The Cuban diva is still backstage arranging her signature blond wig and adjusting her slinky red dress. The crowd roars as she makes her entrance, singing her way to the stage and batting her eyes at doting band members.
"Do we have any virgins here?" she asks the crowd in a low, husky voice, before suggesting that some of the male patrons ought to pay extra for staring at her so hard. Not bad for a woman who is well into her 80s — and possibly as old as 93. Whatever the number, Bacallao is a musical powerhouse, a Friday night must-see for locals and tourists alike who pack the Gato Tuerto — or One Eyed Cat — to hear her belt out Cuban salsa, son and guaracha classics, just as she has since Fidel Castro was a schoolboy.
Though she never got the world following of Celia Cruz or Omara Portuondo, she still tours, with performances scheduled this year for Moscow and Mexico. Her manager says he is also trying to organize a trip to South Florida, but has not yet received a US visa. Her songs are available on iTunes, and she even has a Facebook page.
"I will never retire. I will only stop once death has come for me," she told The Associated Press during a lively interview in her two-story Havana home. She said she would keep singing "as long as I am healthy, because while I have my health I will never make a fool of myself" on stage.
