Winehouse Plays for Full House at Mandela Gig
AP Photo/Edmond Terakopian
Nelson Mandela's not just a moral authority, he's a miracle worker.
Tens of thousands of punters and a slew of A-list stars and musical acts gathered in London's Hyde Park Friday for a special concert honoring the South African leader's 90th birthday party. The biggest surprise of the evening came courtesy of a healthy-looking Amy Winehouse, who, despite speculation and a track record to the contrary, actually turned up as planned and delivered a hitch-free performance during the four-hour event.
Will Smith hosted the megaconcert (with ample help from wife Jada Pinkett Smith), which also counted Josh Groban, Leona Lewis, Queen, Annie Lennox, Stephen Fry, Quincy Jones, Lewis Hamilton, Simple Minds, Geri Halliwell, Razorlight and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown among its stage-gracing guests.
Winehouse made her triumphant appearance roughly two hours into the show, first taking the stage with the rest of the performers to sing "Happy Birthday" to the guest of honor. Per usual, her trademark "Blake" heart brooch was ensconced firmly in her beehive.
Donning a short black-and-white dress, she took the stage again roughly a half-hour later to perform a solo set.
After a short struggle to adjust her microphone, Winehouse kicked off the set with "Rehab." The song's lack of slurred lyrics and nonshortness of breath combined with particularly effusive backup dancers resulted in major crowd love for the singer, who curtsied and twirled for the fans before next launching straight into "Valerie," a cover of the Zutons hit she performed on Mark Ronson's Version.
Remarkably, she left the stage after the two tunes without incident.
She then returned to the stage for the concert's finale to lead the rest of the artists in attendance in an updated version of the Specials' 1984 anthem "Free Nelson Mandela."
While Winehouse was one of the final performers added to the lineup last month, her appearance was iffy at best in recent weeks—she went from being hospitalized to having emphysema to not really having emphysema to having it, maybe, just a bit.
Pretaped messages abounded during the packed-house event, including a beamed-in Bono and The Edge joining in the "Happy Birthday" song and shout-outs from Susan Sarandon, Morgan Freeman, Gordon Ramsay, David Beckham (who garnered the loudest cheers of the montage) and wife Victoria (who garnered the loudest boos).
In addition to marking Mandela's entrée into the world of nonagenarians, the concert also raised funds for his HIV/AIDS charity, 46664, so named for his prison number.
In keeping with the theme, 46,664 people attended the concert in Hyde Park, which actually comes a few weeks before Mandela's real birthday, July 18.
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