It was towards the end of July that we heard about the death of Amy Winehouse. A story which shocked the world. She was found dead at her home by her security guard, and even as her funeral took place, nobody was sure about her cause of death. Despite speculation, her family swore it wasn’t drugs, and this was hanging over them as they attended the funeral. The funeral took place in North London and it was a private memorial service for family and close friends, although that didn’t stop a group of well-wishes waiting on the roadside outside where the service was taking place. Amy’s family arrived in cars – her mother Janis, her brother Alex, and her father Mitch. It had only been 24 hours since they had visited Amy’s Camden home to read tributes left for Amy, and also to thank her fans that had made the journey to say goodbye to her. They wanted to follow Jewish tradition and have the funeral as soon as possible. The only delay on the funeral was waiting for post mortem results, which did not determine her cause of death at the time anyway. Famous faces amongst Amy’s friends were DJ Mark Ronson, who described Amy Winehouse as his musical soulmate and like a sister to him. He described the day that he heard of her death as one of the saddest days of his life. Amy’s backing dancers all arrived together, and Kelly Osbourne wore her hair in Amy’s trademark beehive as a tribute to her. Kelly has said simply that she misses her friend. Amy’s boyfriend Reg Traviss was present, but Amy’s ex husband Blake Fielder Civil was not granted compassionate leave from prison to attend. Once inside, Amy’s dad Mitch said a few words as part of the service and ended with “Goodnight my angel. Sleep tight.” Her dad has been working since her death to help others in a similar situation to his daughter’s and set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation. The family have released more music of Amy’s to raise money and also have other fundraisers planned for 2012 like a book about her life. Mitch said: “I believe that through Amy's music, her foundation, and the book, her name will live forever." We eventually heard the reason for Amy’s death some three months after the incident. It was ruled as death by misadventure, and it was revealed that Amy had 5 times the legal driving limit of alcohol in her blood when she died. It was towards the end of the summer in August that we got the pregnancy news from Beyonce. She had been dropping hints about wanting a baby for a while, so it wasn’t that much of a shock. Never the one to make a quiet announcement, she chose the MTV video Music awards as the place to tell the world. Other artists probably got a bit miffed, as we couldn’t really even tell you who won what, as Beyonce’s announcement stole the show! On the MTV Black carpet beforehand, Beyonce was making the universal baby bump symbol, and sent twitter gossip into overload, and then we had it confirmed during her performance. She said: “Tonight I want you to stand up on your feet, I want you to feel the love that’s growing inside of me,” She then sang her song “Love On Top” and hit every note perfectly and the crowd were going wild. She then dropped the mic at the end of the song, undid the buttons of her sequined jacket, and gave her tummy a big giant rub and had a huge grin on her face. And that was the confirmation we needed that she was expecting a baby. Daddy to be Jay Z was on the front row smiling proudly and getting many a shoulder rub by Kanye West. There were a few crazy rumours weeks later that Beyonce was faking the whole thing after her baby bump appeared to collapse during a TV interview, but Beyonce’s spokesperson said that those suggestions were “stupid, ridiculous and fake.” So, we have a mini Beyonce and Jay Z to look forward to in the coming year... It was on Halloween that we got some scary news... Kim Kardashian announced the end of one of the shortest marriages in showbiz. After 72 days, she filed for divorce from Kris Humpries. The wedding was one of the most talked about events in the showbiz calendar, and she hadn’t been engaged very long. It was watched by millions of people on TV – as she had made a 2 part special about the whole wedding, and it was even said that family members couldn’t see the service due to all the TV crew. After all that, she gave it 72 days and threw the towel in. She flew to Sydney not long after the divorce announcement and was met by a frenzy of photographers. Fans were annoyed that she had made a reported £11 million from her wedding, but then decided to pack it in after 2 months. Lots of people pointed the finger and said she’d done it just for the money. Kim hit back at this accusation and said: “I am trying not to read all the different media reports but its hard not to see all the negative ones. First and foremost, I married for love. I can’t believe I even have to defend this. I would not have spent so much time on something just for a TV show! I share so much of my life on a reality show, that contemplating whether to even film my wedding was a tough decision to make, and maybe it turned out to not be the smartest decision. But it’s who I am!” The rows between Kim and Kris are still continuing now as the year comes to a close, but one thing that did make us chuckle was the advice Kim’s mum told us she gave to Kim. She said: "I told Kim you're not the first person to ever get a divorce and you won't be the last. Even as short as it was.” Another divorce was announced from the celebrity word in November, although to be fair, this marriage had lasted 6 years, not 72 days... it was the end of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore. The pair had been seen as having one of the strongest marriages in Hollywood, until rumours of Ashton’s cheating started. Then, when the allegations came that suggested Ashton had slept with a girl in a hot tub on the night of his and Demi’s wedding anniversary, we knew it wasn’t looking good. After weeks of rumours that they were spending less and less time together, and that Demi was losing more and more weight with the stress, the announcement finally came. 49 year old Demi said she was divorcing her 33 year old toy boy Ashton. Demi made it clear in the words she used in the statement that this was her choice. She said: "It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton. As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life." We hear the couple even tried turning to the Kabbalah religion to save their marriage but it didn’t work. Ashton made a comment and said: "I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi. Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail." Well, yes, they do if you go off with other women Ashton. The £185 million divorce is still underway. In November, the 6 week trial came to an end which saw Dr Conrad Murray found guilty of Michael Jackson’s involuntary manslaughter. Fans gathered outside the court as the verdict was read, and Michael’s family appeared looking very happy at the decision. Dr Conrad Murray was later sentenced to 4 years in prison as a result. He was given the maximum possible punishment, which not everyone was expecting. And he did not get probation, as the judge thought he has showed no remorse. The judge said he felt that Murray had "created" the singer's vulnerability before "abandoning his patient". He said the evidence showed a "continuous pattern of lies and deceit" by Murray - whose conduct was described as a "disgrace to the medical profession". A statement from Michael Jackson’s family was also read out before the sentencing. It said: "There is no way to adequately describe the loss of a beloved father, son, brother and friend. We still look at each other in disbelief. We are not here to seek revenge but we will keep the love in our hearts that Michael embodied throughout his life. We respectfully request you impose a sentence that demonstrates that physicians cannot sell their services to the highest bidder and cast aside their Hippocratic oath, as we all know doing so can have devastating results." Fans have seen the guilty verdict of Conrad Murray as some sort of justice for Jacko. Michael’s daughter Paris also gave her first solo interview as the year came to an end. She went on the Ellen DeGeneres show in America and talked about how she felt silly when Michael would make them wear masks to cover their faces in public when they were children, but she knew her dad was just doing it to protect her. She also talked about how she wants to be an actress when she grows up. Watch this space for Paris Jackson.... So another year gone by of celebrity craziness, we look forward to much more from the world of showbiz in 2012.
