Once beautiful. Now bloated and botoxed beyond botox. Always bizarre. She belts out each note in a grating incandescence of torrential intensity.

This is Loredana Bertè, the Italian songwriter and rock star who sings like an untamable lioness, no matter how wounded. And wounded she certainly is with the baggage of a violent father, ineffectual mother, beloved sister who committed suicide, years of poverty, discrimination, rejection and wretched lovers, including the obnoxious Bjorn Borg she was married to for four years of hell.

The latest blow? Being denied the victory she deserved at the last Sanremo Festival.

It’s easy to describe her trademark aggressive grit as wild defiance of anything remotely conventional. There’s no doubt that she is in constant battle with social conventions and moreover, with her personal demons. But her extraordinary vocalism and rebellious passion sing of unconditional love, distilled and untrammelled by any sort of compromise. Her joy and anguish ring out with the dissonance of labour pains.

Raw and savage to the core, she rocked her audience who jumped up in a standing ovation each time she performed her number. This marked a dramatic change from the derision she received decades ago on the very same stage.

Now the audience was in open revolt when she was denied a place among the three finalists. The jeering disapproval followed by a long chant of her name almost undid the entire show. That she did not even lift one of the critics’ awards (for the best interpretation at least) added more sulphur to her wounds.    

For those who have never heard of Sanremo, this is Italy’s most important song festival which for all its tackiness brings the country to a standstill every year sometime between the first and second week of February. It’s been going on since 1951 – just a year younger than Bertè who despite having lost her figure, still shows off her enviable pair of legs. Sporting an asymmetrical, charcoal leather outfit and blue dyed hair she clearly played on the image of the lone-wolf. Significantly, references to the moon feature in most of her songs. Anyone who thinks that she should have won just for being around for so long is missing out on how contemporary she manages to be – not only in her music but more especially in her feminine strength, living her life without any justification or apology, no matter how much it hurts.

Not even all the budding contenders put together come close to her shadow. Loredana Bertè lost yet again at Sanremo. Yet the festival lost much more in turning its back on beauty that communicates even when it is not understood.