she wandered around on the pavement for several minutes in the cold weather and then went back inside the house. 

Winehouse has canceled the remainder of her U.K. concert tour last week, saying health issues and her grief regarding her husband’s incarceration as the causes.

The report comes as Georgette Civil, who is the mother of Winehouse’s husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, has revealed the singer is ingesting more drugs than ever and rarely visiting her husband in prison:

“Amy’s having trouble getting her head together about anything right now. It’s desperately sad and we’re all so worried about her mental and emotional well-being. She needs professional help. Amy is still using drugs when Blake’s in prison. She is using more cocaine and heroin now than ever. She can’t stop crying and keeps saying all she wants is peace. She’s not eating or sleeping properly and is in pieces.”

Popularity: 28% [?]

Amy Winehouse’s husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, has been refused bail and ordered to stay in England’s Pentonville Prison until January, after appearing in a London courtroom on November 23. 

Fielder-Civil is accused of perverting the course of justice and is scheduled to enter a plea in the case on January 18th.  Judge David Radford scheduled a start date of June 23 for the trial.

NME.com reported that Winehouse was in attendance at Friday’s court hearing and blew kisses to her husband in the courtroom. 

Fielder-Civil is accused of offering alleged victim James King payment to withdraw his claim that Fielder-Civil assaulted him, and leave the country.

In the meantime Amy’s mother, Janet Winehouse, has revealed she’s pretty damn happy her son-in-law gets to spend more time in the slammer: 

“Thank God he’s gone inside. I think he’s introduced her to them [drugs]… .” 

Popularity: 42% [?]

Amy Winehouse’s tour manager, Thom Stone, has up and quit his job, blaming the drugs he inhales unintentionally as a passenger on the Winehouse tourbus is damaging to his health.

Doctors reportedly discovered heroin in Stone’s system and the former manager insists that it must have came from working in close proximity to Winehouse and her equally troubled husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.  Stone confirmed to the London Sun that he had quit his job, but he declined to comment on the physician’s findings, which were documented in a note.

A source told newspaper that Stone was routinely bailing out the troubled singer and that he was watching them get stoned out of their minds on drugs and wondered if Amy was even going to get up on stage. 

Says the source:

“It was a nightmare job.”

A Winehouse confidante said the singer is not upset to see Stone go and a friend agrees:

“When he produced this note Blake and Amy thought it was a joke. They didn’t get on with Thom…They wanted rid of him anyway.”

Popularity: 39% [?]

Amy Winehouse was booed by her fans for a less than stallar performance as she kicked off the first night of her U.K. tour in Birmingham, while her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, is in Pentonville Prison, accused of perverting the course of justice and assaulting a barman.

According to the BBC, Winehouse cried and then walked off the stage in the middle of a song and dedicated “Wake Up Alone” to her husband at the Birmingham gig.

When her performance drew boos from the audience, Winehouse reacted by shouting to the crowd: 

“To them people booing, wait ’til my husband gets out of incarceration. And I mean that.”

Fan Zoe Giorgio said:

“When she did sing, she sounded phenomenal, but she was not ready to be up on that stage. She was so weak, so vulerable.” 

Another audeince member said people started walking out of the concert:

“I went out for a cigarette half-way through and at least 40 people left - just in that five minutes.”

Popularity: 35% [?]

On Thursday, police used a battering ram and smashed in the front door of the London home of British pop singer Amy Winehouse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who were not home at the time.  The police did however, arrested Fielder-Civil later, after he was found in Bow, east London, in connection with an alleged plot to fix a trial.  Four other men, who ranged in age from 19 to 25,  were also arrested at separate locations during the same operation. 

The Daily Mail has reported that Winehouse watched in tears as police handcuffed her husband, claiming she shouted to officers on the scene that she wanted to go with him, however the singer was not arrested. 

Winehouse’s mother-in-law, Georgette Fielder-Civil, later told the paper that the singer was “totally distraught and too upset to talk.”

It’s being reported that Fielder-Civil had been plotting to stop his and friend Michael Brown’s trial after they were accused of assaulting a barman.  Allegedly, Fielder-Civil and Brown had planned to pay cash to the victim, James King, on the basis that he either withdraw his statement or they would take him abroad so the trial wouldn’t take place. Sources say the police were tipped off about the plot by a newspaper.

According to a spokesman for the police:

 “A thorough investigation is being carried out into claims of conspiracy to pervert justice in connection with a trial, three men have been arrested and are being questioned. We’re expecting to make further arrests.”

Popularity: 29% [?]