Amy is far from perfect. That's why we cherish her

Amy Winehouse has got under mine, despite - or rather because of - her flaws. And so it has come to pass that, like many of her fans, I find myself in the bizarre position of worrying that a complete stranger, whom I have never met, might die.

Because her songs are so raw and personal, I feel I know her through her music. When I think about the state she seems to be in, I feel angry and powerless - much like her family does, I'm sure, only to an infinitesimal fraction of a degree. Nor are my fears unfounded: her own parents sent an ambulance to her Camden home last week after she stopped answering her mobile.

Following the arrest of her husband, Winehouse's downward spiral has been well documented. Why, her fans ask, is her management still touring her when she so clearly needs medical help?

These days, celebrities aren't so much "rested" when they hit rock bottom as exploited. In the warped world of celebrity, you can be good and you can be bad, but what you must never be is boring. Bland doesn't sell, but everything else does - in buckets.

I'm sure Britney Spears's management was worried when she wobbled, Elvis-like, through a pitiful performance at the MTV Awards in September. But rather than spelling suicide for her career, it was reborn, with her album selling well despite Spears refusing to do any other press or promotion.

She didn't need to. Her catastrophic personal life had transformed her into what the blogger Perez Hilton calls a "celebretard", a ghoulish figure as famous for her cock-ups as her talent. The public loves a celebretard. They make us feel better about our own sorry lives.

Amy's fans don't view her as a celebretard, of course, but as a tragic heroine. It's why bids on ebay are reaching £100 for a single ticket to her concert, even if she might forget the words to all her songs. Amy's problems make her more attractive, not less. Whatever her flaws, there is the sense that she is real: she doesn't hide her pain, or pretend her life is perfect, which is really quite refreshing when you consider the anodyne Victoria Beckham.

In addition, Amy's lyrics deconstruct the myth of glamorous, sophisticated womanhood that so many girls feel an increasing pressure to live up to. To those who like their heroes Jonny Wilkinson-perfect, this will not make a lot of sense. To those who like their heroes flawed, as they are, Amy is the perfect postergirl.

Of course, Amy is far from perfect, and only a fool would suggest anyone tried to emulate her. But at least she is honest, and honesty is quite hard to come by these days. This, I suspect, is why so many people hope she sticks around a bit longer.