I just got back from St. Lucia where I was booked to photograph Amy Winehouse’s live “comeback” at this year’s St. Lucia Jazz-Fest. No real Jazz musicians ever play these festivals but Amy has been living on the island for the last few months writing new material so she was the perfect person to headline it. Recent photos suggested she was doing better and she was booked to take part in Island Records’ 50th anniversary, so the pressure was on. Backstage I heard she’d written an all reggae album, which Island had refused to release. Locals in the crowd also told me how it easy it was to get drugs on the island and how Amy had been spotted out and about, railing in public.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you that Amy Winehouse is as fucked up as she’s ever been. She stumbled onstage and immediately started wailing and skatting to replace forgotten lyrics. Is there a person in the world that doesn’t know all the words to “Rehab?” She wore a tiny blue skirt, which showed her knickers every time she bent over for a drink, which was at least 17 times. I later discovered she has a guy whose main job is to fill up her glass with rum and coke. What a great job to have in this economy.

In between songs she’d stare into the crowd, grab at her dress, scratch her legs, and secretly pray she was back at the hotel doing smack. When she got bored of doing a few messy ska covers (I could have sworn I heard her say “Crack Rock Steady”) she cut her band off and removed her shoes before blabbing incoherently to the crowd. Then she spat chewing gum at them. Ugh. When even the stage lights gave up on her and decided to short circuit, the crowd began to boo. Amy walked off in a rage but instantly came stomping back and hollered, “We may have lost the power but we haven’t lost THE POWER!” Seeing a tiny Ronnie Spector dressed as a cartoon chicken that screams Chuck D anthems went far beyond ridiculous and became – boring.

So what next for Amy Winehouse? I would guess nothing at all. This just goes on and on until we stop caring. Look at Pete Doherty’s career. Did you know he’s a drug addict? Yes. Did you know he just put out a new solo album? No, me neither and I’m one of the few people still in contact with the guy. The world made it clear they wanted a sassy, 50s chick who refuses to get clean but they got way more than they bargained for. Ooops!

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