Official name	Belgrade
Native name	Београд
Other name	Beograd
Settlement type	City
Image shield	Coat of Arms Belgrade.png
Map caption	Location within Serbia
Coordinates region	RS
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	District
Subdivision name1	City of Belgrade
Subdivision type2	Municipalities
Subdivision name2	17
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Dragan Đilas (DS)
Leader title1	Ruling parties
Leader name1	DS/G17+/SPS-PUPS/LDP
Established title	Establishment:
Established date	279 BC (Singidunum)
Area footnotes
Area total km2	359.96
Area metro km2	3222.68
Population as of	2009
Population total	1,213,000
Population density km2	3283
Population metro	1,670,000|population_density_metro_km2 506
Population blank1 title	Demonym
Timezone	CET
Utc offset	+1
Timezone dst	CEST
Utc offset dst	+2
Elevation footnotes
Elevation m	117
Postal code type	Postal code
Postal code	11000
Area code	(+381) 11
Website	www.beograd.rs
Blank name	Car plates
Blank info	BG }}

Belgrade (, ) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. The city proper has a population of 1.21 million people, while the official metropolitan area has about 1,67 million people. Its name in English translates to ''White city''.

One of the largest prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, prospered here in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, the area was held by Thraco-Dacians, and after 279 BC the Celts conquered the city, naming it ''Singidūn''. It was conquered during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times before it become the capital of King Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of a Sanjak. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Turkish wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade remained an Austrian outpost until the breakup of Austria-Hungary in 1918. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1989.

Belgrade has a special administrative status within Serbia. Its metropolitan territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each with its own local council. It covers 3.6% of Serbia's territory, and 15% of the country's population lives in the city.

Geography

Belgrade lies above sea level and is located at confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, at coordinates 44°49'14" North, 20°27'44" East. The historical core of Belgrade, Kalemegdan, is on the right bank of the rivers. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south and east, after World War II, New Belgrade was built on the Sava's left bank, merging Belgrade with Zemun. Smaller, chiefly residential communities across the Danube, like Krnjača and Ovča, also merged with the city. The city has an urban area of , while together with its metropolitan area it covers . Throughout history, Belgrade has been a crossroads between the West and the Orient.

On the right bank of the Sava, central Belgrade has a hilly terrain, while the highest point of Belgrade proper is Torlak hill at . The mountains of Avala () and Kosmaj () lie south of the city. Across the Sava and Danube, the land is mostly flat, consisting of alluvial plains and loessial plateaus.

Climate

Belgrade's climate exhibits influences of oceanic, humid continental and humid subtropical zones, with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation. Monthly averages range from in January to in July, with an annual mean of . There are, on average, 31 days a year when the temperature is above 30 °C, and 95 days when the temperature is above 25 °C. Belgrade receives about of precipitation a year, with late spring being wettest. The average annual number of sunny hours is 2,025. The sunniest months are July and August, with an average of about 10 sunny hours a day, while December and January are the gloomiest, with an average of 2–2.3 sunny hours a day. The highest officially recorded temperature in Belgrade was on 24 July 2007, while on the other end, the lowest temperature was on 10 January 1893.

History

Ancient city

The Neolithic Starčevo and Vinča cultures existed in Belgrade and dominated the Balkans (as well as parts of Central Europe and Asia Minor) about 7,000 years ago. Some scholars believe that the prehistoric Vinča signs represent one of earliest known forms of alphabet.

The Paleo-Balkan tribes of Thracians and Dacians were the masters of this area prior to Roman rule. Belgrade was inhabited by a Thraco-Dacian tribe ''Singi'', while after the Celtic invasion in 279 BC, the Scordisci took the city, naming it "Singidūn" (''dun'', fortress). In 34-33BC the Roman army under Silanus reached Belgrade. It became the romanized ''Singidunum'' in the 1st century AD. In the mid-2nd century, the city was proclaimed a municipium by the Roman authorities, evolving into a full fledged colonia (highest class Roman city) by the end of the century. Apart from the first Christian Emperor of Rome who was born on the territory in modern Serbia – Constantine I known as Constantine the Great ) – another early Roman Emperor was born in Singidunum: Flavius Iovianus (Jovian), the restorer of Christianity. Jovian reestablished Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, ending the brief revival of traditional Roman religions under his predecessor Julian the Apostate. In 395 AD, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. Across the Sava from Singidunum was the Celtic city of Taurunum (Zemun), that through Roman and Byzantine times shared a common fate with its "twin brother" (the two cities were connected by a bridge).

Middle Ages

In 442, the area was ravaged by Attila the Hun. In 471, it was taken by Theodoric the Great, who continued into Greece. As the Ostrogoths left for Italy, the Gepids took over the city. In 539 it was retaken by the Byzantines. In 577, some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum, pillaging cities and settling down. The Avars and Slavs under Bayan I had by 582 conquered the whole region. According to Byzantine chronicle ''De Administrando Imperio'', the White Serbs had during the rule of Heraclius (610-641) contacted the ''strategos'' of Belgrade, asking for lands; they received provinces in the west, towards the Adriatic, which they would rule as ''foederati''. When the Avars were finally destroyed in the 9th century by the Frankish Kingdom, it fell back to Byzantine rule, while Taurunum became part of the Frankish realm (renamed ''Malevilla''). At the same time (around 878), the first record of the name ''Beligrad'' appeared, during the rule of the First Bulgarian Empire. For about four centuries, the city remained a battleground between the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary and the First Bulgarian Empire. Basil II (976–1025) installed a garrison in Belgrade. The city hosted the armies of the First and the Second Crusade; while passing through during the Third Crusade, Frederick Barbarossa and his 190,000 crusaders saw Belgrade in ruins.

It became the capital of Stefan Dragutin, a rival-king who received it as a gift from his father-in-law, King Stephen V of Hungary. Under Dragutin from 1284, it became known as the Kingdom of Syrmia, and Dragutin is regarded as the first Serbian king to rule over Belgrade.

Following the Battle of Maritsa in 1371 and the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Serbian Empire began to crumble as the Ottoman Empire conquered its southern territory. The north resisted through the Serbian Despotate, which had Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Stefan Lazarević, son of Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović. Lazarević built a castle with a citadel and towers, of which only the Despot's tower and west wall remain. He also refortified the city's ancient walls, allowing the Despotate to resist the Ottomans for almost 70 years. During this time, Belgrade was a haven for many Balkan peoples fleeing Ottoman rule, and is thought to have had a population of 40, 000 to 50,000 people.

In 1427, Stefan's successor Đurađ Branković had to return Belgrade to the Hungarians, and Smederevo became the new capital. During his reign, the Ottomans captured most of the Serbian Despotate, unsuccessfully besieging Belgrade first in 1440 and again in 1456. As it presented an obstacle to their further advance into Central Europe, over 100,000 Ottoman soldiers launched the 1456 Siege of Belgrade, in which the Christian army under Hungarian warlord John Hunyadi successfully defended the city from the Ottomans, wounding Sultan Mehmed II. This battle has been characterized as having "decided the fate of Christendom"; the ''noon bell'' ordered by Pope Callixtus III commemorates the victory throughout the Christian world to this day.

Turkish conquest and Austrian invasions

Seven decades after the initial siege, on August 28, 1521, the fort was finally captured by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and his 250,000 soldiers; subsequently, most of the city was razed to the ground and its entire Christian population (including Serbs, Hungarians, Greeks, Armenians, and others) was deported to Istanbul, to the area that has since become known as the ''Belgrade forest''. Belgrade was made the seat of the district (Sanjak), becoming the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by Constantinople. Turkish rule also introduced Ottoman architecture, including numerous mosques, increasing the city's Oriental influences. In 1594, a major Serb rebellion was crushed by the Turks. Later, Grand vizier Sinan Pasha ordered the relics of Saint Sava to be publicly torched on the Vračar plateau; in the 20th century, the Temple of Saint Sava was built to commemorate this event.

Occupied by the Habsburgs three times (1688–1690, 1717–1739, 1789–1791), headed by the Holy Roman Princes Maximilian of Bavaria and Eugene of Savoy, and field marshal Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon respectively, Belgrade was quickly recaptured and substantially razed each time by the Ottomans. During this period, the city was affected by the two Great Serbian Migrations, in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by their patriarchs, retreated together with the Austrians into the Habsburg Empire, settling in today's Vojvodina and Slavonia.

Capital of Serbia

During the First Serbian Uprising, the Serbian revolutionaries held the city from January 8, 1807 until 1813, when it was retaken by the Ottomans. After the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbia reached semi-independence, which was formally recognized by the Porte in 1830. In 1841, Prince Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital from Kragujevac to Belgrade.

On 10 June 1868, Prince Mihailo was walking through the park of Košutnjak, near his country residence in the outskirts of Belgrade, with his wife Katarina and her mother, Princess Anka, when they were shot by assassins. Mihailo and Anka were both killed, and Katarina was wounded.

With the Principality's full independence in 1878, and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans, and developed rapidly. Nevertheless, conditions in Serbia as a whole remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, even with the opening of a railway to Niš, Serbia's second city, and in 1900 the capital had only 70,000 inhabitants (at the time Serbia numbered 1,5 million). Yet by 1905 the population had grown to more than 80,000, and by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, it had surpassed the 100,000 citizens, not counting Zemun which then belonged to Austria-Hungary.

The first-ever projection of motion pictures in the Balkans and Central Europe was held in Belgrade, in June 1896 by Andre Carr, a representative of the Lumière brothers. He shot the first motion pictures of Belgrade in the next year; however, they have not been preserved.

World War I / Unified city

Gavrilo Princip's assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 triggered the start of World War I. Most of the subsequent Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade. Austro-Hungarian monitors shelled Belgrade on July 29, 1914, and it was taken by the Austro-Hungarian Army under General Oskar Potiorek on November 30. On December 15, it was re-taken by Serbian troops under Marshal Radomir Putnik. After a prolonged battle which destroyed much of the city, between October 6 and October 9, 1915, Belgrade fell to German and Austro-Hungarian troops commanded by Field Marshal August von Mackensen on October 9, 1915. The city was liberated by Serbian and French troops on November 5, 1918, under the command of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espérey of France and Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia. Decimated as the front-line city, for a while it was Subotica that was the largest city in the Kingdom; still, Belgrade grew rapidly, retrieving its position by the early 1920s.

After the war, Belgrade became the capital of the new ''Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes'', renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The Kingdom was split into banovinas, and Belgrade, together with Zemun and Pančevo, formed a separate administrative unit.

During this period, the city experienced faster growth and significant modernisation. Belgrade's population grew to 239,000 by 1931 (incorporating the town of Zemun, formerly in Austria-Hungary), and 320,000 by 1940. The population growth rate between 1921 and 1948 averaged 4.08% a year. In 1927, Belgrade's first airport opened, and in 1929, its first radio station began broadcasting. The Pančevo Bridge, which crosses the Danube, was opened in 1935.

World War II

On March 25, 1941, the government of regent Crown Prince Paul signed the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis powers in an effort to stay out of the Second World War. This was immediately followed by mass protests in Belgrade and a military coup d'état led by Air Force commander General Dušan Simović, who proclaimed King Peter II to be of age to rule the realm. Consequently, the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe on April 6, 1941, when up to 24,000 people were killed. Yugoslavia was then invaded by German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian forces, and suburbs as far east as Zemun, in the Belgrade metropolitan area, were incorporated into a Nazi state, the Independent State of Croatia. Belgrade became the seat of the Nedić regime, headed by General Milan Nedić.

During the summer and fall of 1941, in reprisal for guerrilla attacks, Germans carried out several massacres on Belgrade citizens; in particular, members of the Jewish community were subject to mass shootings at the order of General Franz Böhme, the German Military Governor of Serbia. Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot. The resistance movement in Belgrade was led by Major Žarko Todorović from 1941 to his arrest in 1943.

Just like Rotterdam, which was devastated twice, by both German and Allied bombing, Belgrade was bombed once more during World War II, this time by the Allies on April 16, 1944, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter. Most of the city remained under German occupation until October 20, 1944, when it was liberated by the Red Army and the Communist Yugoslav Partisans. On November 29, 1945, Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in Belgrade (later to be renamed to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on April 7, 1963). The communist takeover resulted in an estimated 70,000 deaths across Serbia, up to 10% of which occurred in Belgrade. Higher estimates from the former secret police place the victim count of political persecutions in Belgrade at 10,000.

Communist Yugoslavia

During the post-war period, Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia, developing as a major industrial centre. In 1958, Belgrade's first television station began broadcasting. In 1961, the conference of Non-Aligned Countries was held in Belgrade under Tito's chairmanship. In 1968, major student protests against Tito led to several street clashes between students and the police. In March 1972, Belgrade was at the centre of the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe, which, through enforced quarantine and mass vaccination, was contained by late May.

Post-communist history

On March 9, 1991, massive demonstrations led by Vuk Drašković were held in the city against Slobodan Milošević. According to various media outlets, there were between 100,000 and 150,000 people on the streets. Two people were killed, 203 injured and 108 arrested during the protests, and later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets to restore order. Further protests were held in Belgrade from November 1996 to February 1997 against the same government after alleged electoral fraud at local elections. These protests brought Zoran Đinđić to power, the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II who did not belong to the League of Communists of Yugoslavia or its later offshoot, the Socialist Party of Serbia.

NATO bombing (during the Kosovo War in 1999) caused substantial damage to the city. Among the sites bombed were the buildings of several ministries, the RTS building, which killed 16 technicians, several hospitals, the Jugoslavija Hotel, the Central Committee building, the Avala TV Tower, and the Chinese embassy.

After the elections in 2000, Belgrade was the site of major street protests, with over half a million people on the streets. These demonstrations resulted in the ousting of president Milošević.

Names through history

Belgrade has had many different names throughout history, and in nearly all languages the name translates as "the white city". Serbian name ''Beograd'' is a compound of ''beo'' (“white, light”) and ''grad'' (“town, city”), and etymologically corresponds to several other city names spread throughout the Slavdom: ''Belgorod'', ''Białogard'', ''Biograd'' etc.

Name	Notes
Singidūn(o)-	Named by the Celtic tribe of the Scordisci; ''dun
	Romans conquered the city and Romanized the Celtic name of Singidūn (in turn derived from [[Paleo-Balkan languages of earlier rulers)
Beograd, Београд	Slavic name first recorded in 878 as ''Beligrad'' in a letter of Pope John VIII to Boris of Bulgaria which translates to "White city/fortress".
Alba Graeca	"Alba" is Latin for "White" and "Graeca" is the possessive "Greek"
Alba Bulgarica	Latin name during the period of Bulgarian rule over the city
Griechisch-Weißenburg
Castelbianco
Nandoralba, Nándorfehérvár, Lándorfejérvár	In Kingdom of Hungary
Veligradh(i)on or Velegradha/Βελέγραδα	[[Byzantine Empire
Dar Al [[Jihad	Arabic name during Ottoman empire.
Prinz-Eugenstadt

Administration

Belgrade is a separate territorial unit in Serbia, with its own autonomous city authority. The current mayor is Dragan Đilas of the Democratic Party. The first mayor to be democratically elected after World War II was Zoran Đinđić, in 1996.

The City Assembly of Belgrade has 110 councilors who are elected on four-year terms. The current majority parties are the same as in the Parliament of Serbia (Democratic Party-G17 Plus and Socialist Party of Serbia-Party of United Pensioners of Serbia with the support of Liberal Democratic Party), and in similar proportions, with the Serbian Radical Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia in opposition.

As the capital city, Belgrade also hosts the National Assembly of Serbia, the Government of Serbia and its agencies, and 64 foreign embassies.

Municipalities

The city is divided into 17 municipalities.

Most of the municipalities are situated on the southern side of the Danube and Sava rivers, in the Šumadija region. Three municipalities (Zemun, Novi Beograd, and Surčin) are on the northern bank of the Sava, in the Syrmia region, and the municipality of Palilula, spanning the Danube, is in both the Šumadija and Banat regions.

style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;" style="text-align:right;"

style="background: #efefef; border-bottom: 2px solid gray;"	Name	Area (km²)	Population (1991)	Population (2002)
Barajevo	213	>style="text-align:right;"| 24,641
Čukarica	156 ||	150,257	168,508
Grocka	289 ||	65,735	75,466
Lazarevac	384 ||	57,848	58,511
Mladenovac	339 ||	54,517	52,490
Novi Beograd	41 ||	218,633	217,773
Obrenovac	411 ||	67,654	70,975
Palilula (Belgrade)	Palilula	451 ||	150,208	155,902
Rakovica, Belgrade	Rakovica	31 ||	96,300	99,000
Savski Venac	14 ||	45,961	42,505
Sopot, Serbia	Sopot	271 ||	19,977	20,390
Stari Grad, Belgrade	Stari Grad	5 ||	68,552	55,543
Surčin	285 ||	52,000	54,000
Voždovac	148 ||	156,373	151,768
Vračar	3 ||	67,438	58,386
Zemun	154 ||	176,158	136,645
Zvezdara	32 ||	135,694	132,621
TOTAL	3227 ||	1,552,151	1,576,124

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, the main population groups according to nationality in Belgrade are: Serbs (1,417,187), Yugoslavs (22,161), Montenegrins (21,190), Roma (19,191), Croats (10,381), Macedonians (8,372), and Muslims by nationality (4,617).

As of August 2, 2008, the city's Institute for Informatics and Statistics has registered 1,542,773 eligible voters, which confirms that Belgrade's population has risen dramatically since the 2002 Census, as the number of the registered voters has almost surpassed the entire population of the city six years before. The official estimate for the end of 2007 (according to the City's Institute for Informatics and Statistics) was 1,630,000, while the number of registered citizens altogether tops at 1,710,000.

Belgrade is home to many ethnicities from all over the former Yugoslavia. Many people came to the city as economic migrants from smaller towns and the countryside, while hundreds of thousands arrived as refugees from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, as a result of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Chinese are estimated to live in Belgrade; they began immigrating in the mid-1990s. Block 70 in New Belgrade is known colloquially as the Chinese quarter. Many Middle Easterners, mainly from Syria, Iran, Jordan and Iraq, arrived in order to pursue their studies during the 1970s and 1980s, and have remained and started families in the city. Afghani and Iraqi Kurdish refugees are among some of the recent arrivals from the Middle East.

Although there are several historic religious communities in Belgrade, the religious makeup of the city is relatively homogenous. The Serbian Orthodox community is by far the largest, with 1,429,170 adherents. There are also 20,366 Muslims, 16,305 Roman Catholics, and 3,796 Protestants. There used to be a significant Jewish community, but following the Nazi occupation, and many Jews' subsequent emigration, their numbers have fallen to a mere 415.

Economy

Belgrade is the financial centre of Serbia, and is home to the country's National Bank. Many notable companies are based in Belgrade, including Jat Airways, Telekom Srbija, Telenor Serbia, Delta Holding, Elektroprivreda Srbije, Komercijalna banka, Ikarbus, regional centers for AXA, Société Générale, Asus, Intel, Motorola, MTV Adria, Kraft Foods, Carlsberg, Microsoft, OMV, Unilever, Zepter, Japan Tobacco, P&G;, and many others. Stocks are traded at the Belgrade Stock Exchange.

New Belgrade is the main business district in the city. The troubled political and economic transition during the 1990s left Belgrade, like the rest of the country, severely affected by an internationally imposed trade embargo. The hyperinflation of the Yugoslav dinar, the highest inflation ever recorded in the world, decimated the city's economy. Serbia overcame the problems of inflation in the mid 1990s, and Belgrade has been growing strongly ever since. As of 2009, over 40% of Serbia's GDP is generated by the city(GDP per capita is $18 204 in terms of PPP), which also has 31,4% of Serbia's employed population. The average monthly Net pay is 46.500 RSD (€505, $760). According to the Eurostat methodology, and contrasting sharply to the Balkan region, 53% of the city's households own a computer. According to the same survey, 39.1% of Belgrade's households have an internet connection; these figures are above those of the regional capitals such as Sofia, Bucharest and Athens.

Culture

Belgrade hosts many annual cultural events, including FEST (Belgrade Film Festival), BITEF (Belgrade Theatre Festival), BELEF (Belgrade Summer Festival), BEMUS (Belgrade Music Festival), Belgrade Book Fair, and the Belgrade Beer Festival. The Nobel prize winning author Ivo Andrić wrote his most famous work, The Bridge on the Drina, in Belgrade. Other prominent Belgrade authors include Branislav Nušić, Miloš Crnjanski, Borislav Pekić, Milorad Pavić and Meša Selimović. Most of Serbia's film industry is based in Belgrade; the 1995 Palme d'Or winning ''Underground'', directed by Emir Kusturica, was produced in the city.

The city was one of the main centres of the Yugoslav New Wave in the 1980s: VIS Idoli, Ekatarina Velika, Šarlo Akrobata and Električni Orgazam were all from Belgrade. Other notable Belgrade rock acts include Riblja Čorba, Bajaga i Instruktori and Partibrejkers. Today, it is the centre of the Serbian hip hop scene, with acts such as Beogradski Sindikat, Škabo, Marčelo, and most of the Bassivity Music stable hailing from or living in the city. There are numerous theatres, the most prominent of which are National Theatre, Theatre on Terazije, Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Zvezdara Theatre, and Atelier 212. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is also based in Belgrade, as well as the National Library of Serbia. Other major libraries include the Belgrade City Library and the Belgrade University Library. Belgrade's two opera houses are: National Theatre and Madlenianum Opera House.

There are many foreign cultural institutions in Belgrade including the Spanish Instituto Cervantes, German Goethe-Institut and French Centre Culturel Français which are all located in the central pedestrian Knez Mihailova Street. Other cultural centres in Belgrade are American Corner, Austrian Cultural Forum, British Council, Chinese Confucius Institute, Canadian Cultural Center, Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Italian Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Culture Center of Islamic Republic of Iran, Azerbaijani Culture Center and Russian Center for Science and Culture.

Following the victory of Serbia's representative Marija Šerifović at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Belgrade hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

Museums

The most prominent museum in Belgrade is the National Museum, founded in 1844; it houses a collection of more than 400,000 exhibits, (over 5600 paintings and 8400 drawings and prints) including many foreign masterpieces and the famous Miroslavljevo Jevanđelje (Miroslav's Gospel). The Ethnographic Museum, established in 1901, contains more than 150,000 items showcasing the rural and urban culture of the Balkans, particularly the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The Museum of Contemporary Art has a collection of around 35,000 works of art including Andy Warhol, Joan Miró, Ivan Meštrović and others since 1900. The Military Museum houses a wide range of more than 25,000 military exhibits dating as far back as to the Roman period, as well as parts of a F-117 stealth aircraft shot down by Serbian army. The Museum of Aviation in Belgrade has more than 200 aircraft, of which about 50 are on display, and a few of which are the only surviving examples of their type, such as the Fiat G.50. This museum also displays parts of shot down US and NATO aircraft, such as the F117 and F16 The Nikola Tesla Museum, founded in 1952, preserves the personal items of Nikola Tesla, the inventor after whom the Tesla unit was named. It holds around 160,000 original documents and around 5,700 other items. The last of the major Belgrade museums is the Museum of Vuk and Dositej, which showcases the lives, work and legacy of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and Dositej Obradović, the 19th century reformer of the Serbian literary language and the first Serbian Minister of Education, respectively. Belgrade also houses the Museum of African Art, founded in 1977, which has the large collection of art from West Africa.

With around 95,000 copies of national and international films, the Yugoslav Film Archive is the largest in the region and amongst the 10 largest archives in the world. The institution also operates the Museum of Yugoslav Film Archive, with movie theatre and exhibition hall. The archive's long-standing storage problems were finally solved in 2007, when a new modern depository was opened.

The Belgrade Museum will move into a new building in Nemanjina Street, downtown. The Museum has interesting exhibits such as the Belgrade Gospel (1503), full plate armour from the Battle of Kosovo, and various paintings and graphics. In 2011 construction will start on a new Museum of Science and Technology.

Architecture

Belgrade has wildly varying architecture, from the centre of Zemun, typical of a Central European town, to the more modern architecture and spacious layout of New Belgrade. The oldest architecture is found in Kalemegdan park. Outside of Kalemegdan, the oldest buildings date only from the 18th century, due to its geographic position and frequent wars and destructions. The oldest public structure in Belgrade is a nondescript Turkish turbe, while the oldest house is a modest clay house on Dorćol, from late 18th century. Western influence began in the 19th century, when the city completely transformed from an oriental town to the contemporary architecture of the time, with influences from neoclassicism, romanticism and academic art. Serbian architects took over the development from the foreign builders in the late 19th century, producing the National Theatre, Old Palace, Cathedral Church and later, in the early 20th century, the National Assembly and National Museum, influenced by art nouveau. Elements of Neo-Byzantine architecture are present in buildings such as Vuk's Foundation, old Post Office in Kosovska street, and sacral architecture, such as St. Mark's Church (based on the Gračanica monastery), and the Temple of Saint Sava.

During the period of Communist rule, much housing was built quickly and cheaply to house the huge influx of people from the countryside following World War II, sometimes resulting in the brutalist architecture of the blokovi (blocks) of New Belgrade; a socrealism trend briefly ruled, resulting in buildings like the Trade Union Hall. However, in the mid-1950s, the modernist trends took over, and still dominate the Belgrade architecture.

Tourism

The historic areas and buildings of Belgrade are among the city's premier attractions. They include Skadarlija, the National Museum and adjacent National Theatre, Zemun, Nikola Pašić Square, Terazije, Students' Square, the Kalemegdan Fortress, Knez Mihailova Street, the Parliament, the Church of Saint Sava, and the Old Palace. On top of this, there are many parks, monuments, museums, cafés, restaurants and shops on both sides of the river. The hilltop Avala Monument offers views over the city. Josip Broz Tito's mausoleum, called Kuća Cveća (''The House of Flowers''), and the nearby Topčider and Košutnjak parks are also popular, especially among visitors from the former Yugoslavia.

Beli Dvor or 'White Palace', house of royal family Karađorđević, is open for visitors. The palace has many valuable artworks, including Rembrandt, Nicolas Poussin, and Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

Ada Ciganlija is a former island on the Sava river, and Belgrade's biggest sports and recreational complex. Today it is connected with the right bank of the Sava via two causeways, creating an artificial lake. It is the most popular destination for Belgraders during the city's hot summers. There are 7 kilometres of long beaches and sports facilities for various sports including golf, football, basketball, volleyball, rugby union, baseball, and tennis. During summer there are between 200,000 and 300,000 bathers daily. Clubs work 24 hours a day, organising live music and overnight beach parties.

Extreme sports are available, such as bungee jumping, water skiing and paintballing. There are numerous tracks on the island, where it is possible to ride a bike, go for a walk or go jogging. Apart from Ada, Belgrade has total of 16 islands on the rivers, many still unused. Among them, the Great War Island at the confluence of Sava, stands out as an oasis of unshattered wildlife (especially birds). These areas, along with nearby Small War Island, are protected by the city's government as a nature preserve.

Nightlife

Belgrade has a reputation for offering a vibrant nightlife, and many clubs that are open until dawn can be found throughout the city. The most recognizable nightlife features of Belgrade are the barges (''splavovi'') spread along the banks of the Sava and Danube Rivers.

Many weekend visitors—particularly from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia—prefer Belgrade nightlife to that of their own capitals, due to a perceived friendly atmosphere, great clubs and bars, cheap drinks, the lack of language difficulties, and the lack of restrictive night life regulation.

Famous alternative clubs include Akademija and the famed KST (''Klub Studenata Tehnike'') located in the basement of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Electrical Engineering. One of the most famous sites for alternative cultural happenings in the city is the SKC (Student Cultural Centre), located right across from Belgrade's highrise landmark, the Beograđanka. Concerts featuring famous local and foreign bands are often held at the centre. SKC is also the site of various art exhibitions, as well as public debates and discussions.

A more traditional Serbian nightlife experience, accompanied by traditional music known as ''Starogradska'' (roughly translated as ''Old Town Music''), typical of northern Serbia's urban environments, is most prominent in Skadarlija, the city's old bohemian neighbourhood where the poets and artists of Belgrade gathered in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Skadar Street (the centre of Skadarlija) and the surrounding neighbourhood are lined with some of Belgrade's best and oldest traditional restaurants (called kafanas in Serbian), which date back to that period. At one end of the neighbourhood stands Belgrade's oldest beer brewery, founded in the first half of the 19th century. One of the city's oldest kafanas is the Znak pitanja.

The Times reported that Europe's best nightlife can be found in buzzing Belgrade. In the Lonely Planet "1000 Ultimate Experiences" guide of 2009, Belgrade was placed at the 1st spot among the top 10 party cities in the world.

Sport

There are around a thousand sports facilities in Belgrade, many of which are capable of serving all levels of sporting events. Belgrade has hosted several relatively major sporting events recently, including Eurobasket 2005, the 2005 European Volleyball Championship, the 2006 European Water Polo Championship, and the European Youth Olympic Festival 2007. Belgrade was the host city of the 2009 Summer Universiade chosen over the cities of Monterrey and Poznań.

The city launched two unsuccessful candidate bids to organise the Summer Olympic: for the 1992 Summer Olympics Belgrade was eliminated in the third round of International Olympic Committee voting, with the games going to Barcelona. The 1996 Summer Olympics ultimately went to Atlanta.

The city is home to Serbia's two biggest and most successful football clubs, Red Star Belgrade and FK Partizan. Red Star won the 1991 UEFA Champions League (''European Cup''). The two major stadiums in Belgrade are the ''Marakana'' (Red Star Stadium) and the Partizan Stadium. The rivalry between Red Star and Partizan is one of the most famous capital derbies in Europe and has become known as the Eternal derby. The Belgrade Arena is used for various sporting events such as Basketball, volleyball and Davis Cup, and in May 2008 it was the venue of Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Along with Pionir Hall for KK Partizan and KK Crvena zvezda while the Tašmajdan Sports Centre is used for swimming competitions and water polo matches.

In recent years, Belgrade has also given rise to several world class tennis players such as Ana Ivanović, Jelena Janković and Novak Đoković. Ivanović and Đoković are the first female and male Serbian players, respectively, to win Grand Slam singles titles. The Serbian national team won the 2010 Davis Cup, beating the French team in the finals played in the Belgrade Arena.

Media

Belgrade is the most important media hub in Serbia. The city is home to the main headquarters of the national broadcaster Radio Television Serbia - RTS, which is a public service broadcaster. The most popular commercial broadcaster is RTV Pink, a Serbian media multinational, known for its popular entertainment programs. The most popular commercial "alternative" broadcaster is B92, another media company, which has its own TV station, radio station, and music and book publishing arms, as well as the most popular website on the Serbian internet. Other TV stations broadcasting from Belgrade include Fox Televizija, Avala, Košava, and others which only cover the greater Belgrade municipal area, such as Studio B. Numerous specialised channels are also available: SOS channel (sport), Metropolis (music), Art TV (art), Cinemania (film), and Happy TV (children's programs).

High-circulation daily newspapers published in Belgrade include ''Politika'', ''Blic'', ''Večernje novosti'', ''Press'', ''Kurir'' and ''Danas''. There are 2 sporting dailies, ''Sportski žurnal'' and ''Sport'', and one economic daily, ''Privredni pregled''. A new free distribution daily, ''24 sata'', was founded in the autumn of 2006.

Education

Belgrade has two state universities and several private institutions of higher education. The University of Belgrade, founded in 1808 as the "Great School", is the oldest institution of higher learning in Serbia and all of the Balkans. Having developed with the city in the 19th century, quite a few University buildings are a constituent part of Belgrade’s architecture and cultural heritage. With enrollment of nearly 90,000 students, the University is one of the Europe's largest.

There are also 195 primary (elementary) schools and 85 secondary schools. Of the primary schools, there are 162 regular, 14 special, 15 art and 4 adult schools. The secondary school system has 51 vocational schools, 21 gymnasiums, 8 art schools and 5 special schools. The 230,000 pupils are managed by 22,000 employees in over 500 buildings, covering around 1,100,000 m².

Transportation

Belgrade has an extensive public transport system based on buses (118 urban lines and more than 300 suburban lines), trams (12 lines), and trolleybuses (8 lines). It is run by GSP Beograd and SP Lasta, in cooperation with private companies on various bus routes. Belgrade also has a commuter rail network, Beovoz, now run by the city government. The main railway station connects Belgrade with other European capitals and many towns in Serbia. Travel by coach is also popular, and the capital is well-served with daily connections to every town in the country.

The city is placed along the pan-European corridors X and VII. The motorway system provides for easy access to Novi Sad and Budapest, the capital of Hungary, in the north; Niš to the south; and Zagreb, to the west. Situated at the confluence of two major rivers, the Danube and the Sava, Belgrade has 7 bridges—the two main ones are Branko's bridge and Gazela, both of which connect the core of the city to New Belgrade. With the city's expansion and a substantial increase in the number of vehicles, congestion has become a major problem; this is expected to be alleviated by the construction of a bypass connecting the E70 and E75 highways. Further, an "inner magistral semi-ring" is planned, including a new Ada Bridge across the Sava river, which is expected to ease commuting within the city and unload the Gazela and Branko's bridge.

The Port of Belgrade is on the Danube, and allows the city to receive goods by river. The city is also served by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (IATA: BEG), 12 kilometres west of the city centre, near Surčin. At its peak in 1986, almost 3 million passengers travelled through the airport, though that number dwindled to a trickle in the 1990s. Following renewed growth in 2000, the number of passengers reached approximately 2 million in 2004 and 2005, while during the 2008 the figure peaked at over 2,6 million passengers.

Beovoz is the suburban/commuter railway network that provides mass-transit services in the city, similar to Paris's RER and Toronto's GO Transit. The main usage of today's system is to connect the suburbs with the city centre. Beovoz is operated by Serbian Railways. Belgrade suburban railway system connects suburbs and nearby cities to the west, north and south of the city. It began operation in 1992 and currently has 5 lines with 41 stations divided in two zones.

Belgrade was one of the last big European capitals, and cities with over a million people, to have no metro/subway or other rapid transit system. Construction has been started twice before but was postponed. The Belgrade Metro is considered to be the third most important project in the country, after work on roads and railways. The two projects of highest priority are the Belgrade bypass and Pan-European corridor X. However, the Belgrade Cityrail (S-Bahn) by was opened in 2010 as the first phase of the metro, and includes two underground stations that were built for an earlier abandoned metro project.

International cooperation and honours

These are the official sister cities of Belgrade:

! Country	! City	! Year
		2010
	Coventry	1957
	Chicago	2005
	Lahore	2007
	Ljubljana	2010
	Tel Aviv	1990
	Vienna	2003

Some of the city's municipalities are also twinned to small cities or districts of other big cities, for details see their respective articles.

Other similar forms of cooperation and city friendship:

>

! Country	! City	! Date	! Form
	Athens	1966	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Banja Luka	2005	Agreement on Cooperation
	Beijing	1980	Agreement on Cooperation
	Berlin	1978	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Düsseldorf	2004	Agreement on Cooperation
	Kiev	2002	Agreement on Cooperation
	Madrid	2001	Agreement on Cooperation
	Milan	2000	Memorandum of Agreement, City to City Programme
	Moscow	2002	Programme of Cooperation
	Rome	1971	Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation
	Shenzhen	2009	Agreement on Cooperation
	Skopje	June, 2006	Agreement on Cooperation
	Havana		Agreement on Friendship

Belgrade has received various domestic and international honours, including the French Légion d'honneur (proclaimed December 21, 1920; Belgrade is one of four cities outside France, alongside Liège, Luxembourg and Volgograd, to receive this honour), the Czechoslovak War Cross (awarded October 8, 1925), the Yugoslavian Karađorđe's Star with Swords (awarded May 18, 1939) and the SFR Yugoslavian Order of the National Hero (proclaimed on October 20, 1974, the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of Nazi German occupation during World War II). All of these decorations were received for the war efforts during the World War I and World War II. In 2006, ''Financial Times''' magazine ''Foreign Direct Investment'' awarded Belgrade the title of ''City of the Future of Southern Europe''. In 2008, the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC), based at the geography department of Loughborough University, published their roster of leading world cities. Belgrade is in the fourth category out of five on this list, being listed in the group of the cities with a "high sufficiency" world presence.

See also

List of people from Belgrade

References

Bibliography

Notes

External links

City of Belgrade Official Website

Tourist Organization of Belgrade

Belgrade Chamber of Commerce

Belgrade Stock Exchange

Environmental Atlas of Belgrade, Institute of Public Health of Belgrade

Map of Belgrade with directory of companies

Category:Belgrade Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Districts of Serbia Category:Metropolitan areas of Serbia Category:Statistical regions of Serbia Category:Port cities in Serbia Category:Ancient cities in Serbia Category:Populated places established in the 3rd century BC Category:Populated places on the Danube Category:Šumadija

ace:Belgrade af:Belgrado am:በልግራድ ar:بلغراد an:Belgrado roa-rup:Biligrad frp:Bèlgrade ast:Belgráu az:Belqrad bn:বেলগ্রেড zh-min-nan:Belgrade be:Горад Бялград be-x-old:Бялград bo:བེལ་གེ་རེ་ཌི། bs:Beograd br:Beograd bg:Белград ca:Belgrad cv:Белград cs:Bělehrad cy:Beograd da:Beograd de:Belgrad dsb:Běłogrod et:Belgrad el:Βελιγράδι es:Belgrado eo:Beogrado ext:Belgradu eu:Belgrad fa:بلگراد hif:Belgrade fo:Beograd fr:Belgrade fy:Belgrado ga:Béalgrád gv:Belgraaid gd:Belgrade gl:Belgrado - Београд ko:베오그라드 hy:Բելգրադ hi:बेलग्रेड hsb:Běłohród hr:Beograd io:Belgrade id:Beograd ie:Beograd os:Белград is:Belgrad it:Belgrado he:בלגרד jv:Beograd ka:ბელგრადი sw:Belgrad kv:Белград ht:Bèlgrad ku:Belgrad lad:Belogrado la:Belgradum lv:Belgrada lb:Belgrad lt:Belgradas lij:Belgraddo li:Belgrado ln:Belgrad lmo:Belgrad hu:Belgrád mk:Белград ml:ബെൽഗ്രേഡ് mt:Belgrad mi:Belgrade mr:बेलग्रेड ms:Belgrade mn:Белград na:Belgrad nl:Belgrado ja:ベオグラード no:Beograd nn:Beograd nov:Beograd oc:Belgrad pnb:بلغراد pap:Belgrado pms:Belgrad nds:Belgrad pl:Belgrad pt:Belgrado crh:Belgrad ty:Beograd ro:Belgrad qu:Beograd ru:Белград sah:Белград se:Belgrad sm:Belgrade sc:Belgrado sco:Belgrade sq:Beogradi scn:Belgradu simple:Belgrade sk:Belehrad cu:Бѣлъ Градъ · Срьбїи sl:Beograd ckb:بێلگراد sr:Београд sh:Beograd fi:Belgrad sv:Belgrad tl:Belgrade ta:பெல்கிறேட் tt:Белград th:เบลเกรด tg:Белград tr:Belgrad udm:Белград uk:Белград ur:بلغراد ug:بېلگراد vec:Belgrado vi:Beograd vo:Beograd war:Belgrade wo:Belgrad wuu:贝尔格莱德 yi:בעלגראד yo:Belgrade zh-yue:貝爾格萊德 diq:Belgrad zh:贝尔格莱德

name	Amy Winehouse
alt	Amy Winehouse at the Eurockéennes festival in France (2007)
background	solo_singer
birth name	Amy Jade Winehouse
birth date	September 14, 1983
birth place	Southgate, London, UK
death date	July 23, 2011
death place	Camden, London, UK
genre	Soul, R&B;, jazz, blues
instrument	Vocals, guitar, drums
occupation	Singer, songwriter, composer, arranger
years active	1993–2011
label	Island, Lioness, Universal Republic (U.S.)
associated acts	Dionne Bromfield, Mark Ronson, Tony Bennett, Nas, Zalon, Heshima, Paul Weller, The Rolling Stones, Lily Allen
website	}}

Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B;, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, ''Frank'', was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, ''Back to Black'', led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

In 2007 she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times: once in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", once in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and once in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game".

Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July 2011. Her album ''Back to Black'' subsequently became the UK's best selling album of the 21st century thus far.

Early life

Amy Winehouse was born in the Southgate area of North London to a Jewish family, with some Russian ancestry on her mother's side who also influenced her interest in jazz. Her father Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, a taxi driver, her mother Janis Winehouse, a pharmacist, and her grandmother, Cynthia, are who we credit for raising her and her older brother, Alex, who was four years old upon her birth.

Mitch often sang Frank Sinatra songs to young Amy, who also took to a constant habit of singing to the point that teachers found it difficult keeping her quiet in class. Winehouse's parents separated when she was nine.

When Winehouse was nine years old, Cynthia, her grandmother and once engaged to Ronnie Scott, suggested she attend the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School for furthering her vocal education. She attended the Earnshaw school for four years and founded a short-lived rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour with Juliette Ashby, her childhood friend before seeking full-time training at Sylvia Young Theatre School; however, Winehouse was allegedly expelled at 14 for "not applying herself" and also for piercing her nose. (Sylvia Young herself has denied this – "She changed schools at 15 – I've heard it said she was expelled; she wasn't. I'd never have expelled Amy.") She also appeared in an episode of ''The Fast Show'', 1997, with other children from the Sylvia Young School and later attended The Mount School, Mill Hill, the BRIT School in Selhurst, Croydon, Southgate School and then Ashmole School.

Music career

Early career

After toying around with her brother Alex's guitar, Winehouse received her first guitar when she was 13 and began writing music a year later. Soon after, she began working for a living, including, at one time, as an entertainment journalist for the World Entertainment News Network, in addition to singing with local group the Bolsha Band. In July 2000 she became the featured female vocalist with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra; her influences were to include Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. Her boyfriend at the time, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape to an A&R; person. Her future A&R; representative at Island/Universal, Darcus Beese, heard of her by accident when the manager of The Lewinson Brothers showed him some productions of his clients, which featured Winehouse as key vocalist. When he asked who the singer was, the manager told him he was not allowed to say. Having decided that he wanted to sign her, it took several months of asking around for Beese to eventually discover who the singer was. However, Winehouse had already recorded a number of songs and signed a publishing deal with EMI by this time. Incidentally, she formed a working relationship with producer Salaam Remi through these record publishers.

Beese introduced Winehouse to his boss, Nick Gatfield, and the Island head shared his enthusiasm in signing the young artist. Winehouse was signed to Island/Universal, as rival interest in Winehouse had started to build to include representatives of EMI and Virgin starting to make moves. Beese told ''HitQuarters'' that he felt the reason behind the excitement, over an artist who was an atypical pop star for the time, was due to a backlash against reality TV music shows, which included audiences starved for fresh, genuine young talent.

Winehouse's greatest love was 1960s girl groups. Her stylist, Alex Foden, borrowed her "instantly recognisable" beehive hairdo (a weave) and she borrowed her Cleopatra makeup from The Ronettes. Her imitation was so successful, as the ''Village Voice'' reports: "Ronnie Spector—who, it could be argued, all but invented Winehouse's style in the first place when she took the stage at the Brooklyn Fox Theater with her fellow Ronettes more than 40 years ago—was so taken aback at a picture of Winehouse in the ''New York Post'' that she exclaimed, "I don't know her, I never met her, and when I saw that pic, I thought, 'That's me!' But then I found out, no, it's Amy! I didn't have on my glasses."

New York Times reporter, Guy Trebay, discussed the multiplicity of influences on Winehouse's style. Trebay noted: "her stylish husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, may have influenced her look." Additionally, Trebay observes: :She was a 5-foot-3 almanac of visual reference, most famously to Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes, but also to the white British soul singer Mari Wilson, less famous for her sound than her beehive; to the punk god Johnny Thunders...; to the fierce council-house chicks... (see: Dior and Chanel runways, 2007 and 2008); to the rat-combed biker molls photographed by the Swiss photographer Karlheinz Weinberger in the 1960s; to a lineage of bad girls, extending from Cleopatra to Louise Brooks’s Lulu and including Salt-n-Pepa, to irresistible man traps that always seemed to come to the same unfortunate end.

Major label success and ''Frank''

Winehouse's debut album, ''Frank'', was released on 20 October 2003. Produced mainly by Salaam Remi, many songs were influenced by jazz and, apart from two covers, every song was co-written by Winehouse. The album received positive reviews with compliments over the "cool, critical gaze" in its lyrics and brought comparisons of her voice to Sarah Vaughan, Macy Gray and others.

The album entered the upper levels of the UK album chart in 2004 when it was nominated for BRIT Awards in the categories of "British Female Solo Artist" and "British Urban Act". It went on to achieve platinum sales. Later in 2004 she won the Ivor Novello (songwriting) Award for Best Contemporary Song, alongside Salaam Remi, with her contribution to the first single, "Stronger Than Me". The album also made the short list for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. In the same year she performed at the Glastonbury Festival, the V Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival (7 July 2004, at the Club Soda), and on the Jazzworld stage. After the release of the album, Winehouse commented that she was "only 80 percent behind [the] album" because of the inclusion by her record label of certain songs and mixes she disliked. Additional singles from the album were "Take the Box", "In My Bed"/"You Sent Me Flying" and "Pumps"/"Help Yourself".

International success and ''Back to Black''

In contrast to her jazz-influenced former album, Winehouse's focus shifted to the girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Winehouse hired New York singer Sharon Jones's longtime band, the Dap-Kings to back her up in the studio and on tour. In May 2006 Winehouse's demonstration tracks such as "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" appeared on Mark Ronson's New York radio show on East Village Radio. These were some of the first new songs played on the radio after the release of "Pumps" and both were slated to appear on her second album. The 11-track album was produced entirely by Salaam Remi and Ronson, with the production credits being split between them. Ronson said in a 2010 interview that he liked working with Winehouse because she was blunt when she did not like his work. Promotion of ''Back to Black'' soon began and, in early October 2006 Winehouse's official website was relaunched with a new layout and clips of previously unreleased songs. ''Back to Black'' was released in the UK on 30 October 2006. It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart numerous times, and entered at number seven on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the US. It was the best-selling album in the UK of 2007, selling 1.85 million copies over the course of the year.

The album spawned a number of singles. The first single released from the album was the Ronson-produced "Rehab". The song reached the top ten in the UK and the US. ''Time'' magazine named "Rehab" the Best Song of 2007. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised Winehouse for her confidence, saying, "What she is is mouthy, funny, sultry, and quite possibly crazy" and "It's impossible not to be seduced by her originality. Combine it with production by Mark Ronson that references four decades worth of soul music without once ripping it off, and you've got the best song of 2007." The album's second single and lead single in the US, "You Know I'm No Good", was released in January 2007 with a remix featuring rap vocals by Ghostface Killah. It ultimately reached number 18 on the UK singles chart. The title track, "Back to Black", was released in the UK in April 2007 and peaked at number 25, but was more successful across mainland Europe. "Tears Dry on Their Own", "Love Is a Losing Game" and "Just Friends" were also released as singles, but failed to achieve the same level of success.

A deluxe edition of ''Back to Black'' was also released on 5 November 2007 in the UK. The bonus disc features B-sides, rare, and live tracks, as well as "Valerie". Winehouse's debut DVD ''I Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London'' was released the same day in the UK and 13 November in the US. It includes a live set recorded at London's Shepherds Bush Empire and a 50-minute documentary charting the singer's career over the previous four years. ''Frank'' was released in the United States on 20 November 2007 to positive reviews. The album debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In addition to her own album she collaborated with other artists on singles. Winehouse was a vocalist on the song "Valerie" on Ronson's solo album ''Version''. The song peaked at number two in the UK, upon its October single release. The song was nominated for a 2008 Brit Award for "Best British Single". Her work with ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena, "B Boy Baby", was released on 17 December 2007. It served as the fourth single from Buena's solo debut album, ''Real Girl''.

Continued success and acclaim

By year's end Winehouse had garnered numerous accolades and awards. The singer won 2008 Grammy Awards in the categories of Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the single "Rehab", while her album ''Back to Black'' was nominated for Album of the Year and won the Best Pop Vocal Album award. Producer Mark Ronson's work with her won the award in the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical category. The singer also earned a Grammy in the Best New Artist category. This earned Winehouse an entry in the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for Most Grammy Awards won by a British Female Act. She performed "You Know I’m No Good" and "Rehab" at the awards ceremony via satellite, as her visa approval came through too late for her to travel to the US. She said "This is for London because Camden town ain't burning down", in reference to the Camden Market fire. After the Grammy Awards, the album's sales increased catapulting ''Back to Black'' to number two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 after initially peaking at number seven. On 13 January 2008, ''Back to Black'' held the number one position on the ''Billboard'' Pan European charts for the third straight week. In January 2008 Universal Music International said it believed that there was a correlation between number of albums sold and the extensive media coverage the singer had received.

thumb|left|Performing at Eurockéennes in Belfort, Territoire de Belfort, France on 29 June 2007 A special deluxe edition of ''Back to Black'' topped the UK album charts on 2 March 2008. The original edition of the album resided at the number 30 position, in its 68th week on the charts, while "Frank" charted at number 35. By 12 March the album had sold a total of 2,467,575 copies, 318,350 of those in the previous 10 weeks, putting the album on the UK's top 10 best-selling albums of the 21st century for the first time. On 7 April, ''Back to Black'' was residing at the top position on the pan-European charts for the sixth consecutive and thirteenth aggregate week. ''Back to Black'' was the world's seventh biggest selling album for 2008. These sales helped keep Universal Music's recorded music division from dropping to levels experienced by the overall music market.

At the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards, Winehouse became the first artist to receive two nominations for the top award, best song, musically and lyrically. She won the award for "Love Is a Losing Game" and was nominated for "You Know I'm No Good". "Rehab", a Novello winner for best contemporary song in 2006, also received a 2008 nomination for best-selling British song. Winehouse was nominated for a MTV Europe Award in the ''Act of The Year'' category. ''Amy Winehouse – The Girl Done Good: A Documentary Review'', a 78-minute DVD, was released on 14 April 2008. The documentary features interviews with those who knew her at a young age, helped her gain success, jazz music experts, as well as music and pop culture specialists. A clip of Winehouse's music was included in the "Roots and Influences" area that looked at connections between different artists at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, which opened in December 2008. One thread started with Billie Holiday continued with Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and finished with Winehouse. In a poll of United States residents conducted for VisitBritain by Harris Interactive that was released in March 2009, one fifth of those polled indicated they had listened to Winehouse's music during the previous year. Winehouse performed with Rhythms del Mundo on their cover of the Sam Cooke song "Cupid" for an ''Artists Project Earth'' benefit album that was released on 13 July 2009.

On the week of July 26, after Winehouse's death, ''Frank'', ''Back To Black'', and the ''Back To Black'' EP re-entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 57, number 9, and number 152 respectively with the album climbing to number 4 the following week. ''Back To Black'' also topped the ''Billboard'' Digital Albums chart on the same week and was the second best seller at iTunes. "Rehab" re-entered and topped the ''Billboard'' Digital Songs chart as well, selling up to 38,000 more digital downloads. As of August 2011 "Back to Black" was the best selling album in the United Kingdom in the 21st Century.

Final projects

Winehouse and Mark Ronson contributed a cover of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" to the Quincy Jones tribute album ''Q Soul Bossa Nostra'' released 9 November 2010. Winehouse and drummer ?uestlove of the Roots had agreed to form a group. Winehouse's problems obtaining a visa delayed the still unnamed group from working together. Producer Salaam Remi had already created some material with Winehouse as part of the project. According to a newspaper report, Universal Music pressed her regarding new material in 2008. According to that same report Winehouse as of 2 September had not been near a recording studio. It was noted that she had touring obligations during the summer and also that if an album was quickly recorded, it would be at least a year before an album could be released. In late October Winehouse's spokesman was quoted as saying that Winehouse had not been given a deadline to complete her third album, for which she was learning to play drums.

During her 2009 stay in Saint Lucia, Winehouse worked on new music with producer Salaam Remi. Island claimed that a new album would be due in 2010; Island co-president Darcus Beese said, "I've heard a couple of song demos that have absolutely floored me". In July 2010 Winehouse was quoted as saying her next album would be released no later than January 2011, saying "It’s going to be very much the same as my second album, where there's a lot of jukebox stuff and songs that are... just jukebox, really." Mark Ronson said in July 2010 that he had not started to record the album.

Winehouse's last recording was a duet with American singer Tony Bennett for his latest album, ''Duets II'', which was released on September 20, 2011. Their single from the album, "Body and Soul," was released on 14 September 2011 on MTV and VH1 to commemorate what would have been her 28th birthday. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, launched The Amy Winehouse Foundation with the goal of raising awareness and support for organizations that help vulnerable, young adults with problems such as addiction. Proceeds from "Body and Soul" will benefit The Amy Winehouse Foundation. The song received the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards on February 12th, 2012. Winehouse's father, Mitch Winehouse, picked up the award at the awards ceremony with his wife Janis, saying, "We shouldn't be here. Our darling daughter should be here. These are the cards that we're dealt."

When interviewed by Jon Stewart on ''The Daily Show'' on 29 September 2011, Bennett stated that in hindsight, he believed Amy: ::was in trouble at that time because she had a couple of engagements that she didn't keep up. But what people didn't realize at that time, that she really knew, and in fact I didn't even know it when we were making the record, and now looking at the whole thing; she knew that she was in a lot of trouble; that she wasn't going to live. And it wasn't drugs. It was alcohol toward the end. . . . It was such a sad thing because . . . she was the only singer that really sang what I call the 'right way' because she was a great jazz-pop singer. . . . She was really a great jazz singer. A true jazz singer. And I regret that because that's the 'right way' to sing.

An album of previously unreleased material, entitled ''Lioness: Hidden Treasures'', was released on December 6, 2011.

Artistry

Influence

British singer Adele has credited Winehouse's success in the United States for making her and fellow British singer Duffy's journey to the United States "a bit smoother". American singer Lady Gaga credited Winehouse with paving the way for her rise to the top of the charts. She appeared to be using a metaphorical analogy to explain that Winehouse made it easier for unconventional women to have mainstream pop success. Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, and John Legend said "Amy Winehouse was produced by people who wanted to create a marketing coup. The positive side is that it reacquainted an audience with this music and played an introductory role for others. This reinvigorated the genre by overcoming the vintage aspect".

After the release of Back to Black, record companies sought out female artists with a similar sound and fearless and experimental female musicians in general. Adele and Duffy were the second wave of artists with a sound similar to Winehouse's. A third wave of female musicians that has emerged since the album was released are led by VV Brown, Florence and the Machine, La Roux and Little Boots. In February 2010 rapper Jay-Z credited Winehouse with revitalising British music, saying, "There's a strong push coming out of London right now, which is great. It's been coming ever since I guess Amy (Winehouse). I mean always, but I think Amy, this resurgence was ushered in by Amy." In March 2011 the ''New York Daily News'' ran an article attributing the continuing wave of British female artists that have been successful in the United States to Winehouse and her absence. ''Spin'' magazine music editor Charles Aaron was quoted as saying "Amy Winehouse was the Nirvana moment for all these women," "They can all be traced back to her in terms of attitude, musical styles or fashion". According to Keith Caulfield, chart manager for ''Billboard'', "Because of Amy, or the lack thereof, the marketplace was able to get singers like Adele and Duffy," "Now those ladies have brought on the new ones, like Eliza Doolittle, Rumer and Ellie."

Live performances

Winehouse toured in conjunction with the ''Back to Black'' album's release. She performed headlining gigs in September and November 2006, including one of the ''Little Noise Sessions'' charity concerts at the Union Chapel, Islington. On 31 December 2006, Winehouse appeared on Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny and performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" along with Paul Weller and Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. She also performed Toots & the Maytals' "Monkey Man". She began a run of another 14 gigs beginning in February 2007. At his request, Bruce Willis introduced Winehouse before her performance of "Rehab" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Winehouse made awards organizers nervous when she went on a Las Vegas jaunt in the hours before the show. During the summer of 2007, Winehouse performed at various festivals, including UK's Glastonbury Festival, Chicago's Lollapalooza festival, Rock Werchter and Baltimore's Virgin Music Festival.

Winehouse's tour, however, did not go as well. In November 2007 the opening night of a 17-date tour was marred by booing and walkouts at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. A music critic for the ''Birmingham Mail'' said it was "one of the saddest nights of my life...I saw a supremely talented artist reduced to tears, stumbling around the stage and, unforgivably, swearing at the audience." Other concerts ended similarly, with, for example, fans at her Hammersmith Apollo performance saying that she "looked highly intoxicated throughout", until she announced on 27 November 2007, that her performances and public appearances were cancelled for the remainder of 2007, citing doctor advice to take a complete rest. A statement issued by concert promoter Live Nation blamed "the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks" for the decision.

On 20 February 2008, Winehouse performed at the 2008 BRIT Awards, performing "Valerie" with Mark Ronson, followed by "Love Is a Losing Game". She urged the crowd to "make some noise for my Blake." In Paris she performed what was described as a "well-executed 40 minute" set at the opening of a Fendi boutique. Although her father, manager and various members of her touring team reportedly tried to dissuade her, Winehouse performed at the Rock in Rio Lisboa festival in Portugal in May 2008. Although the set was plagued by a late arrival and problems with her voice, the crowd warmed to her. In addition to her own material she performed two Specials covers. Winehouse performed at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Party concert at London's Hyde Park on the 27 June, and the next day at the Glastonbury Festival. On 12 July at the Oxegen Festival she performed a well-received 50 minute set which was followed the next day by a 14 song set at T in the Park. On 16 August she played at the Staffordshire leg of the V Festival, and the following day played the Chelmsford leg of the festival. Organizers said that Winehouse attracted the biggest crowds of the festival. Audience reaction was reported as mixed. On 6 September she was the headliner at Bestival. She performed what was described as a polished set which ended with her storming off the stage. Her hour late arrival caused her set to be cut off at the halfway point due to a curfew.

In May 2009 Winehouse returned to performing at a jazz festival in Saint Lucia amid torrential downpours and technical difficulties. During her hour long set it was reported she was unsteady on her feet and had trouble remembering lyrics. She apologised to the crowd for being "bored" and ended her set by walking off the stage in the middle of a song. To a cheering crowd on 23 August at the V festival, Winehouse sang with The Specials on their songs "You're Wondering Now" and "Ghost Town".

In July 2010 she performed "Valerie" with Mark Ronson at a movie premiere. She sang lead but forgot some of the song's lyrics. In October Winehouse performed a four song set to promote her fashion line. In December 2010 Winehouse played a 40 minute concert at a Russian oligarch's party in Moscow. Guests included other Russian tycoons and Russian show business stars. The tycoon hand picked the songs she played.

During January 2011, she played five dates in Brazil, with opening acts of Janelle Monáe and Mayer Hawthorne. On 11 February 2011, Winehouse cut short a performance in Dubai following booing from the audience. Winehouse was reported to be tired, distracted and "tipsy" during the performance.

On 18 June 2011, Winehouse started her 12-leg 2011 European tour in Belgrade. Local media described her performance as a scandal and disaster, and she was booed off the stage due to her apparently being too drunk to perform. It was reported that she was unable to remember the city she was in, the lyrics of her songs or – when trying to introduce them – the names of the members of her band. The local press also claimed that Winehouse was forced to perform by her bodyguards, who didn't allow her to leave the stage when she tried to do so. She then pulled out of performances in Istanbul and Athens which had been scheduled for the following week. On 21 June it was announced that she had cancelled all shows of her European tour and would be given "as long as it takes" to sort herself out.

Winehouse's last public appearance took place at Camden's Roundhouse, London on 20 July 2011, when she made a surprise guest appearance on stage to support her goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield, who was singing "Mama Said" with The Wanted.

Club nights

On 10 July 2008, Winehouse launched her own club night, ''Snakehips at the Monarch'', in the Camden Monarch venue in London. Although billed as a DJ battle between her and another DJ, she stayed behind the decks swaying as another person actually played 1960s music. She appeared at another ''Snakehips'' event at the Monarch on the night of 11 September. After reportedly arriving two hours late, she spun music and played a short acoustic set.

Other ventures

Winehouse joined a campaign to stop a block of flats being built beside the George Tavern, a famous London East End music venue. Campaign supporters feared the residential development would end the spot's lucrative sideline as a film and photo location, on which it relies to survive. As part of a breast cancer awareness campaign, Winehouse appeared in a revealing photograph for the April 2008 issue of ''Easy Living'' magazine. Winehouse had an estimated £10m fortune, tying her for tenth place in the 2008 ''Sunday Times'' listing of the wealth of musicians under age 30. The following year her fortune had dropped to an estimated £5m. Her finances are run by Mitch and Janis Winehouse. It was reported she earned about £1m singing at two private parties during Paris Fashion Week. as well as another £1m to perform at a Moscow Art Gallery for Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Winehouse loaned a vintage dress used in her video for "Tears Dry on Their Own" as well as a DVD to the British Music Experience, a new museum dedicated to the history of British pop music. The museum, located in The O2, opened on 9 March 2009.

In January 2009, Winehouse announced that she was launching her own record label. The first act on her Lioness Records is Winehouse's 13-year-old goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield. Her first album, featuring covers of classic soul records, was released on 12 October 2009. Winehouse is the backing singer on several tracks on the album and she performed backing vocals for Bromfield on the television programme ''Strictly Come Dancing'' on 10 October.

Winehouse and her family are the subject of a 2009 documentary shot by Daphne Barak titled ''Saving Amy''.

Winehouse entered into a joint venture in 2009 with EMI to launch a range of wrapping paper and gift cards containing song lyrics from her album ''Back to Black''.

On 8 January 2010, a television documentary, ''My Daughter Amy'', aired on Channel 4.

''Saving Amy'' was released as a paperback book in January 2010.

Winehouse collaborated on a 17 piece fashion collection with the Fred Perry label. It was released for sale in October 2010. According to Fred Perry's marketing director "We had three major design meetings where she was closely involved in product style selection and the application of fabric, colour and styling details,” and gave "crucial input on proportion, colour and fit”. The collection consists of "vintage-inspired looks including Capri pants, a bowling dress, a trench coat, pencil skirts, a longline argyle sweater and a pink-and-black checkerboard-printed collared shirt". At the behest her family three forthcoming collections up to and including autumn/winter 2012 that she had designed prior to her death will be released.

Personal life

With the paparazzi taking photographs of her wherever they could, Winehouse obtained an injunction against a leading paparazzi agency (Big Pictures) under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the resultant court order banning them from following her. Photographers were also banned from following her within 100 metres of her home and photographing Winehouse in her home or the home of her friends and family. According to a newspaper report, sources close to the singer said legal action was taken out of concern for the safety of Winehouse and those close to her.

Relationships

Winehouse dated chef-musician Alex Clare (sometimes referred to as Alex Claire) in 2006, while on the outs with her on-off boyfriend and future husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. Clare famously sold his story to the ''News of the World'', which published it under the headline “Bondage Crazed Amy Just Can’t Beehive in Bed”.

She married Fielder-Civil (born August 1978), a former video production assistant, on 18 May 2007, in Miami Beach, Florida. Fielder-Civil was a "dropout" of Bourne Grammar School, who moved to London at aged 16 from his native Lincolnshire. In a June 2007 interview, Winehouse admitted she could sometimes be violent toward him after she had been drinking, saying "if he says one thing I don't like then I'll chin him". In August 2007, they were photographed, bloodied and bruised, in the streets of London after an alleged fight, although she contended her injuries were self-inflicted. American men's campaigner Glenn Sacks condemned Winehouse for what he called her "bragging" about abusing her husband, saying that "a male abuser would have been locked up, stigmatised, and vilified".

Winehouse's parents and in-laws publicly reported their numerous concerns, citing fears that the two might commit suicide, with Fielder-Civil's father encouraging fans to boycott her music. Fielder-Civil was quoted in a British tabloid as saying he introduced her to crack cocaine and heroin. During a visit with Mitch Winehouse at the prison in July 2008, Fielder-Civil reportedly said that they would cut themselves to ease the pain of withdrawal.

From 21 July 2008 to 25 February 2009, Fielder-Civil was imprisoned following his guilty plea on charges of trying to pervert the course of justice as well as a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent. The incident, in July 2007, involved an assault on a pub landlord that resulted in a broken cheek. According to the prosecution the landlord accepted £200,000 as part of a deal to "effectively throw the [court] case and not turn up". The prosecution testified that the money used to pay off the landlord belonged to Winehouse, but that Winehouse pulled out of a meeting with the men involved in the plot, because she had to attend an awards ceremony.

Winehouse was spotted with aspiring actor Josh Bowman on holiday in Saint Lucia in early January 2009, saying she was "in love again, and I don't need drugs." She commented that the "whole marriage was based on doing drugs" and that "for the time being I've just forgotten I'm even married." On 12 January, Winehouse's spokesman confirmed that "papers have been received" for what Fielder-Civil's solicitor has said are divorce proceedings based on a claim of adultery. On 25 February, Blake Fielder-Civil was quoted as saying that he planned to continue divorce proceedings to give himself a drug-free fresh start. In March, Winehouse was quoted in a magazine as saying, "I still love Blake and I want him to move into my new house with me – that was my plan all along ... I won't let him divorce me. He's the male version of me and we're perfect for each other." Uncontested, the divorce was granted on 16 July 2009 and became final on 28 August 2009. Upon his request Fielder-Civil received no money in the settlement. She dated director Reg Traviss for approximately two years before her death.

Substance abuse and mental health issues

Winehouse's battles with substance abuse were the subject of much media attention. In 2005, she went through a period of drinking, heavy drug use, violent mood swings and weight loss.; people who saw her during the end of that year and early 2006 reported a rebound that coincided with the writing of ''Back to Black''. Her family believes that the mid-2006 death of her grandmother, who was a stabilising influence, set her off into addiction. In August 2007, Winehouse cancelled a number of shows in the UK and Europe, citing exhaustion and ill health. She was hospitalised during this period for what was reported as an overdose of heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol. In various interviews, she admitted to having such problems with self-harm, depression and eating disorders.

Winehouse told a magazine that the drugs were to blame for her hospitalisation and that "I really thought that it was over for me then." Soon after, Winehouse's father commented that when he had made public statements regarding her problems, he was using the media because it seemed the only way to get through to her. In an interview with ''The Album Chart Show'' on British television, Winehouse said she was manic depressive and not alcoholic, adding that that sounded like "an alcoholic in denial". A U.S. reporter writes that Winehouse was a "victim of mental illness in a society that doesn't understand or respond to mental illness with great effectiveness".

On 2 December 2007, images of the singer outside her home in the early morning hours, barefoot and wearing only a bra and jeans, appeared on the internet and in tabloid newspapers. In a statement, her spokesman blamed paparazzi harassment for the incident. The spokesman reported that the singer was in a physician-supervised programme and was channelling her difficulties by writing a lot of music. The British tabloid ''The Sun'' posted a video of a woman, alleged to be Winehouse, apparently smoking crack cocaine and speaking of having taken ecstasy and valium. Winehouse's father moved in with her, and Island Records, her record label, announced the abandonment of plans for an American promotion campaign on her behalf. In late January 2008, Winehouse reportedly entered a rehabilitation facility for a two-week treatment program.

On 23 January 2008, the video was passed on to the Metropolitan Police, who questioned her on 5 February. No charges were brought. On 26 March 2008, Winehouse's spokesman said she was "doing well" and denied a published report in a British tabloid that consideration was being given to having her return to rehab. Her record company reportedly believed that her recovery remained fragile. By late April 2008, her erratic behaviour, including an allegation of assault, caused fear that her drug rehabilitation efforts have been unsuccessful, leading to efforts by Winehouse's father and manager to seek assistance in having her sectioned. Her dishevelled appearance during and after a scheduled club night in September sparked new rumours of a relapse. Photographers were quoted as saying she appeared to have cuts on her legs and arms.

According to Winehouse's physician Winehouse quit illegal substances in 2008. In an October 2010 interview, Winehouse speaking of her decision to quit drugs said "I literally woke up one day and was like, 'I don’t want to do this any more”. Drinking alcohol emerged as a problem with Winehouse abstaining for a few weeks then lapsing. The physician said that Winehouse was treated with Librium for alcohol withdrawal and anxiety, and underwent psychologist and a psychiatrist reviews in 2010, but refused psychological therapy.

Violence and legal difficulties

In 2006, Winehouse admitted punching a fan in the face for criticising her having taken Blake Fielder-Civil as a husband. She then attacked her spouse as he attempted to calm her down, kneeing him in the crotch.

In October 2007, Winehouse and her then-husband were arrested in Bergen, Norway for possession of seven grams of marijuana. The couple were later released and fined 3850 kroner (around £350). Winehouse first appealed the fines, claiming she was "duped" into confessing, but later dropped the appeal.

On 26 April 2008, Winehouse was cautioned after she admitted to police she slapped a 38 year-old man in the face, a "common assault" offence. She voluntarily turned herself in and was held overnight. Police said, at her arrival she was "in no fit state" to be interviewed. Winehouse was arrested on 7 May 2008 on suspicion of possessing drugs after a video of her apparently smoking crack cocaine was passed to the police in January, but was released on bail a few hours later because they could not confirm, from the video, what she was smoking. The Crown Prosecution Service considered charging her with possessing a controlled drug and allowing her premises to be used for the supply by others of a controlled drug, but she was cleared when the service could not establish that the substance in the video was a controlled drug. In reaction to the decision, former police commander John O’Connor said it is an "absolute scandal that nothing could be done" about Winehouse "cocking a snook at the law". Some members of Parliament also reacted negatively. Two London residents were subsequently charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and ecstasy to Winehouse. One of the pair was sentenced to two years in prison on 13 December 2008, while the other received a two-year community order.

On 5 March 2009, Winehouse was arrested and charged with common assault following a claim by a woman that Winehouse hit her in the eye at a September 2008 Prince's Trust charity ball. At the same time, she was reported to have spat at the English socialite Pippa Middleton and to have headbutted a photographer. Winehouse's spokesperson announced the singer cancelled a scheduled United States Coachella Festival appearance in "light of current legal issues". Swearing in under her legal name of Amy Jade Civil, Winehouse appeared in court on 17 March to enter her plea of not guilty. On 23 July her assault trial began with prosecutor Lyall Thompson charging that Winehouse acted with "deliberate and unjustifiable violence" while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol or another substance. The woman, Sharene Flash, testified that Winehouse "punched me forcefully in my right eye. She used a fist, her right one.” Winehouse testified that she did not punch Flash, but tried to push Flash away from her because she was scared of Flash. Winehouse cited her worry that Flash would sell her story to a tabloid, Flash's height advantage, and Flash's "rude" behaviour as reasons for her fear of Flash. On the 24 July, District Judge Timothy Workman ruled that Winehouse was not guilty of the charge. Workman cited the facts that all but two of the witnesses were intoxicated at the time of the incident and that medical evidence did not show "the sort of injury that often occurs when there is a forceful punch to the eye".

On 19 December 2009, Winehouse was arrested again on charges of common assault, plus another charge of public order offence. Winehouse assaulted the front-of-house manager of the Milton Keynes Theatre after he asked her to move from her seat. On 20 January 2010, she admitted common assault and disorderly behaviour. She was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 court costs and £100 compensation to the man she attacked.

Respiratory problems

On 23 June 2008, Winehouse's publicist corrected earlier misstatements by Mitch Winehouse that his daughter had early stage emphysema, instead claiming she had signs of what could lead to early-stage emphysema. Mitch Winehouse had also stated that his daughter's lungs were operating at 70 percent capacity and that she had an irregular heartbeat. Mitch Winehouse said that these problems had been caused by her chain smoking crack cocaine. The singer’s father also reported that doctors had warned Winehouse that, if she continued smoking crack cocaine, she would have to wear an oxygen mask and would eventually die. In a radio interview, Mitch Winehouse said the singer was responding "fabulously" to treatment, which included being covered with nicotine patches. British Lung Foundation spokesman Keith Prowse noted this type of condition could be managed with treatment. Prowse also said the condition was not normal for a person her age but "heavy smoking and inhaling other substances like drugs can age the lungs prematurely". Norman H. Edelman of the American Lung Association explained that if she stopped smoking, her lung functions would decline at the rate of a normal person, but continued smoking would lead to a more rapid decline in lung function. Photographs of the singer with a cigarette in her mouth, taken 23 June 2008, were widely published.

Winehouse was released from The London Clinic 24 hours after returning from a temporary leave to perform at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday and at a concert in Glastonbury, and continued receiving treatment as an outpatient. In July, 2008 Winehouse stated that she had been diagnosed with "some areas of emphysema" and said she is getting herself together by "eating loads of healthy food, sleeping loads, playing my guitar, making music and writing letters to my husband every day". She also kept a vertical tanning bed in her apartment. Winehouse began precautionary testing on her lungs and chest on 25 October 2008 at the London Clinic for what was reported as a chest infection. Winehouse was in and out of the facility and was granted permission to set her own schedule regarding home leave. She returned to the hospital on 23 November 2008 for a reported reaction to her medication.

Death

Winehouse's bodyguard said that he arrived at her residence three days before her death and felt she was somewhat intoxicated. He observed moderate drinking over the next few days. He observed her "laughing, listening to music and watching TV at 2am the day of her death". According to the bodyguard at 10AM he observed her lying on her bed and tried unsuccessfully to rouse her. This did not raise much suspicion because she usually slept late after a night out. According to the bodyguard shortly after 3pm he checked on her again and observed her lying in the same position as before leading to a further check in which he concluded she was not breathing and had no pulse. He claimed he subsequently called emergency services. At 3:54pm BST on 23 July 2011, two ambulances were called to Winehouse's home in Camden, London. Winehouse was pronounced dead at the scene. Shortly afterwards, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that she had died. After her death was announced, media and camera crews appeared, as crowds gathered near Winehouse’s residence to pay their respects. Forensic investigators entered the flat as police cordoned off the street outside.

Police recovered one small and two large bottles of vodka from her room.

A coroner's inquest reached a verdict of misadventure. The report released on 26 October 2011 explained that Winehouse's blood alcohol content was 416 mg per decilitre at the time of her death, more than five times the legal drink-drive limit. According to the coroner, "The unintended consequences of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden death." Winehouse's record label, Universal Republic, released a statement that read in part: "We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer." Many musical artists have since paid tribute to Winehouse including U2, M.I.A., Lady Gaga, Mutya Buena, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Keisha Buchanan, Rihanna, George Michael, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Courtney Love, and the American punk rock band Green Day, who wrote a song in her tribute titled "Amy." Family and friends attended Winehouse's funeral on 26 July 2011 at Edgwarebury Lane cemetery in north London. Her mother and father, Janis and Mitch Winehouse, close friend Kelly Osbourne, producer Mark Ronson and her boyfriend Reg Traviss were among those in attendance at the private service led by Rabbi Frank Hellner. Her father delivered the eulogy, saying "Goodnight, my angel, sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much." Carole King's "So Far Away" closed the service with mourners singing along. She was later cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. The family planned to sit a two-day shiva. Winehouse's parents set up a foundation in her name, to help those affected by drug addiction.

Controversy

Winehouse's dichotomous public image of critical and commercial success versus personal turmoil proved to be controversial. ''The New Statesman'' called Winehouse "a filthy-mouthed, down-to-earth diva," while ''Newsweek'' called her "a perfect storm of sex kitten, raw talent and poor impulse control." Karen Heller with ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' summarised the maelstrom this way:

}}

By 2008, her continued drug problems threatened her career. Even as Nick Gatfield, the president of Island Records, toyed with the idea of releasing Winehouse "to deal with her problems", he remarked on her talent, saying, "It’s a reflection of her status [in the U.S.] that when you flick through the TV coverage [of the Grammys] it’s her image they use." Post-Grammys, some questioned whether Winehouse should have been honoured with the awards given her recent personal and drug problems, including Natalie Cole, who introduced Winehouse at the ceremony. Cole (who battled her own substance-abuse problems while winning a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1975) remarked, "I think the girl is talented, gifted, but it's not right for her to be able to have her cake and eat it too. She needs to get herself together." In an opinion newspaper commentary, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said that the alleged drug habits of Winehouse and other celebrities send a bad message "to others who are vulnerable to addiction" and undermine the efforts of other celebrities trying to raise awareness of problems in Africa, now that more cocaine used in Europe passes through Africa. Winehouse's spokesperson called Costa a "ludicrous man" and noted that "Amy has never given a quote about drugs or flaunted it in any way. She's had some problems and is trying to get better. The U.N. should get its own house in order." Following Winehouse's death William Bennett a former director of the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy criticised the Grammy Awards nominating committee along similar lines. Graeme Pearson, the former head of Scotland's drug enforcement agency, criticised Winehouse and Kate Moss for making going to rehab a badge of honour, thus giving the false impression that quitting drugs is easy, because many cannot afford to go to clinics.

Winehouse became a staple in popularity polls due not to her musical contributions, but her lifestyle. The 2008 NME Awards nominated Winehouse in the categories of "Villain of the Year", "Best Solo Artist", and "Best Music DVD"; Winehouse won for "Worst Dressed Performer". In its third annual list, ''Glamour'' magazine named Winehouse the third worst dressed British Woman. Winehouse was ranked number two on Richard Blackwell's 48th annual "Ten Worst Dressed Women" list, behind Victoria Beckham. In an April 2008 poll conducted by Sky News, Winehouse was named the second greatest "ultimate heroine" by the UK population at large, topping the voting for that category of those polled under 25 years old. Psychologist Donna Dawson commented that the results demonstrate women like Winehouse who have "a certain sense of vulnerability or have had to fight against some adversity in their lives” receive recognition. Winehouse was voted the second most hated personality in the United Kingdom in a poll conducted one month later by ''Marketing'' magazine.

Speaking at a discussion entitled ''Winehouse or White House?: Do we go too big on showbiz news?'' Jeff Zycinski, head of BBC Radio Scotland, said the BBC and media in general were complicit in the destruction of celebrities like Winehouse. He said that public interest in the singer's lifestyle does not make her lifestyle newsworthy. Rod McKenzie editor of the BBC Radio One program ''Newsbeat'' replied that "If you play [Amy Winehouse's] music to a certain demographic, those same people want to know what's happening in her private life. If you don't cover it, you're insulting young license fee payers." The British artist M.I.A. was quoted in ''The Guardian'' in 2007 as saying she found Winehouse "really interesting", saying "I once saw her in the street and she was really out of it, so I guess she is really living it out. I think Amy's thing is feeling really weird about what she does and dealing with that." British singer and songwriter Lily Allen was quoted in a Scottish newspaper as saying

Artistic impressions

London's Mall Galleries opened an exhibition in May 2008 that included a sculpture of Winehouse, entitled ''Excess''. The piece, created by Guy Portelli, had a miniature of the singer lying on top of a cracked champagne bottle, with a pool of spilled liquid underneath. The body was covered with what appeared to be tiny pills, while one outstretched hand held a glass. Another piece, a print entitled "Celebrity 1" by artist Charlotte Suckling, was exhibited in the same exhibition. A wax sculpture of Winehouse went on display at the London Madame Tussauds on 23 July 2008. The singer did not attend the unveiling, although her parents did. A sculpture by Marco Perego, entitled "The Only Good Rock Star Is a Dead Rock Star", that depicts Winehouse lying in a pool of blood with an apple and a bullet hole in her head after being shot by American novelist and beat poet William S. Burroughs (in a recreation of the accidental killing of his wife Joan Vollmer), was scheduled to go on display in New York’s Half Gallery on 14 November 2008. The sale price for the sculpture is listed at US $100,000. Perego said of the sculpture "Rock stars are the sacrificial animals of society." Winehouse’s spokesperson said "It’s a funny kind of tribute. The artist seems in thrall to a tabloid persona that is not the real Amy. People often use her image to sell their work."

Discography

;Studio albums:

''Frank'' (2003)

''Back to Black'' (2006)

; Posthumous albums:

''Lioness: Hidden Treasures'' (2011)

Awards and nominations

Among the awards and recognitions for ''Frank'', Winehouse earned an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song ("Stronger Than Me"), a BRIT Award nomination for Best Female Solo Artist, and an inclusion in Robert Dimery's 2006 book, ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. ''Back to Black'' produced numerous nominations, including two BRIT Awards (Best Female Solo Artist and Best British Album), six Grammy Awards (including five wins), four Ivor Novello Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, three World Music Awards, and was nominated for the Mercury Prize (Album of the Year) and a MOBO Awards (Best UK Female). During her career, Winehouse received 23 awards from 60 nominations.

Further recordings

Other than the rare songs on her third album, there are a few extra possible songs that could be released that weren't on her apparent final album. These are the cover versions of 4 songs, 3 of which were performed live on Jools Holland's xmas hootenanny show prior to 2010. The BBC also broadcast another cover song called "Monkey Man". There is also a guitar solo version of "No Greater Love" available via P2P sharing. There was also a song that Bryan Adams wrote for her after they met in a hotel several years before her 3rd album was released, which then may or may not have been recorded - with the interesting connecting point being that Bryan Adams apparently took the photo of his friend Amy that became the cover picture for her 3rd album, as going by the related comment in a section further above. This information comes from a Channel 4 documentary which it covered her rise to fame, leading to her drug abuse an relationship problems - and was first shown on UK tv possibly 1 or 2 years ago before she died, [circa 2010].

See also

27 Club

References

Further reading

;General

Lewis, Pete. "A Blues & Soul Classic Interview With Amy Winehouse Before 'Rehab'" ''Blues & Soul''. April 2004 (reprinted February 2008).

Anderman, Joan. "Of course she should go to rehab." ''Boston Globe''. 15 December 2007.

Gould, Lara; Bull, Sarah; & Satherly, Jessica. "Sordid final hours of a troubled star: Amy Winehouse had 'bought ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine' on the night before tragic death". ''Daily Mail''. 24 July 2011.

Grimwood, Ben. CollegeNews.com. 29 November 2007.

Gundersen, Edna. "Amy Winehouse's sobering transformation could hurt her musical credibility." ''USA TODAY''. 28 January 2008.

Hill, Emily. "Amy Winehouse: her own woman." ''The Guardian''. 31 July 2008

Pareles, Jon. "In Real Time, Amy Winehouse’s Deeper Descent." ''New York Times'' 24 January 2008.

Rosen, Jody. "Dark Star." ''Slate''. 12 February 2008.

Smith, Joan. "There's nothing poetic about Amy's self-destruction" ''The Independent''. 26 June 2008.

The Smoking Gun. BACKSTAGE RIDER: Divas: Amy Winehouse 12 May 2006.

Tyrangiel, Josh. "Trouble Woman." ''TIME''. 24 January 2008.

Vernon, Polly Amy Winehouse: Unplugged ''Harper's Bazaar'' October 2010

July 2009 Mitch Winehouse interview with ''Daily Mirror'' covering a variety of her personal issues

;Books

Barak, Daphne. ''Saving Amy''. New Holland Publishers, 25 January 2010. ISBN 9781847736703

Johnstone, Nick. ''Amy Amy Amy: The Amy Winehouse Story''. Omnibus Press, 1 April 2008. ISBN 9780825636028.

Newkey-Burden, Chas. ''Amy Winehouse: The Biography''. John Blake Publishing, 7 April 2008. ISBN 1844545636.

External links

[ Amy Winehouse] at the All Music Guide

Amy Winehouse collected news and commentary at ''The New York Times''

New York Times fashion retrospective

Slide Show at ''Rolling Stone''

Videos at Island Records on YouTube

Official Video Of Amy Winehouse performing 'Back To Black' Live and Acoustic at SXSW

Category:Amy Winehouse Category:1983 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Alcohol-related deaths in England Category:Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Brit Award winners Category:English people of Jewish descent Category:Deaths by alcohol poisoning Category:English contraltos Category:English female guitarists Category:English-language singers Category:English jazz guitarists Category:English jazz singers Category:English Jews Category:English people convicted of assault Category:English people of Russian descent Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English soul singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Jazz-blues musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:Neo soul singers Category:People educated at the BRIT School Category:People from Camden (district) Category:People from Southgate, London Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Republic Records artists Category:Singers from London Category:Torch singers Category:Vocal jazz musicians Category:Female jazz musicians Category:World Music Awards winners

af:Amy Winehouse ar:آمي واينهاوس az:Emi Vaynhauz be:Эмі Уайнхаус be-x-old:Эмі Ўайнгаўс bg:Ейми Уайнхаус bar:Amy Winehouse bs:Amy Winehouse ca:Amy Winehouse cs:Amy Winehouse cy:Amy Winehouse da:Amy Winehouse de:Amy Winehouse et:Amy Winehouse el:Έιμι Γουάινχαουζ es:Amy Winehouse eo:Amy Winehouse eu:Amy Winehouse fa:امی واینهاوس fr:Amy Winehouse fy:Amy Winehouse ga:Amy Winehouse gd:Amy Winehouse gl:Amy Winehouse gan:艾美·環校詩 got:𐌰𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌰 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌷𐌿𐍃 ko:에이미 와인하우스 hy:Էմի Ուայնհաուս hr:Amy Winehouse io:Amy Winehouse id:Amy Winehouse ia:Amy Winehouse is:Amy Winehouse it:Amy Winehouse he:איימי ויינהאוס jv:Amy Winehouse ka:ემი უაინჰაუსი la:Amy Winehouse lv:Eimija Vainhausa lb:Amy Winehouse lt:Amy Winehouse hu:Amy Winehouse mk:Ејми Вајнхаус arz:آيمي واينهاوس my:အေမီ ဝိုင်းဟောက်စ် nl:Amy Winehouse ja:エイミー・ワインハウス no:Amy Winehouse nn:Amy Winehouse uz:Amy Winehouse nds:Amy Winehouse pl:Amy Winehouse pt:Amy Winehouse ro:Amy Winehouse ru:Уайнхаус, Эми sq:Amy Winehouse simple:Amy Winehouse sk:Amy Winehouse sl:Amy Winehouse sr:Ејми Вајнхаус sh:Amy Winehouse fi:Amy Winehouse sv:Amy Winehouse tl:Amy Winehouse ta:ஏமி வைன்ஹவுஸ் th:เอมี ไวน์เฮาส์ tr:Amy Winehouse uk:Емі Вайнгауз vi:Amy Winehouse yi:עמי וויינהאוס diq:Amy Winehouse bat-smg:Amy Winehouse zh:艾米·怀恩豪斯

name	Dima Bilan
background	solo_singer
birth name	Viktor Nikolaevich Belan
birth date	December 24, 1981
origin	Ust-Dzheguta, Karachay-Cherkessia, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
occupation(s)	Singer, record producer, songwriter, model, actor.
instrument	Vocal
genre	Pop, R&B;, soul
associated acts	Nelly Furtado, Rudy Perez, Jim Beanz, Ryan Tedder, Trudy Bellinger, Edvin Marton, Evgeni Plushenko, Larisa Dolina, J.R. Rotem, Anastacia
label	Universal (2008-present), Gala Records (2003-2007), EMI (2006, 2008), Мистерия Звука (2008)
website	official website }}

(, ; born , , 24 December 1981 in Ust-Dzheguta, Karachay-Cherkessia) is a Russian actor and pop singer . Bilan represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Never Let You Go", finishing second, and he won the contest in 2008, with the song "Believe". He has had several Russian no. 1 hits.

Biography

When he was two years old, his family moved to his grandmother’s place in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny in Tatarstan. When he was six years old, his family moved to Kabardino-Balkaria where he went to school with his sister. He took part in morning performances, recited poems and sang songs. He was one of the few people in Russia to popularize the traditional Japanese game Kancho, which became extremely popular in Russian prisons.

He graduated from Gnesins Musical College as a classical vocal performer. Bilan made his debut when he reached fourth place at the Russian/Latvian festival "New Wave" in 2002. In 2003, Bilan released his debut album titled ''Nochnoy Huligan'' (''Night Hooligan''). In 2004, the reissue of the album came out including 20 songs, 16 of the original + four new tracks: ''Бессердечная'' (Heartless), ''В последний раз'' (The last time), ''Остановите музыку'' (Stop the music), ''Тёмная ночь'' (Dark Night). Also in 2004 he released his successful single "Na beregu neba" ("At The Sky's Shore") which was also the title of his second album.

In 2005, also was released on the official compilation of clips "Ti, tolko ti" (''You, only you'') in that except the clips included presentations album "Ya Nochnoy Huligan" (''I'm a Night Hooligan'') and "Na beregu neba" (''At The Sky's Shore''), also in the collection include additional tracks not included in these albums "Ya ne zabudu" (''I will not forget'') and a cover version of quadrupeds melodies "Caruso" a presentation of "Ya Nochnoy Huligan" (''I'm a Night Hooligan''), "7 Dney" (''Seven Days'') organizing presentations "Na beregu neba" (''At The Sky's Shore'')

In late 2005, released the single "New Year with a new line" contains 3 tracks ''New Year with a new line (feat group Neposedi)'' , ''Between the sky and heaven'' and ''New Year with a new line remix'' and in 2011 he turned really ho

2005 - 2006

Produced by the late Yury Aizenshpis, a Russian music mogul famous for his work with Viktor Tsoi in the Soviet Union, Bilan attempted to reach Eurovision previously with the song "Not That Simple" in 2005, finishing in second place at the Russian national selection. The video for the Russian version of the song was reputably the most expensive in the history of Russia's music industry. In December 2005, Bilan received two golden gramophones for the song "Ty dolzjna ryadom byt'" (The Russian version of "Not That Simple", actually meaning "You should be beside me") in Saint Petersburg and Almaty. During shootings of "Noviye pyesny o glavnom" ("New songs about the main things") he received the grand prize of the First channel from the professional jury. Bilan became Showbusiness Man of the Year because the most voters gave their voices for him according to the version of Rambler. At the end of a year he accepted an invitation from an American agency to record tracks for the musical ''Peter Pan''. On 14 March 2006, Bilan took part in "Zolotaya sharmanka" ("Golden street organ") of "International Music Awards" in Kiev where he was honored as "Singer of the Year".

In the middle of March 2006, Bilan was chosen internally by the Russian broadcaster Channel One to represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest, that year in Athens, Greece. Out of 37 participating countries, Bilan took second place with the dark pop song "Never Let You Go", equalling one of Russia's best ever showing at Eurovision — Alsou's "Solo" was runner-up back in the 2000 contest.

Bilan scored 248 points — 44 behind winning song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Finland's Lordi — and received the maximum 12 points from a total of seven countries: Armenia, Belarus, Finland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine. The only countries to not award Bilan any points were Monaco and Switzerland.

Bilan's stage performance included two dancing ballerinas and a white piano covered in red rose petals, from which a ghost-like female figure emerged halfway through the song. Bilan wore a white vest with the number representing his place in the contest's running order — 13 and 10 in the semi-final and final respectively. Due to Russia's poor result the previous year, Bilan had to qualify for the final at the semi-final on 18 May. He qualified in the top ten there (finishing third with 217 points) and moved to the final.

In July 2006 Bilan was one of the four artists who took part in the biggest musical event in Russia of 2006 - "The Red Summer" show in Red Square in Moscow, where he performed on stage with Shakira, The Black Eyed Peas and t.A.T.u.

In September 2006, for second year in a row, Dima Bilan won Artist of the Year and Song of the Year at MTV Russian Music Awards. On 2 November Bilan represented Russia at MTV EMA in Copenhagen.

On 15 November 2006 Bilan received award for Best Selling Russian Artist and performed at the World Music Awards in London along with Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Nelly Furtado and Bob Sinclair. His performance of Eurovision single Never Let You Go at WMAs was broadcast on Channel 4 in UK and 130 more countries, including United States.

2007 - 2008

In February 2007 Bilan started to record his first international album in English in Los Angeles, Miami and in Philadelphia in collaboration with producer Jim Beanz and Ryan Tedder. One of the new tracks will be a duet with one of Timbaland's most successful artists, Nelly Furtado.

Also in 2007 he premiered his first single from new album — Number One Fan. According to Russian and Eastern Europe radio airplay chart, Number One Fan topped the charts for 8 weeks. Video for this song was shot in London by famous British director Trudy Bellinger, who has also made videos for acts including Girls Aloud, Sugababes and Sophie Ellis Bextor).

On 4 October, Bilan premiered his second single from the forthcoming album, Amnesia, at the MTV Russia Music Awards 2007. During this show, Bilan won three most prestigious awards for Best Performer, Best Song and — for the third consecutive year — Best Artist.

In 2008, Bilan is planning to release three albums — in Russian, English and Spanish. He is also planning to release an English album in 81 countries in co-operation with Interscope Records (Universal Group). He is working on his English album, with some tracks produced by Jim Beanz and Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic). Also his new Spanish album will include a duet with Nelly Furtado.

On 20 February, Bilan went to Miami and recorded a few tracks for his Spanish album with famous producer Rudy Perez. The Spanish album will include a duet with Nelly Furtado and a Spanish version of his first international single "Number One Fan"

In 2008, Bilan once again represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Believe", accompanied by Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton and Russian olympic and three-time world champion figure skater Evgeni Plushenko. On 24 May 2008, Bilan won first place in the contest, receiving 272 points and seven twelves. His victory's integrity was questioned by Ukraine's officials later in May.

With this victory, he became the fifth artist in the history of the contest to reach both the positions of winner and runner-up (After Lys Assia, Gigliola Cinquetti, Linda Martin and Elisabeth Andreassen) and the first male performer to do so.

In 2008, Bilan won two awards from Muz TV: "Best male artist" and "Best ringtone" for the song "Nevozmozhnoe vozmozno". Dima also won the Best Russian Act award at MTV Europe Music Awards.

Also in 2008, Bilan finally changed his official name to Dima Bilan. Although Dima is a diminutive from Dmitry, he preferred the former, diminutive form, "Dima", as official. The name change followed Bilan's conflict with his producer Yuri Aisenshpitz's heirs, who claimed the rights on this stage name. Making it his official name would help to avoid any claimants.

Bilan performed his 2008 Eurovision-winning song "Believe" in the interval act at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Limassol, Cyprus.

2009 - 2010

During 2009 Bilan has continued with concerts and he also performed during the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, before leaving over the title of former Eurovision Song Contest winner to Alexander Rybak of Norway.

In 2010 Dima has recorded a demo version of the song "White Nights", which would be competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, but he has not entered in the contest saying that it would be too soon to return to the contest after just 2 years after his win at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

In the Summer of 2010, Bilan produced and starred in the short film Театр Абсурда (''Theatre of the Absurd'', written and directed by Maxim Apriatin and based upon Bilan's song Он хотел (''He Wanted To''). In the film, Bilan performs monologues in which he shares his opinion on the moral values of the people who live in the Russian capital, as well as quotations from Ecclesiastes, and scraps of the diary of Jim Morrison. The film was released on the Internet in late 2010.

Dima Bilan and Anastacia

On May 25 Anastacia recorded a duet with Dima Bilan in Los Angeles which was released in Russia first and later in the rest of Europe. They've presented the song "Safety" for the first time during the Muz-TV Music Awards show on June 11 in Moscow, Anastacia has also perform a song alone.

Awards

Dima Bilan is winner of 32 awards to date:

Honor Awards

2006 - Honoured Artist of Kabardino-Balkaria

2007 - Honored Artist of Chechnya

2007 - Honoured Artist of Ingushetia

2008 - People's Artist of Kabardino-Balkaria

MTV Russia Music Awards

Dima Bilan record for most awards RMA - 10.

2005 - "Best Performer" and "Best Artist"

2006 - «Best Song» ( «Never Let You Go» ), «The Best Artist»

2007 - "Best Song", "Best Song" ("Невозможное возможно"), "Best Artist"

2008 - "Best Video", "Best Singer", "The Pop Project"

MTV Europe Music Awards

2005 - «Best Russian Act»

2006 - «Best Russian Act»

2007 - «Best Russian Act»

2008 - «Best Russian Act» entered into the category "Top5 Favorit Europe"

2009 - «Best Russian Act» hit the Top5 "Best European Actor"

2010 - «Best Russian Act» hit the Top5 "Best European Actor"

Muz-TV Award

2007 - "Song of the Year", "Album of the Year", "Best Performer".

2008 - "Best Ringtone", "Best Performer".

2009 - "Best Video", "Best Song".

2010 - "Best Performer".

2011 - "Best Performer".

Golden gramophone

Dima Bilan has repeatedly won the honored music award "Golden Gramophone".

2005 - for the song "На берегу неба"

2006 год — «Так устроен этот мир»

2007 год — «Невозможное возможно»

2008 год — «Все в твоих руках»

ZD Awards

Bilan repeatedly became the laureate of "Soundtrack" in various categories:

2003 - Sexiest Artist

2004 - "Singer of the Year"

2007 - Soloist of the Year and Album of the Year (for the album "Время река")

2008 - "Soloist of the Year"

2009 - Singer of the Year and Album of the Year (for the album Believe)

Eurovision Song Contest

2006 - 2nd place Eurovision (Athens)

2008 - 1st place Eurovision (Belgrade)

Dima Bilan is the first artist representing Russia to win Eurovision Song Contest

World Music Awards

2006 - Best Selling Russian Artist

Glamour Magazine Awards

2006 - Man of the year

2009 - Man of the year

Discography

Albums

2003 — Я ночной хулиган (''I'm a Night Hooligan'')

2004 — На берегу неба (''At The Sky's Shore'')

2006 — Время-река (''Time-River'')

2008 — Против правил (''Against the Rules'')

2009 — ''Believe''

2011 — Мечтатель (''Dreamer'')

Singles

2003 — Ты, только ты (You, only)

2004 — Ты должна рядом быть (You must be close to me)

2004 — Not That Simple (English version of "Ты должна рядом быть")

2006 — Я тебя помню (I remember you)

2006 — Never Let You Go (English version of "Так устроен этот мир")

2006 — Это была любовь (That's was love)

2008 — Believe (English version of "Всё в твоих руках")

2008 — Lonely (English version of "Тоска")

2009 — Dancing Lady (English version of "Со мною")

2009 — Lady

2009 — Это модно (This is fashionable)

2009 — Changes (English version of "Больно")

2010 — По парам (On the pairs)

2010 — Safety (ft. Anastacia)

2010 — Я просто люблю тебя (I just love you)

2011 — Мечтатели (Dreamers)

Clips

2000

«Осень» — Osen (Autumn)

2002

«Бум» — Bum (Boom)

«Я ночной хулиган» — Ya nochnoy huligan (I'm a night hooligan)

2003

«Ты, только ты» — Ty, tolko ty (You, only you)

«Я ошибся, я попал» — Ya oshibsya, ya popal (I’ve made mistake, I’ve swallowed the bait)

«Я так люблю тебя» — Ya tak lyublyu tebya (I love you so much)

2004

«Мулатка» — Mulatka (Mulatto girl)

«На берегу неба» — Na beregu neba (Between the sky and heaven)

«Поздравляю!» — Pozdravlyayu! (Congratulations!)

2005

«Ты должна рядом быть» — Ty dolzhna ryadom byt (You must be close to me)

«Not that simple»

«Как хотел я» — Kak hotel ya (How i wanted)

«Take me with you»

«Я тебя помню» — Ya tebya pomnyu (I remember you)

2006

«Это была любовь» — Eto byla lyubov (It was love)

«Never let you go»

«Невозможное возможно» — Nevozmozhnoe vozmozhno (Impossible is possible)

«Lady flame»

2007

«Время-река» — Vremya-reka (Time-river)

«See what I see»

«Number one fan»

«Я твой номер один» — Ya tvoy nomer odin (I'm your number one)

«Горе-зима» — Gore-zima (Grief-winter)

2008

«Believe»

«Lonely»

2009

«Dancing lady»

«Lady»

«Changes»

2010

«По парам» — Po param (In the pairs)

«Safety» (with Anastacia)

«Я просто люблю тебя» — Ya prosto lyublyu tebya (I just love you)

Filmography

Dima Bilan starred in several Russian films and serials

2005 - Not Born Beautiful (cameo)

2006 - Club (cameo)

2006 - The Adventures of Pinocchio (Duremar)

2007 - Star break (Fortiano)

2007 - Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors (Gurd)

2008 - Goldfish

2009 - Pinocchio (visiting singer)

2011 - Theatre of the Absurd

References

External links

Anastacia's Twitter

Dima Bilan Videos and Live performances

Dima Bilan @ MTV Russia: IDOLS

The official Dima Bilan Polish Fan Website

Dima Bilan: Friends Club in Kazakhstan

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:People from Karachay-Cherkessia Category:Russian Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2006 Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2008 Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:Russian male models Category:Russian pop singers Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Dima Bilan

he was the best singer in 2009 and 2008

af:Dima Bilan ar:ديما بيلان az:Dima Bilan be-x-old:Дзіма Білан bs:Dima Bilan bg:Дима Билан ca:Dima Bilan cv:Дима Билан cs:Dima Bilan cy:Dima Bilan da:Dima Bilan de:Dima Bilan et:Dima Bilan el:Ντίμα Μπιλάν es:Dima Bilán fa:دیما بیلان fr:Dima Bilan ga:Dima Bilan gl:Dima Bilan ko:지마 빌란 hy:Դիմա Բիլան hr:Dima Bilan id:Dima Bilan is:Dima Bilan it:Dima Bilan he:דימה בילאן ka:დიმა ბილანი lv:Dima Bilans lb:Dima Bilan lt:Dima Bilanas li:Dima Bilan hu:Dima Bilan mk:Дима Билан mt:Dima Bilan na:Dima Bilan nl:Dima Bilan ja:ジーマ・ビラーン no:Dima Bilan nn:Dima Bilan uz:Dima Bilan pl:Dima Biłan pt:Dima Bilan ro:Dima Bilan ru:Билан, Дима Николаевич sq:Dima Bilan simple:Dima Bilan sk:Dima Bilan sl:Dima Bilan sr:Дима Билан sh:Dima Bilan fi:Dima Bilan sv:Dima Bilan th:ดิมา บิลาน tr:Dima Bilan uk:Білан Діма Миколайович vi:Dima Bilan wuu:迪马 皮郎 zh:季马·比兰