Natalie Cole Thinks The Grammys Should Require Drug Testing
Natalie Cole, the former junkie herself, thinks that Amy Winehouse should not have won any awards last night because it sends the wrong message to fans and to other artists.
“I’m going on record as an artist who is able to critique her. I think she has a great talent but I don’t agree with the Grammys giving her those nods.
“I think it sends the wrong message, that even in the midst of her stupor of drugs she can get nominated for all these awards... It’s a slap in the face to musicians and artists who work very hard that they turn around and give it to someone who really obviously doesn’t have a grasp of what she has.”
Ummmm. So, if I get this straight it appears that Natalie Cole wants any musician who is currently using drugs to be eliminated from the entire nomination process. I am assuming that if someone was a past user but is clean now they are ok, otherwise Natalie Cole would not be eligible for any award. If I recall, she was so f**ked up on drugs that she spent six months in rehab trying to quit her habit.
I think what Natalie wants is mandatory drug testing for all musicians. That way she actually has a chance to win an award again and be considered relevant. I am also assuming it would be perfectly fine for the actual voters to be stoned out of their minds, just not the actual musicians. Can you imagine if they had drug testing of all the nominees, and then after the show musicians would be stripped of their awards for testing positive and there could be all kinds of allegations about A samples and B samples and how it was really NyQuil which was the cause of the positive or that someone was smoking a joint in the limo on the way to the show.
Would the drug testing apply to the whole band? Also, presumably, Ms. Winehouse is now clean, although her adulation of Blake makes me somewhat doubt that. Would the drug ban only apply to the actual awards show? Would you have time to get clean once you are nominated? Is it possible for Keith Richards to ever piss clean urine again in his lifetime?
I just think that Natalie Cole is a little jealous that the only time she had any success, it was basically as a result of grabbing onto her father and holding tight. I am glad she got off drugs, but don't think she should be using her jealousy as a basis for reforms which make no sense. On a positive note, she looks really good for 58. Maybe there is something to this whole kicking drugs thing.
And we care what Natalie thinks, because....................?
ReplyDeletepfffft! There wouldn't be any musicians left over after the testing to get any awards!
ReplyDeleteIt's not like steroids or something. Crack isn't exactly performance enhancing.
ReplyDeletethat's just stupid.
ReplyDelete"Do not operate heavy machinery or electric guitars after using this medication"
ReplyDelete"puts down vodka bottle" - alcohol isn't a drug right ? Right ? Ok good - that's the stupidest thing i've ever heard (other than the unnamed one's british accent)
ReplyDeleteso what we have an empty auditorium except for the Osmonds and Natalie Cole next year?
ReplyDelete(crickets chirping)
I think she does have a small point--I mean obviously they're all on drugs, but most can keep it together. Amy Winehouse is one of the biggest messes to come along in a long time and its a very public spiral downward. It'd be one thing if people suspected she was a drunk, its quite another when the person is in a video all over the internet smoking crack, wanders the streets at odd hours nearly naked when she's high, etc etc. What Natalie is suggesting, however, amounts to "punishing" the person, so I dont know that that's entirely appropriate. Plus, Grammies arent handed out on the basis of who's the best role model. But I do see the point she was trying to make.
ReplyDelete"It’s a slap in the face to musicians and artists who work very hard"
ReplyDeleteSo the Grammy's are awards based on who works the hardest? Please.
Didn't Natalie Cole also admit to prostitution?
ReplyDeleteShe's another UMASS alumni,
Rare Avis.
By the way, can I bother people to vote? I slipped from 293 to 323-- I'm trying to make the top 75. :)
thanks!
http://tinyurl.com/3ylvjw
Natalie Cole is 58?!?!?!!?!?!!? She looks great!!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with Natalie, but I see her point. Winehouse was a craptastic mess this year and yet she receives accollades. Then again, Norah Jones got a boatload of Grammys and haven't heard a whole lot out of her lately. So I guess it's up to AW which direction she goes.
ReplyDeleteI see Natalie's point but I don't agree with her. It's one thing to advocate a drug free lifestyle, but she's implying that ANY drug use should be punished.
ReplyDeletePFFFFT!
Amy rocked last night! I was SO nervous that she was going to bomb. I hope she sticks around for a few more years.
Have you any idea what kind of mess this would result in? Forget the fact that 98% of the artists would be disqualified, are they eligible during one year and not the next if they were clean that year? What if they won and then went back to doing drugs six months later? Does marijuana count as a drug? Some might say yes, others no.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing it would do is cut down competition so that maybe she could win again.
I thank accolades should be given to Amy for cleaning herself up--that should be encouraged--she is only 24 and has her whole career ahead of her--why send her into a spiral?
ReplyDeletemaybe instead of giving Amy an 'atta girl we need to let her finish getting treatment instead of pulling the talent from rehab for a fuckin awards ceremony.
ReplyDeletewhoever is managing her is completely delusional.
And based on how many times she spoke or sang about her Blake last night, she's only going back to him and drugs when she gets out anyway.
ReplyDeleteI have only this to say...pot.kettle.black.
ReplyDeletenat - find a career to keep ya busy. mind your own business.
ReplyDeleteWhat she's suggesting is a bit overboard, but she has a point. I don't think they should be having Amy perform via satellite when she clearly still needs to get her life together. With that said, she is a tremendous talent and should get rewarded for it. I'd rather have Amy getting awards than that fake bitch Underwood.
ReplyDeleteIs she willing to give back the awards she won while she was in her various stages of using?
ReplyDelete