Amy plays Glastonbury

So...after all the hype and our outrageously intrusive tabloid press doing their very best to convince us that Amy Winehouse wouldn't make it onto Glastonbury's pyramid stage on Saturday night, she did make it, and quite spectacularly!


Yes, she was maybe slightly flaky here and there and her psychological status was obviously not quite 100% but hell, if most of us could get up there and perform even a fraction of that whilst dealing with her current issues I think we would consider we were doing pretty damn well!!

The press of course preferred to concentrate on the one negative 'incident' in their reporting of the event rather than focusing on either her performance or on the more positive aspect that she found the strength to get up there and belt it out regardless of her difficulties.

I know, there are plenty out there who prefer to see her as 'just another junkie' yada, yada, yada, but look back into musical history and there are more than a few, right through from classical and jazz to rock, who have manage to live life in this lane without significant problems...way back then of course they didn't also have to cope with an entire nations oft times ill informed judgements, courtesy of a press corps. that we should be ashamed of and treat only with the contempt it deserves.

Amy, like her current and past contemporaries might be a phenomenal talent, she might live a lifestyle most of us aren't genuinely familiar with and her behaviour might seem infuriating from time to time but ultimately she is a human being, just like the rest of us. The fact that she has a good income and fame don't change that and they don't preclude her from all the usual human frailties the rest of us expect understanding for.

I for one applaud her purely and simply for making it onto that stage and getting through her set, contrary to what the press would have us believe, that she is just a weak messed up kid, in my opinion what it actually proves of Ms Winehouse is admirable courage and strength!

But this isn't really about Amy Winehouse, it's more concerned with the predeliction of some to seemingly revel in judging others without adequate knowledge and to write individuals off with negative 'one liners' when all too often they have little or no understanding of the many facets of a situation. There is a whole branch of medicine concerned with psychology and psychiatry, full of highly qualified individuals who, despite their intellect and learning, struggle to understand and help untangle the human psyche.... and yet as only lay-men, some feel that with what amounts to only a tiny fraction of the required information, they have an inherrent right to lay judgement on others!

I would suggest that says more about the 'judge' than those being judged.