Why was Amy Winehouse booed off stage?

What Happened

Fans at the Birmingham NIA in London booed Amy Winehouse on Thursday night as she slurred though songs and staggered on stage, according to the London Daily Mail. In the first show of her UK tour, an apparently drunk Winehouse responded to the jeering audience by saying, “First of all, if you’re booing, you’re a mug for buying a ticket. Second, to all those booing, just wait ’til my husband gets out of incarceration. And I mean that.”

What the commentators said

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This probably wasn’t how “Amy Winehouse—and her handlers—envisioned her grand comeback,” said Gina Serpe in E! Online. Winehouse’s “haphazard behavior” sent her fans “fleeing the venue in droves.” And “for those who attempted to hang on through the show’s end, they sadly weren’t rewarded.”

"It has been a traumatic year" for the "soul diva," said Amol Rajan in The Independent. Up until now, Winehouse’s “indiscretions involving drugs and drink have largely been forgiven by fans enthralled by her talent.” And her latest album, “the biggest selling British release of 2007, has prompted Prince, George Michael, and Missy Elliot to approach her about collaborations.” What a horrible time to fall apart.

And things just keep getting worse, said Adam Sherwin in The Times Online. “Winehouse’s tour manager, Thom Stone, has now resigned, claiming that he passively inhaled heroin while it was being smoked on the singer’s bus.” And if Winehouse bails out on the rest of the tour—which has sold more than 50,000 tickets and is expected to gross £1,125,000—Winehouse will get stuck with the bill.

Do I live on another planet? said Helen Brown in the Telegraph. Winehouse’s show the other night was great. She is “a real, honest talent. A great unflinching songwriter with a raw voice. And, in the tradition of artists like Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, she came out and gave it to us, how it felt. Passionate, desperate, tragic and lonely. She was a little lost girl with the strength to howl it like it was.”