On the way to see Amy Winehouse play a fantastic set at Somerset House a fortnight ago, I started chatting to a woman who mentioned that she had placed a bet with a bookie friend of hers on Winehouse not showing up, “I didn’t want to run the risk of wasting money on my ticket. You know what she’s like.”

So pity the poor Norwegian and Danish fans who this week had neither Amy Winehouse, nor bookies to win back their loss, after the singer was admitted to University College London Hospital on Wednesday, where according to one tabloid she had an “adrenalin shot and had her stomach pumped”.

Winehouse is, of course, known for her exhaustion-related no-shows. Yesterday Ladbrokes cut its odds on her not making next month’s Mercury Awards from 8/1 to evens. Curiously, the last time she spoke to this paper she had just pulled out of a festival in Norway too. That time the official explanation was tripping and knocking out one of her front teeth, a fair enough excuse, but her comment – “There’s no way I’m going to Norway” – perhaps suggests that falling over wasn’t the only reason. What can she have against Scandanavia?

It’s not all tragedy, however, in the world of Amy Wayward. Not only has she scored three MTV video award nominations, she is also to appear in The Simpsons. Reports reveal that she is to meet Lisa in a blues bar, where she teaches her to sing. Amy must wish real life could be a bit more like Springfield. She would always be fresh for the next episode and, of course, she wouldn’t be the only one with a crazy beehive.

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010