A Medal For Amy’s Manager

Amy Winehouse turned up too late to pick up her Ivor Novello songwriting trophy, so her father Mitch collected it on her behalf and said her manager Ray Cosbert is the one who deserves a medal.

"The equivalent of a Victoria Cross," Mr. Winehouse explained, while his daughter was reportedly being driven around the building, hanging her head out of a car window and smoking a cigarette.

Cosbert, who looks after Winehouse for the management wing of London-based promoter Metropolis Music, may not have had to show the "conspicuous bravery in the face of the enemy" mentioned in the VC citation, but handling the troubled singer’s career over the last year might demonstrate "extreme devotion to duty and acts of valour or self-sacrifice."

"Everything she does is public," Cosbert told Pollstar when asked about the day-to-day problems he’s bound to face while trying to keep the singer on track.

He was speaking the day his client was suddenly confirmed to play the Glastonbury Festival main stage June 28, the slot before Jay-Z. The announcement was delayed until police could confirm her availability.

They were investigating a video said to have been taken in the singer’s London flat. The Sun claimed it showed her taking drugs.

"Amy unfortunately couldn’t make it but she’s getting better and she sends you all her love," her father told the May 22 Novello Awards gathering at Grosvenor House Hotel. His daughter did manage to arrive before he finished addressing the audience.

Last year Winehouse was awarded the Novello for best contemporary song for "Rehab."

This year she took "best song musically and lyrically" for "Love Is A Losing Game." She was also nominated in the same category for "You Know I’m No Good," the first time an artist was nominated in the same category twice since the awards began in 1955.

Other Novello winners included Simon Aldred / Cherry Ghost (best contemporary song for "People Help The People," Take That (most performed work for "Shine,") Mika (songwriter of the year), Radiohead (album of the year), Phil Collins (international achievement) and Beyonce & Shakira (best selling song for "Beautiful Liar").