telegraph.co.uk – By Mark Hudson
Looking at pictures of Cucu Diamantes, you’d assume she had a tiny little voice. Matchstick-thin, unfeasibly leggy in mile-high stilettos, clad only in make-up and fin-de-siecle bordello underwear, the Cuban-born singer exudes camp artificiality and carries so little body ballast you’d expect little from her but a squeak or an effete attempt at a Marlene Dietrich purr. In fact, her larynx has an earthiness, a Cuban housewife’s voice made hoarse bellowing along alleys laden with washing – or that’s certainly the way it sounds. And her manner is similarly down to earth.