Jewish is the New Black

Talented but troubled British singer Amy Winehouse was named female artist of the year at the Mobo (Music of Black Origin) awards in London last night. It's no surprise that Amy's winning so many awards this year, because she's clearly one of the best British singers to emerge in recent years, but why the Mobo? Winehouse is Jewish, not black, so this appears a little odd to me.

If it's only the music that has to be black, not the artist, then just about any performer in rock, jazz or blues would be eligible, because all these musical forms and their modern offshoots can trace their roots back to Africa. In which case, there seems little reason for these awards to exist, because there are plenty of other popular music awards covering the same ground.