Okay. She’s managed to perform without collapsing or slurring. She was spotted out holding hands with a cute (although probs gay) boy, and she was looking pretty cute herself. But a record label? Amy Winehouse needs a record label like she needs another crack pipe. But don’t worry, the siren song of sanity has never stopped Amy before, and it’s not starting now. She’s launching a damn record label.

Five time Grammy winner Amy Winehouse, the most exciting and biggest-selling female artist to emerge in the music scene in years, follows the enormous worldwide success of her 10 million selling album “Back To Black”, with the launch of her own record label, Lioness Records. Inspired by Berry Gordy’s Motown, and The Specials’ 2Tone label, Amy wanted to create a label where she could sign and work closely with a small roster of artists she really believed in. The first release on the new imprint will be “Introducing Dionne Bromfield”, the debut album from thirteen year old Londoner Dionne Bromfield.

Speaking about Dionne, Amy says, “The first time I heard Dionne sing, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing… such an amazing voice from such a young girl. I’m just so proud of her. I’m very lucky to have a record label. I’ve got all these people that I love, that are really talented – and Dionne is my number one”.

Oh, God. If there’s anything more upsetting in here than Amy Winehouse and a record label, it’s Amy Winehouse and a 13-year-old girl. What the hell kind of parent is going to turn to their barely teenage daughter and say, “Yes, sweetheart, just do it exactly like Amy Winehouse did”??? Insanity. My fingers are crossed for all parties involved.

Amy Winehouse was trotting around London last night with her ex boyfriend Tyler James (who, BTW, is hot.) The singer looked like she’s made some progress since her days smoking crack and holing up in St. Lucia where she supposedly kicked a lot of her drug use. It seems as though Winehouse has put on some much-needed weight and maybe even taken a shower or two since her worst days, which really don’t seem all that long ago. She still however has a couple of bad habits to break. On her walk from the restaurant where they ate dinner to the jazz club where Amy performed a couple of numbers, it was hard not to notice that she was smoking up a storm and still hasn’t quit wearing ballet slippers. She also, as you can see in the gallery, had a big wet stain under her right breast, which either means she’s lactating or was a bit clumsy with her (water?) glass at meal time. Either way, I find it hard to hate on her because she’s seemingly come such a long way from the horrible place she was in not even a year ago.

Here’s some nice news for the day — Amy Winehouse made a surprise appearance at The Specials’ performance at the UK’s V Festival on Saturday night, and you can actually watch her performance without wondering the whole time if she’s going to die mid-note. She’s standing on her own two feet pretty well, and she sounds as good as can be expected. I’m far from convinced that she’s completely better, but this is a nice start. Here’s hopin’ for ya, Ames.

Things are turning around for Amy Winehouse.  She’s put on a couple of pounds, I think she’s had some teeth replaced, and now she’s been acquitted of assault charges.  As I mentioned yesterday, Winehouse had been accused of punching — I mean, flinging her flea-bitten fist — at a fan’s face last fall.

It seems that the judge bought Amy’s defense that she is too short to punch someone in the face.  District Judge Timothy Workman found the singer not guilty since it could not be determined if the punch was intentional or not.  Basically, just about everyone involved in either participating or witnessing the event was drunk at the time.

Congrats to Amy for this twenty-third second chance.  It should be at least six months before you have another court date.

It’s only the Daily Star, but they are reporting that Amy Winehouse is working on developing a fragrance.  Yep, she’s jumping on the celebrity perfume bandwagon.  I mean, is there anything about Amy Winehouse that is synonymous with “Smells Good”?  No.  Though I feel the same way about Paris Hilton and she’s got about 157 fragrances in her empire.  Perhaps by the holidays we’ll be able to buy Wino, with top notes of cocaine and bourbon and secondary wisps of subtle desperation.

In other Amy news, yesterday she appeared at court for her latest legal entanglement.  Last summer she allegedly punched a fan and has opted to try the “I’m too short to punch anyone” defense.  Clearly still high. 

And why is no one focused on the real story?  The one about how Amy Crackhouse wore her slippers to court.

Amy Winehouse is basically in St. Lucia almost all the time, save when her court dates require her to return to London.  Now, she wants to live there as a permanent resident.

If St Lucia’s former governor Jeff Fedee has his way, the residents of the Caribbean island will not roll out the welcome mat for the Rehab singer that’s in need of rehab.  Fedee wrote a letter to the St. Lucia Star in which he characterized Winehouse as a “tattooed reptile” who would bring “untold human suffering” to the island.  He continued on by stating, “I would strongly urge she be denied residency status to purchase property in St. Lucia. Is she being given special treatment? She’d be a menace and a dangerous influence to our society because the demons that inhabit her tortured body will have to be fed.”

When you are defined as a purveyor of “untold human suffering” is that considered rock bottom?

I’m serious. Every time I read a new story about this girl and the headline isn’t “Amy Winehouse Dead,” I’m a little bit shocked. There is no viable reason for her to still be alive. She is so mind-blowingly cracked out at all times. It’s strange — I lost a friend to a drug overdose a few weeks ago. He was 20 years old. He accidentally overdosed on prescription drugs. He was a strong, healthy guy — a college athlete, no pre-existing health problems. I still don’t think it’s really sunk in for me that he’s gone forever. And, yet, at the age of 25, Amy Winehouse continues to stick the crack pipe in her mouth every day and live to tell about it. Why do some people seem to survive drug abuse indefinitely, while others lose the battle early on? I guess the moral is this: Don’t do drugs. Don’t do them ever. And if you find yourself hooked, get help immediately. Don’t wait another day.

But fans in London will have to wait for another day to see Amy Winehouse perform — she’s suddenly pulled out of what was going to be her first UK performance in over a year.

“Amy Winehouse’s management has regretfully announced that Amy and her band will no longer be performing at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire,” her rep said in a statement.

“Amy would like to apologize to her fans who bought tickets for the shows.”

No reason was given for the cancellation, though yesterday Britain’s Press Association reported that Winehouse was taken to the hospital with chest pains.

While her hospitalization came in the wake of a fainting spell, the singer’s management claimed she was simply dehydrated and released shortly thereafter.

It’s the second time this month the singer’s rep has blamed a fainting spell for a doctor’s visit. It’s also the second time this month that the Grammy winner has backed out of a performance.

Who are these fans buying tickets for her show? It’s probably 100% paparazzi, looking to capture the trainwreck on camera. I have trouble believing that anyone today would be a ticket for an Amy Winehouse show and expect a good performance.

Meanwhile, Amy is being followed around by cameras for a documentary about her life titled Saving Amy. “Amy and her family will be the subject of a new documentary later this year,” said an announcement from Amy’s camp. “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 lifestyle.”

Um, I don’t think her lifestyle is complicated. It goes like this: Drugs –> Hospital –> Drugs –> Hospital –> Drugs –> Hospital. What part of this is failing to register with her?