Amy drowns her sorrows at Mercury Awards as Klaxons take prize

Her husband Blake Fielder-Civil stood up and clapped while his new wife shrugged her shoulders as they gave the winners a standing ovation.

The couple then swiftly left the Grosvenor House Hotel where the ceremony was held and were driven away in a silver BMW.

Amy was seen earlier in the night indulging in the free champagne at her table - despite her recent (brief) stint in rehab.

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She shrugged off her drug problems and confided: "I am really well at the moment. I had a great holiday with Blake and I really don't know what the fuss was about."

The singer ended her run of no-shows when she turned up at the prestigious Mercury Awards.

She received a warm round of applause as she performed her track Love Is A Losing Game.

The star wore her trademark beehive and a strapless pink and yellow short dress to perform the number. Following her acoustic set she was hugged by Fielder Civil.

Host Jools Holland said, after her performance: "She has one of the best voices of anybody of all time."

After singing she sat contentedly with her father Mitch and Fielder Civil whom she kissed constantly.

Her father said afterwards: "She was very happy to be here. And I'm just thrilled she was here. She gave a brilliant performance and she looks well."

Winehouse, 23, was nominated for the £20,000 prize for her second album Back to Black.

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But London band the Klaxons took home this year's Mercury Prize for their debut album, Myths of the Near Future.

The judges said of the album "rock meets pop meets dance - the Klaxons take us on an ecstatic musical adventure".

They released their album in January this year after signing to Polydor in 2006. It reached number two in the UK charts.

The band was set up in 2005 by lead vocalist Jamie Reynolds, originally from Bournemouth who moved to London after being made redundant from a record shop.

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He approached Warwickshire-born Simon Taylor-Davies, the housemate of his girlfriend, and the duo then recruited bassist and singer James Righton - who was at school with Taylor-Davies in Stratford-upon-Avon and taught him how to play the guitar.

The group used Reynold's redundancy money to buy studio kit and record their music.

The Klaxons' debut single, Gravity's Rainbow was released on March 29, 2006 on Angular Records.

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Only 500 copies were released, and all were printed on a 7" vinyl decorated by the band themselves.

Earlier this year the line-up was bolstered by the addition of drummer Steffan Halperin.

Taking to the stage in tears after winning the prize, the four - who confessed they had been drinking brandy all night - said: "A year ago today we were in the studio making this album and watching the Arctic Monkeys stand up and take this award.

"And we thought, we're going to make a really great album. Now we're here and we're really f***ing happy."

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Righton added: "Realistically we heard everyone talking, we heard what people were saying and we didn't think we would win. But we kept that belief... This is just ridiculous."

Reynolds - on crutches after breaking his ankle stage-diving in France - said: "It's great people have recognised what we do. It seems music's a lifestyle option now, parents like what their kids like, and that's not quite right."

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On Amy, the undisputed star of the night, Reynolds said: "I love Amy's record but it's a retro record and the Mercury is about pushing music forward.

"We've made the most forward-thinking record in I don't know how long."

In recent weeks Amy has fans disappointed by a string of gig cancellations.

She has sparked huge concern over her appearance, just as her career appeared to be stronger than ever.

The furore over her drug taking is said to have put her record contract on the line.

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Organisers of last night's event were left guessing whether the star would actually attend.

Amy arrived back in the UK on Monday following a break in a five-star resort in St Lucia in the Caribbean with her husband.

Last month, she was admitted to a London hospital following an overdose. The star, whose hit songs include Rehab, was said to have come close to death after taking cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and marijuana.

The singer then quit rehab for a second time to the dismay of her parents.

She shocked onlookers when she was pictured walking through central London in blood-soaked ballet pumps with a bruised neck and bandaged arm. Her husband was seen with blood streaming out of cuts on his face.

Her parents and in-laws have been publicly at odds of how to help the couple.