[1]She's got a throaty voice, a staccato waist and the ability to throw a little S&M into a ten-minute performance.
With 65 pounds shed from her once full frame, it's easier now to appreciate Denise Belfon's other distinguishing features: round, happy cheeks, the way her nose crinkles when she laughs, firm, flawless skin and the most perfectly-aligned teeth.
"For nine years, I've been overweight," she says, her voice husky and soft. "Ever since I had my first child. I've spent a long time contemplating doing what I need to do where my health is concerned. I had to get into the right mindset."
She is dressed in pink today-from blouse to bag, pants to platforms. Heads turn when she saunters past. Belfon is used to being pointed at and talked about, but these days when people whisper, "How does Saucy do it?" she knows they aren't asking about her bicycle wine.
"No gym, no personal trainer," she says, chuckling. "My personal trainer is me. You have to gear your mind and spirit. It's a whole transformation. When you could control your eating, you could control every other aspect of your life."
Three pregnancies and a hectic life had packed on the pounds. Belfon recalls feeling like there was no time to realise her weight-loss goals between touring, recording, and caring for her family of seven-a common-law husband, three step children and a trio of her own.
"When you finish performing the only thing open is KFC or Royal Castle," she said. And that is how it went; on and on until her weight had climbed to more than 200 pounds and she finally firmed her resolve. Belfon stumbled across a herbalist called Dr Liu around the same time. Liu gave guidance on a diet that would transform good intentions into lost weight. Not a crash diet, mind you. For Belfon, the last six months have been a lifestyle change: more vegetables and fruits, less meats, salt and sugar, and no more dairy foods and flour.
"As I finish my shows I have my grapes and I'm walking around with a bag of baby carrots. Meat does not bother me anymore. You have to know what you want and just make up your mind to do it because the bottom line is that if you don't, you will die." She walks and swims when she can and does some old-school skipping every morning.
Thinning takes some getting used to. Belfon went shopping with her sister and fashion critic, Keisha, the other day.
"I went to the extra large section automatically. Keisha said, 'What happen to you? You have to wear your size.' Then she turned and asked, 'Do you have this in medium?' I've spent the last nine years going to XXX and XX and XL. It's a big change. It's shocking to me, too. I still can't believe it."
So the woman whose live performances and lyrics have made her a symbol of raw female sexuality may just become the ultimate inspiration for weight-watchers by Carnival 2005. How will the new image affect her career? Her nine-year-old son wants to know.
"Mummy," he said, "now that you losing weight please promise me you wouldn't wear anything with your belly outside." But that's the only proviso that's been put on Saucy. She says that her children-a brood of aspiring models, dancers and entertainers-are all proud of her work.
"My children are independent and liberated," Belfon said, with a laugh and a shake of her head. And it's a good thing that they are, because she is intent on pushing the envelope when it comes to her act. Years ago, she said, parents would block their children's eyes when she performed.
"But you can't hide anything from children now," she said. "They know." She acknowledges at the same time that many of her performances are really only appropriate for adults.
"I'm a naturally sensual person. I've been like that since I was a child. I used to get in trouble for it, too. When I call a man up onstage to spank and do whatever I want, that is Denise the dominatrix. That is always a vibe for me. Not every night I would do it. But some nights I feel extra raunchy." She stops, tilts her head and thinks.
"I feel that's what people like about me, you know. I touch the nerve that everybody wishes they could come out in the open and express."
And what about Mr Saucy? How does her partner feel about her image?
"He is part of the industry, too. He is also an entertainer and he has written many of my hits. He gives me the confidence to do what I do. With my first husband I felt as though nothing I did was enough. But we have a very strong union in terms of both career and relationship. We have ups and downs like everybody, but I've never been happier with anyone else."
It takes a special man to stand in a crowd while his woman performs only to have a stranger turn to him and say: "You could imagine that woman naked moving so?" He nodded his head. "Yes," he said. "I can imagine."
The year 2005 promises to be a big one for Belfon. The singer has had a good run since 2000, with every Carnival season giving her enough hits to keep her working throughout the year. Now she's putting together her first album. The CD will be called Hot Sauce and it's really two separate discs-18 tracks, some old and some new.
Belfon has a revamped management team headed by her new manager, Joanne.
"The people who are representing me have to be aggressive," she said. "That's the nature of the business." Nothing Belfon says about her personal life is off the record. Almost everything mentioned about the local music industry is.
"The business side is rough," she said. "That's why when I get onstage I have to vent."