Amy Winehouse appears at the V Festival on Saturday
Photo: snitcherdesk.com/ Splash News

Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga all made impressions on the crowd at this weekend's V Festival in the U.K., but there was one female performer who stole the whole weekend. Embattled singer Amy Winehouse made her first U.K. concert appearance in more than a year on Saturday, joining veteran ska band the Specials onstage for two songs, according to the BBC.

The band introduced Winehouse as "our good friend Amy," and she entered to a loud ovation. She sang with the group on two of its songs, "You're Wondering Now" and the original lineup's last single, 1981's classic "Ghost Town." Winehouse has previously expressed her affection for the Specials by recording one of the group's songs, "Hey Little Rich Girl." It ended up becoming a B-side during her sessions for her breakout album Back to Black.

"What a day, huh? Sunshine, Specials are here, count yourself lucky!" Winehouse told the crowd before the first song. It was a far cry from her problem-plagued set at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival in May, which Winehouse ended after six songs. Saturday's Specials set wasn't the only appearance that Winehouse made during V: She also ran onstage to introduce fellow troubled Brit Pete Doherty before his set on Saturday.

Winehouse spent most of the early part of the year on the island of St. Lucia working on music with Back to Black producer Salaam Remi, and since then she has been distracted by non-musical tasks like going to court for assaulting a fan (she was acquitted) and divorcing her husband and onetime muse Blake Fielder-Civil.

• Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga Perform At The UK's V Festival

• Amy Winehouse
• The Specials

Amy Winehouse
Photo: Oli Scarff/ Getty Images

A day after she testified that she was too small to have assaulted an overly aggressive fan, Amy Winehouse was acquitted of charges that she punched a dancer at a charity ball last year. Winehouse, 25, looking healthier and more clear-eyed than she has in months, told a London court on Thursday that despite her signature towering beehive and swaggering demeanor, she was intimidated when dancer Sherene Flash approached her to take a picture at the event in London in September.

According to the Guardian, Winehouse said she was "relieved and going" home on Friday (July 24) after a district judge dismissed the charges by Flash, who admitted that she was a bit "tipsy" when her right eye had a run-in with Winehouse's fist after the Prince's Trust Ball. "Having heard the evidence from all the witnesses, I cannot be sure that this was not an accident," judge Timothy Workman said. His words reportedly confused Winehouse at first — the singer fanned herself with a notebook as her lawyer clarified the not-guilty verdict for her.

The judge's decision came a day after Winehouse testified that she had felt scared and intimidated when burlesque dancer Flash, who is at least 3 or 4 inches taller than the "Rehab" singer, "lunged at me and put her arm around me." Winehouse said she would have gladly posed for the backstage picture with Flash and had simply asked the dancer to wait while she said goodbye to a friend, denying that she knowingly struck the woman in the eye.

"I pushed her up, like away," said Winehouse, who explained that she was on hand to see her 13-year-old goddaughter Dionne Bromfield headlining her first gig. "I wanted her away from me. ... I was scared. I thought, 'People are mad these days, people are just rude and mad, or people can't handle their drink.' I didn't know what she was doing. She lunged at me and put her arm around me. She was just drunk."

Winehouse told the judge, "I was scared. I'm not Mickey Mouse. I'm a human being." The troubled singer, who has a colorful history of drug issues and sometimes-violent interactions with fans, denied being a prima donna when questioned about her lifestyle. "I'm not like that," she said. "I'm not a Jennifer Lopez — paint the room white before I get there and I want five bunches of lilies."

In the end, the judge decided the case after hearing all the evidence, noting that just about all the witnesses were drunk at the time of the incident. "The two accounts are irreconcilable and I have had therefore to examine carefully the evidence of other witnesses," he said. "Whilst I accept that all the witnesses have endeavored to give an accurate account of the events, all but two of them were under the influence of alcohol to varying degrees." He also said the medical evidence presented by the prosecution didn't show "the sort of injury that often occurs when there is a forceful punch to the eye." None of the other witnesses said they saw Winehouse throw the punch.

Winehouse, who was recently granted a divorce from Blake Fielder-Civil, has been working on the follow-up to her Grammy-winning Back to Black album, but no release date has been announced for the disc.

• Amy Winehouse DJs At London's Monarch Club, 7.10.2008

• Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil
Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/ WireImage

After a tumultuous union filled with arrests, public spats and accusations of drug abuse, the turbulent marriage of British singer Amy Winehouse and onetime muse Blake Fielder-Civil ended on Thursday (July 16). The Associated Press reported that neither Winehouse, 25, nor Fielder-Civil, 27, were present when a judge granted the divorce petition at a brief Family Court hearing. The divorce becomes final after six weeks and a day, ending a marriage that provided dozens of international headlines and, according to sources close to Winehouse, nearly helped to write the epitaph for the troubled singer.

The couple, who met in a London bar in 2005, were married in a simple ceremony in front of a few friends in Miami in 2007 but spent much of their wedded life apart, as Fielder-Civil was arrested six months later on an assault charge and sent to jail.

Winehouse's father, Mitch Winehouse, has frequently accused music video production assistant Fielder-Civil for introducing his daughter to hard drugs, and the couple's up-and-down relationship made for plenty of tabloid headlines. Winehouse mined her misery over Fielder-Civil's early abandonment of their relationship for material on her multi-Grammy-winning breakthrough Back to Black, crying in her beer on songs including the album's title track. In interviews, Winehouse frequently spoke of her breathless love for her often disheveled Blake, and the couple appeared inseparable during the international promotional blitz for Black that made Winehouse a household name.

In addition to the reported drug use, Winehouse was famously caught on video carving the words "I Love Blake" into her stomach with a shard of glass, and during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, she displayed photos of the couple passing pills to each other with their tongues.

But the Sid-and-Nancy-style love affair was also accompanied by photos of heated arguments that ended with both sporting bruises and scratches, as well as an arrest in Norway in October 2007 for marijuana possession; the couple were released with a fine. Just months after the wedding, Fielder-Civil was arrested on charges of suspicion of attacking a bar landlord and attempting to bribe him to drop the allegation. Following his incarceration, Winehouse was frequently seen wandering the streets of her Camden neighborhood in a daze, and she subsequently canceled a U.S. tour.

Fielder-Civil was released from prison in February and shortly after filed for divorce on claims of Winehouse's infidelity; she acknowledged adultery and said she would not contest the divorce. The AP reported that the divorce papers filed with the court stated that he found living with Winehouse "intolerable."

Winehouse recently returned to England after several months of living on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, where she was reported to be working on the long-awaited follow-up to Back to Black.

• Amy Winehouse

Mariah Carey performs "I'll Be There"

Michael Jackson was the consummate entertainer; a groundbreaking dancer and showman, and that's saying nothing about his songbook, which ranks right up there with the tunes of Elvis and the Beatles (which he also once owned). From his early days with the Jackson 5 to his transcendent solo career, Jackson worked with the best in the business — Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Teddy Riley, Glen Ballard, Rod Temperton, to name just a few — and the end result was a veritable treasure trove of totally classic tunes.

Over the course of his career, Jackson scored 13 #1 singles — more than any other male artist of the past 50 years. His musical output was so great that a whole new generation of artists landed hits of their own simply by covering his songs, which is also a big testament to his work.

Mariah Carey, who has the most #1 singles of any solo artist, scored a smash in 1992 with her MTV Unplugged cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There." Irish boy band Boyzone covered another early Jackson hit, "Ben" on their second album, 1993's three-times platinum A Different Beat. And both Ashanti and Brandy recorded versions of another early hit, "Rock With You."

"Billie Jean" has been covered by everyone from Blackstreet to Belle and Sebastian, and Chris Cornell's take on the tune was covered again in a star-making performance by eventual "American Idol" champ David Cook during the show's seventh season. Fall Out Boy's cover of "Beat It" replaced Eddie Van Halen's incendiary solo with one from John Mayer and became a surprise hit, charting internationally and becoming a permanent fixture on the iTunes Top 10 chart in early 2008. And "Weird Al" Yankovic scored a Top 20 hit — and won a Grammy — for his parody of the tune, a track he dubbed "Eat It." Yankovic also scored a Best Concept Music Video Grammy for "Fat," his take on "Bad."

Those weren't the only left-field Jackson covers that became hits: California rockers Alien Ant Farm famously covered "Smooth Criminal" in 2001, and both the song — and corresponding video, which parodied some of Jackson's biggest clips — became mainstays on MTV, and landed the band a #1 single on the Modern Rock chart.

And there's plenty more — so many that we can't even begin to list them all here. Jackson covers are seemingly required on the indie circuit, with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard, KT Tunstall, Petra Haden and Lightspeed Champion weighing in with various versions of MJ/Jackson 5 classics like "Thriller" and "I Want You Back." Amy Winehouse and Charlotte Church dueted on a fantastically trashy version of "Beat It" on the latter's BBC variety show. And just last year, John Legend and Stephen Colbert joined forces for an unlikely take on "The Girl Is Mine."

MTV will be paying tribute to MJ throughout the weekend with music videos, exclusive performances and calls and tweets from celebrity admirers and friends.

Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below.

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Amy Winehouse at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Getty Images

Booking unpredictable singer Amy Winehouse for the first-ever live MTV Movie Awards in 2007 seemed like a recipe for trouble, but her sultry hit single "Rehab" was climbing the charts, and audiences were clamoring for any glimpse of the talented British songstress.

Still, we didn't anticipate Winehouse skipping town and jetting off to Las Vegas right after her rehearsal and just hours before she was set to perform live at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. Perhaps we should have suspected she'd pull some kind of stunt: Earlier that year, we'd taped a Winehouse performance for the MTV show "45th at Night," and it was anything but a smooth shoot.

"Just about every song, she stopped. She walked offstage," said Garrett English, MTV executive in charge of production at the time. "It was difficult for her to work all the way through the set. Knowing that she was going to be on Movie Awards in a true live environment was a little bit concerning."

Fast-forward to the day before the live Movie Awards show. Winehouse showed up very, very late for rehearsal. According to Jane Mun, an MTV producer at the time, the singer seemed a little subdued and shy but finished the run-through without incident. Afterward, though, MTV producers got word that Winehouse planned to board a private plane and fly to Vegas to party with fashion photographer David LaChapelle. Despite MTV protestations, Winehouse headed to Sin City less than half a day before she was needed back at the Gibson.

"We had to let her go, stay in touch and hope for the best," said Robin Katz, an MTV talent executive at the time.

Unfortunately, the whole "stay in touch" thing didn't work out so well. Saturday night passed without any word from Winehouse's camp. By Sunday morning, there was still no communication with the singer. Finally, less than an hour before showtime, MTV producers received a text that Winehouse's plane had landed and the singer was heading to the show.

From there, everything went smoothly. Bruce Willis asked if he could introduce Winehouse, and she pulled off a dazzling performance.

"It was an epic performance of 'Rehab,' " said Mark Burnett, the awards show's executive producer. "Edgy, as Amy always is, and it really fits the vibe of MTV."

Will the vampires grab more trophies than the slumdog? What was the year's ultimate onscreen WTF moment? It's up to you to decide the winners of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. Vote now, and tune in on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, when the big show airs live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse
Photo: Ben Stansall/ AFP/ Getty Images

Are you ready for a sneak peek at tomorrow's blockbusters today? Check out our new series "Behind the Screen" Sunday night at 11 p.m. on MTV for the broadcast premiere of the "Brüno" trailer, an exclusive clip of Brad Pitt in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," the very first visit to the set of Russell Brand's "Get Him to the Greek" and much more!

Amy Winehouse will be the subject of a documentary tentatively titled "Saving Amy." The troubled singer is being profiled by Israeli-American interviewer Daphne Barak for the film, which will be released later this year, according to Winehouse's MySpace page.

"Amy and her family will be the subject of a new documentary later this year," the MySpace blog post reads. "[Barak's] subjects over the years have included celebrities, royalty, world leaders and international personalities. The journalist spent time with Amy and her family recently on St. Lucia, and in true honest to goodness Amy style, the doc will be a truthful and revealing look at her complicated life."

Barak's Web site features a photo of the journalist with Amy. In an interview with the U.K.'s Sunday Times, Barak recalled her time with Winehouse in St. Lucia and questioned whether Winehouse has really conquered her demons. She points out that Winehouse's hands frequently shake when she goes to do something.

"When the food arrives, she insists on serving us," Barak told the newspaper. "Because she is busy feeding us, no one seems to notice that she isn't eating; she is just pushing the food around her plate. I wonder, not for the last time, if she has truly overcome her anorexia."

Barak said Winehouse's father isn't sure she's stopped drinking either, since she mysteriously disappears throughout the night. "She is childlike in her need for affection, constantly coming up to hug us," she recalled. "Yet all through the evening, she keeps disappearing for a smoke or — as her father suspects — a drink."

Will the vampires grab more trophies than the slumdog? What was the year's ultimate onscreen WTF moment? It's up to you to decide the winners of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. Vote now, and tune in on May 31 at 9 p.m. ET, when the big show airs live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse (file)
Photo: Dave Hogan/ Getty Images

Amy Winehouse took the stage Friday night in St. Lucia for her big comeback show, but the set was plagued with technical difficulties and bad weather, according to NME.

The troubled singer, who was playing the 18th Annual St. Lucia Jazz Festival on the island where she frequently vacations, took her heels off after playing the song "Know You Now," telling the 5,000-person crowd, "I am short and I don't give a f---."

Winehouse's headlining slot was rescheduled due to rain, so she was played between disco veterans KC & the Sunshine Band and zouk group Kassav. She cut off her performance of "You Sent Me Flying"/ "Cherry," telling everyone she was "kinda bored" of it. According to BBC News, as she sang "Tears Dry on Their Own," a downpour began, and soon after the stage lighting was lost for several minutes.

Winehouse tried to end the performance after the lights went out, but she instead continued the set with "You Know I'm No Good" while slumped over a monitor, before a backup singer helped her up. It was when she tried to cover the Zutons' "Valerie" and failed, leaving the song to be finished without her, that the audience began to boo, realizing that the show was over.

"Amy would like to express her disappointment that weather forced the abandonment of her show at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival last night," said a statement released by a spokesperson for Winehouse. "The set started well, but as the heavens opened, a number of technical difficulties occurred onstage, culminating with the lighting rig failing for two songs. In addition, rain began to flood the technical wings at the side of the stage, which caused sound problems. Amy and the band tried to soldier on, but the set had to be cut short.

"Amy is very disappointed, as St. Lucia has been wonderful to her and its people have welcomed her with open arms, but circumstances beyond anyone's control meant that this special show did not go as planned."

Winehouse's next live gig is scheduled for May 31 in London, where she will play in the series of concerts celebrating Island Records' 50th birthday.

• Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse arrives at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday
Photo: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

On Tuesday (March 17), Amy Winehouse pleaded not guilty to assaulting a fan at a show last September, The Associated Press reports. The singer, wearing her signature beehive, showed up slightly late to the court appearance, but her lawyer, Mark Haslam, apologized for it. According to the AP, he told the court she had left her north London home more than two hours earlier but had been delayed.

When Winehouse arrived at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, she gave her name as Amy Jade Civil — despite reports of her impending divorce from husband Blake Fielder-Civil. After pleading not guilty, she was released on unconditional bail and ordered to attend a new hearing on July 23.

The charge stemmed from a September 26 incident, when Winehouse allegedly hit dancer Sherene Flash in the eye after the woman asked to take a picture with the Grammy-winning "Rehab" singer.

Last week, Winehouse canceled her appearance at the Coachella festival in April due to her ongoing legal problems, which would make it difficult for Winehouse to obtain a U.S. visa. While her rep, Chris Goodman, didn't comment specifically on the visa, in a statement to People, he said, "She cannot go because of current legal issues."

Winehouse, who has struggled with drug problems and health issues, has reportedly written some songs for a follow-up to her Grammy-winning breakthrough 2006 Back to Black album, but no release date for her third album has been announced. Due to her personal struggles, Winehouse was forced to pull out of a scheduled 2007 U.S. tour. Last year, she faced a similar problem when she was prevented from attending the Grammy Awards.

• Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse
Photo: Getty Images/ Dave Hogan

After Amy Winehouse was charged last week with assault in London, in connection with an incident that occurred in September, she will reportedly not be able to get a U.S. visa in time for her April 19 headlining gig at the Coachella festival.

Because of her legal problems, The Associated Press reported that it will be hard for Winehouse to obtain a visa. And although her rep, Chris Goodman, hasn't commented specifically on the visa, in a statement to People, he said, "She cannot go because of current legal issues."

People further reports that the singer had been in the process of getting a work visa to play at the festival, but hadn't yet finished it. Her rep added that her "legal case would not be sorted out in time for her to make the music fest."

Winehouse is still expected to be a part of the festivities surrounding the 50th birthday celebration of her British record label, Island, on May 31. Before that, though, Winehouse is due back in court on March 17 to deal with the charges that stem from claims made by Sherene Flash in a tabloid who said she was hit in the eye by Winehouse after asking to take a picture with the Grammy-winning "Rehab" singer at the September 26 concert.

Winehouse, who has struggled with drug problems and health issues, has reportedly written some songs for a follow-up to her Grammy-winning breakthrough 2006 Back to Black album, but no release date for her third album has been announced. Due to her personal struggles, Winehouse was forced to pull out of a scheduled 2007 U.S. tour. Last year, Winehouse faced a similar problem when she was prevented from attending the Grammy Awards.

• Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse (file)
Photo: Chris Jackson/ Getty Images

Another day, another arrest for Amy Winehouse. The troubled British retro-soul singer, who has been lying low on the island of St. Lucia for much of the past two months, returned to England on Sunday. And just a few days later, she was arrested for assault.

Winehouse, 25, turned herself in to police on Thursday and was charged with hitting a fan at a London show last September.

"Amy voluntarily attended a police station in London yesterday morning," Chris Goodman, a spokesperson for the singer, said in a statement. "She was questioned by appointment in relation to an accusation made after the Berkeley Ball last year. She was charged with common assault and will attend a court hearing in the coming weeks."

Dancer Sherene Flash has claimed in tabloid reports that she was hit in the eye by Winehouse after asking to take a picture with the Grammy-winning "Rehab" singer at the September 26 concert. (This is not to be confused with the time Winehouse was caught on tape apparently striking a fan at the Glastonbury Festival in June.) Police said that Winehouse was booked and released, and she is due back in court on March 17.

Winehouse, who has struggled with a drug problem and serious health issues, has reportedly written some songs for a follow-up to her Grammy-winning breakthrough 2006 Back to Black album, but no release date for her third album has been announced. Due to her personal struggles, Winehouse was forced to pull out of a scheduled 2007 U.S. tour. She is scheduled to play her first American date in several years in April, when she takes the stage at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California.

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