Belgrade Boos Amy Winehouse Off Stage After Shameful Performance
Abuse, jeers and plastic beer glasses were thrown at Amy Winehouse as she attempted to open her European tour with a disappointingly shameful show in Belgrade (18 June). After little over an hour, she admitted defeat and the booing crowd forced her from the stage.
In what was flagged as a comeback tour to prepare the ground for Amy’s long-awaited follow-up album to 2006’s Back to Black, 20,000 people paid to see perform the global hits that have brought her millions and unveil some new tracks. Instead, they watched as Amy stumbled, staggered and fell around stage, making little effort to sing or perform. She attempted a few lines from a handful of songs, mumbled with her hand in front of her mouth, but couldn’t even follow the lyrics on her floor monitors.
It went wrong from the start of the show, which was delayed by nearly half an hour. She stumbled on stage, fell, and threw off her heels, before collapsing into the arms of her band. After nearly 20 minutes, she hadn’t sung more than a few notes. > >She didn’t seem bothered by her poor performance or inability to sing more than a few strained notes, preferring to introduce her band (twice!), stand arms-folded staring middle distance, or just sit on the floor at the back of the stage. After 30 minutes, she wobbled off stage for the first time, apparently unable to go on any more. She returned after ten minutes, only to sit on the drum riser while her band tried to rescue the performance.
Her band seemed fed up with Amy’s petulant behaviour. They had to stand and look on as she rambled, reeled and pulled strange shapes and facial expressions.
At times, her ragged and streaked hairdo seemed to get more care than the audience, and she showed paid more attention to hoisting her ample cleavage than to her field of fans gathered beneath Belgrade’s Kalemegdan fortress.
In just one more weird episode tonight, the crowd was silenced when Amy made some rather bizarre throwaway comments about Nazis and about her only liking one Nigerian.
Despite all of this, it could have been possible to regain the crowd’s respect, evidenced by the huge cheers when the opening notes of her hits were heard. When she couldn’t make it beyond the first few lines (at best), the jeering and abuse struck up again.
It’s not possible to judge what state she was in or why (although many were reasonably claiming that her erratic behaviour was suited to someone off their face on drink or worse) but if you saw a girl in a similar state, you would hail her a cab home sharpish.
Some of the performance seemed part of Amy’s act but, in general, she’s not in a good place right now. I feel sorry for Amy, if this is where she is right now. I feel just as sorry for anyone for tickets who has to endure such a disgraceful spectacle on the rest of this tour.
It was an embarrassment and shame to watch Amy tonight. We wanted her to perform as we know she can.
You could say hopes were high. We were let down. If it hadn’t been so bad, so dreadfully sad, it would be a comic performance. Indeed, Some people were amused. Some people were angry. Most people were just very disappointed.
LATEST: On Tuesday, the BBC reported that Amy Winehouse has cancelled her entire tour. That followed her first pulling out of shows in Istanbul and Athens. Her spokesman was quoted as saying that Amy would like to apologise to fans, but “feels that this is the right thing to do”. They added that Amy Winehouse will return home after agreeing with management that “she cannot perform to the best of her ability”. After Saturday’s show, that’s quite an understatement.
7 / 23 / 2011 7:47 pm
Today’s sad announcement of the death of Amy Winehouse is a great loss, an incredible tragedy and, despite the fears of waking to such news, a terrible shock. My thoughts are with her family, friends… and with Amy. May you rest in peace. Your music will ensure you are never forgotten.
7 / 26 / 2011 8:21 am
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1646962.php/Amy-Winehouse-reportedly-pushed-on-stage-by-bodyguards-while-in-Serbia