Gordon in the morning: Amy Sunday special

Yes, it's Sunday, but someone called Carl Stroud with the title "Bizarre Digital Editor" has popped up to post about Amy Winehouse's drunken disaster in Belgrade.

Perhaps because he's digital editor, Stroud was smart enough to ensure that he didn't publish the piece with the usual "related stories" box appearing, otherwise he'd have pulled in the last couple of weeks' stories from Gordon which failed to predict this happening.

Gordon had reassured readers that she was fine:

Amy Winehouse gets clinic OK

SINGER AMY WINEHOUSE was "raring to go" last night after checking out of a rehab clinic.

Although there'd been a wobble, Smart revealed that boozing was out for the tour:

REHAB singer AMY WINEHOUSE has been banned from boozing on her forthcoming European tour.

The star's management have told hotel staff in Belgrade, Serbia - where she opens on June 18 - to remove all alcohol from rooms booked by troubled Amy and her entourage.

Under a large picture of himself, a breathless Gordon reported on her warm-up and revealed that everything was going to be fine:

Winehouse's secret,
sober comeback

And unlike her old routine of slurring the words, gobbing everywhere and passing out, she was cracking jokes between songs like a Seventies TV comedian.

To be fair, it's clear from a close reading of the piece that Gordon was only giving the impression he was at the event, relying on - naturally - "a source" to supply the detail:

A source at the gig said: "Gone was the fragile, volatile and unpredictable Amy. She wasn't knocking back vodka on stage - and she definitely hadn't stopped by at the off-licence on her way to the gig."

Perhaps most embarrassing for Gordon, though, was the piece he filed yesterday morning:

AMY WINEHOUSE's long-suffering roadies will spend today searching Belgrade for cocoa and slippers.

The Love Is A Losing Game singer has asked not to headline at a festival gig in the Serbian capital this evening - so she can get to bed early.
[...]
A source said: "Amy seems to be serious about cleaning up this time. Instead of partying she wants to relax and enjoy her trip."

Given that exclusive insight from the boss, it's perhaps very wise of Stroud to not have linked to it from the tales of how the Belgrade gig actually played out:

The crazed songbird reportedly infuriated gig goers in the Serbian capital Belgrade with her disastrous performance.

She is said to have mumbled her way through parts of songs and stumbled across the stage before, at one point, throwing her microphone to the floor.

Certain times saw her leave the stage altogether - leaving her band to fill in, it has been claimed.

And many of the 20,000 short-changed fans, who had paid up to £40 to see her in a country with some of the lowest wages in Europe, made their anger clear.

Let's hope they hadn't bought their tickets on the promise of Gordon that Winehouse would be nipping home early for a cosy night with cocoa and slippers.