Sideshow: Winehouse is eulogized, cremated
About 150 friends and relatives of Amy Winehouse said an emotional farewell to the addiction-plagued singer with the soulful, sadly rich voice during her funeral Tuesday in London. Several female mourners, including media personality Kelly Osbourne, wore their hair in the beehive style Winehouse favored.
About 150 friends and relatives of
Amy Winehouse
said an emotional farewell to the addiction-plagued singer with the soulful, sadly rich voice during her funeral Tuesday in London. Several female mourners, including media personality
Kelly Osbourne
, wore their hair in the beehive style Winehouse favored.
The singer's father, Mitch Winehouse, gave the eulogy, ending with the words "Goodnight, my angel, sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much."
The Press Association news agency reported that Mitch Winehouse said his daughter was trying to overcome her addictions because she couldn't stand the pain it was causing her family.
A rabbi led the Jewish service, which included prayers in English and Hebrew and ended with Carole King's "So Far Away," one of Winehouse's favorite songs.
The body of the 27-year-old singer, who was found dead in her home in London on Saturday, was cremated after the service. Authorities are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.
Split city
Uh-oh, cancel the caterer.
Jesse James
, 42, custom chopper builder, TV celeb, and ex-hub of
Sandra Bullock
, will not be walking down the aisle with tattoo artist
Kat Von D
, 29, People magazine reports. Their planned summertime wedding is off. "I'm so sad because I really love her," James reveals to People. "The distance between us was just too much." That's geographical distance, according to People. Seems the couple couldn't hack the long-distance commute between L.A., where she tapes
LA Ink
, and Austin, Texas, where he lives with his kids,
Chandler
, 16,
Jesse Jr
., 14, and
Sunny
, 7. The Kat in the Tatts confirmed the split on Twitter but didn't say much else: "I am no longer w Jesse and out of respect for him, his family and myself, thats all the info I'd like to share. Thanks for respecting that."
Return of the conductor
Update on the Philadelphia Orchestra's Montreal residency last weekend: Chief conductor
Charles Dutoit
was definitely a success in his first concert since 2002 in his previous home. But in the cold light of Tuesday, attendance numbers topped out at 4,000 on the first night and 5,000 the next, not 6,000 as previously reported. Good draws on two consecutive nights, said festival officials, but not unheard of during Dutoit's best years in Montreal and currently with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under
Kent Nagano
.
Reviews were ecstatic to mixed: Christophe Huss, critic for the newspaper Le Devoir, wrote that the Philadelphia sound "takes your breath away," though Montreal Gazette critic Arthur Kaptainis seemed a tad disappointed at Dutoit's consistency: "Almost 10 years later, and nothing had changed. Except the players . . . ." Commenting on the Philadelphia Orchestra's bankruptcy with a $120 million endowment, Kaptainis wrote, "The MSO could use a little of that deep financial trouble."
The lady gets judgmental
Duchess of Demure
Lady Gaga
and director/choreographer
Rob Marshall
will serve as guest judges for Wednesday's installment of
So You Think You Can Dance
(8 p.m., Fox29), joining resident judges
Nigel Lythgoe
and
Mary Murphy
. La Gaga will also perform on Thursday night's results show, which airs at 8 on the same station. Dance group
LXD
will also perform.
So you think you can versify!
Bucks County is a hotbed of poetry, and the reign of 2010 Bucks County poet laureate
Lorraine Henrie Lins
is drawing to a close. So the search is on for a 2011 poet laureate. The Department of Language & Literature at Bucks County Community College invites all residents to submit. The post is open to any Bucks County resident over 18 who hasn't been poet laureate before. Submit 10 original poems with an entry form (available at bookstores, libraries, and by contacting the department at 215-968-8150). Entries must be received by 4 p.m. Sept. 9 at BCCC, 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa. 18940.
Helping out
Singer and Missouri native
Sheryl Crow
will auction off her 1959 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster to help the city of Joplin, Mo., recover from its tornado damage. She hopes to raise half a mil, reports the Springfield, Mo., News-Leader.