Back To Black was released in October 2006 and did fantastically well. It turned Winehouse into a huge star around the world, but also led to the party lifestyle which has left her skinny and scarred.

Winehouse has been working on her new album for well over a year now. At least in fits and starts. The problem seems to be her lack of self-control and willingness to just get on with it. There may also be an element of worry that it can’t possibly live up to Back To Black.

But The Sun is now reporting Winehouse is going back to Jamaica for a short holiday with strict instructions to put the finishing touches to her new album.

A source said:

“She’ll fly out next week. She is really excited about going back because she loves the Caribbean so much. But she’s been told it’s not a party. She has to work.”

Let’s hope she heeds the warning as last time she went to Jamaica for a holiday she ended up staying for eight months. And still didn’t have a completed album when she finally returned to the U.K.

I suspect I’m not alone in wanting to hear new material from Winehouse. For all her obvious and well-documented problems she still delivers when it comes to the music. But Back To Black is old hat now. We need something new, and fast.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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The Official Charts Company compiles the UK charts every week based on sales. And, according to NME, it recently released details of the Top 10 biggest selling albums of the noughties, which are as follows:-

The Top 10 Albums Of The Noughties

1. James Blunt – ‘Back To Bedlam’
2. Dido – ‘No Angel’
3. Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’
4. Leona Lewis – ‘Spirit’
5. David Gray – ‘White Ladder’
6. The Beatles – ‘1′
7. Dido – ‘Life For Rent’
8. Coldplay – ‘A Rush Of Blood To The Head’
9. Scissor Sisters – ‘Scissor Sisters’
10. Take That – ‘Beautiful World’

James Blunt at number one? Ugh. Dido at number two? Ugh. Neither are surprising as they’re both mainstream and bland. It’s good to see Amy Winehouse at number three and The Beatles and Coldplay also making the top ten. Scissor Sisters deserve a mention for being the only non-British artist to make the list.

[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

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Whether Fielder-Civil can be entirely blamed for Winehouse’ addiction problems or not it’s clear that he contributed. Lest we forget that when Winehouse appeared on the British music scene in 2003 she was a beautiful, healthy girl who still had all her teeth. And now she isn’t, so you do the math.

Winehouse married Fielder-Civil, or “her Blakey” in 2007 after an already-tumultuous relationship no doubt spurred on by the fact they were both addicts. Then Fielder-Civil was imprisoned in 2008 for perverting the course of justice, Winehouse took an extended holiday, and finally in July 2009 the pair were divorced.

But now it looks to be back on. There have been rumors of a reconciliation over the past two months but the evidence now seems overwhelming. The Sun claims the pair spent 36-hours together in what is described as “a love tryst.”

A friend of the family said:

“The romance is back on and everyone is frantic with worry. They have vowed to one another never to get back into drugs. But together they just went into self destruct mode – and it was their separation that saved them.”

Blake’s mother is already talking about the possibility of them getting remarried in the new year, which would mean the divorce will have lasted just six months. If this is true then I can’t see this ending well – this is one couple that may love each other but clearly aren’t good together.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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Bromfield revealed the plans during a brief interview with the Daily Star at the launch of Singstar: Take That on Wednesday night. That’s the same event where Speech Debelle found herself booed off stage after rapping Pray.

Bromfield, who sang Patience (and didn’t get booed off) at the event, revealed:

“I am too young to tour at the moment but at the end of 2010, around September, I should be the support act to a certain somebody.”

As much as Bromfield has clearly got a leg up in the industry thanks to her connection to Winehouse, she’s actually a very good singer and a little pop star in the making. And were I to go and see Amy Winehouse on tour I’d be more than happy to see Bromfield fill one of the support slots.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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It feels like an absolute age since Amy Winehouse released Back To Black and went from being a little-known British singer to a world famous and world-renowned diva. It’s actually only been three years, with the album released in October of 2006.

The problem is it doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to being released. Winehouse has been sidetracked having an extended holiday in St. Lucia, an inspiration for the new album apparently, and been busy helping her Goddaughter Dionne Bromfield record and release her debut album.

But Mitch Winehouse thinks it could be nearer to completion than most of us thought, telling Digital Spy:

“I’ve heard a couple of songs from it. It’s not dissimilar from the second album Back To Black – it’s going to be great. She’s writing all the time and when she’s got the poetry, she can go into the studio and she’s quite capable of doing the album in two weeks. So theoretically she could have the album ready in a month’s time, but it won’t be. When she gets cracking she does it very quickly.”

So, it could be ready in a month’s time but it likely won’t be. I guess this is a good test of how lazy or committed to work Amy Winehouse is – if it’s now another year before its release we’ll know it’s the former.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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Mitch is a very loyal father and is always the first to come out in support of his daughter. If he gets press coverage and becomes a bit of a media star out of it then I’m sure he sees it as a bonus. But I’m fairly sure it isn’t his first consideration. Probably.

According to BBC News, Mitch spoke to the Home Affairs committee in a debate about the cocaine trade when he referred to Amy’s addiction. Or apparent lack of it now. He criticized the current healthcare system and admitted his family were lucky in being able to afford the best doctors and treatment.

Maybe Winehouse (Amy, not Mitch) is clean and completely off drugs. But she doesn’t seem to have stopped drinking and also hasn’t gained any of the weight she dropped when she started using a few years ago. I’m just saying!

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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The Sun newspaper claims Winehouse had a boob job this week to prepare for her TV appearance. She allegedly paid a Harley Street clinic £35,000 ($60,000) to go from a 32B to a 32D. The idea was to restore her chest to how it was when she first burst on the scene in 2003 as an attractive, voluptuous woman.

That was obviously before she met Blake and started taking all manner of drugs. Which has left her skinny and without any attractive body part left.

Personally, if was Amy Winehouse, I’d have got my rotten teeth fixed first. Or maybe paid a Harley Street clinic to lock me up in their basement and promise not to let me out until I was well and truly off the smack. But that’s just me. And I’m not Amy Winehouse.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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Winehouse has spent a considerable amount of time in St. Lucia over the last couple of years. And there was speculation she had been so touched by the place that her new album was influenced by the culture there. At the same time, it was rumored Mark Ronson had been drafted in to save the new album after her record label rejected early demos.

That seems not to be the case, and Island Records are now confident Winehouse is ready to deliver in 2010.

Island Records co-president Darcus Beese told BBC News:

“I’ve heard a couple of song demos that absolutely floored me. Hopefully we’ll have her album next year.”

Note the “hopefully” though, which means Beese is hedging his bets a little. And the fact he is still only hopeful of the new album being released in 2010 means, by default, that it could slip to 2011. It really does depend whether Amy Winehouse leaves all the crap – drink, drugs, partying, Blake – behind and concentrates on getting new material out there.

And she really does need to do so because if she leaves it too long there’s a distinct chance we’ll have all stopped caring.

Meanwhile, Winehouse is busy promoting her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield’s debut album, with the pair due to appear on Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday (Oct. 10). Winehouse will be singing backing vocals for Bromfield in what is being billed as a comeback.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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This video does show a number of important things though. 1. Amy Winehouse can’t rap. 2. She looks like she’s off her face again. 3. She is at least (and at last) working on new material. 4. If this is the sort of material she’s working on then God only knows what the album is going to end up sounding like.

Stick to the soul ballads, Amy, they suit your voice so much better.

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We first saw Dionne Bromfield when she appeared in a video filmed by Pete Doherty singing alongside Winehouse. That was in May of 2008. She has since been papped out on the town with Winehouse despite only being 13-years-old.

The thing is, Bromfield can clearly sing and seems a precocious talent. While Winehouse has probably been blinded by her relationship with her Goddaughter (I don’t see her signing other 13-year-old singers) it’s a good thing if Bromfield gets a leg-up in a notoriously hard industry. If your Godmother was Amy Winehouse wouldn’t you milk it for all she’s worth?

Introducing Dionne Bromfield will be the first release on Lioness records, and as can be seen by the tracklisting below, it’s a covers album featuring soul classics. However, Winehouse claims Bromfield is also now writing her own material.

‘Introducing Dionne Bromfield’ Tracklisting

‘Tell Him’
‘Mama Said’
‘Foolish Little Girl’
‘My Boy Lollipop’
‘Beechwood 4-5789′
‘Two Can Have A Party’
‘He’s So Fine’
‘With A Child’s Heart’
‘Until You Come Back To Me’
‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’
‘Am I The Same Girl’
‘Oh Henry’

[Photo Source: Newscom]

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