Olivia Newton-John shows no sign of slowing down. She's singing, involved with a cancer hospital and planting trees
By Ong Sor Fern
OLIVIA Newton-John glows. And it is not simply because the breast cancer survivor is now in the pink of health.
The 58-year-old, who is in town for her Body, Heart And Spirit Tour concert to-night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, emanates serenity.
It is a hard-won inner peace for the Australian singer who endeared herself to millions in the 1970s and 1980s with her sweet voice and appealing pop.
Settling into an armchair at the Fullerton hotel yesterday afternoon for a chat, the youthful-looking star dressed casually in a comfortable cotton top and frilly skirt says that she is a pretty down-to-earth person.
As a celebrity, she says, “you have this persona around you, this imaginary thing that people think you are. But you’re still just a person”.
Still, she has lived most of her life in a goldfish bowl, enduring the scrutiny of fans and the press.
Ask the sunny pop queen if she has a dark side, and she chuckles easily as she of-fers a generality: “We all have our ups and downs. People are not going to walk into a press conference showing their difficulties. I do have my moments when I’m down.”
One of those times, she admits, was when her boyfriend disappeared.
Her live-in boyfriend of nine years, American cameraman Patrick McDer-mott, went missing after a fishing trip in 2005. His body has never been found.
Newton-John has refused to comment on conjecture that McDermott engineered his disappearance to avoid paying off debts.
She says quietly, “that was the hardest moment of” her fiftieth decade of life.
She is more open when the conversation touches on issues close to her. A cancer hospital she is immensely proud to help build in her hometown of Melbourne; planting more than 10,000 trees on her estate and her spa, the Gaia Re-treat & Spa in Bangalow, Australia; and her singing.
Her career has endured beyond the fan favourite tunes from musicals like Grease (1978) and Xanadu (1980). Her latest CD, Grace And Gratitude, reflects the more spiritual path she has taken.
“It could be that I’m writing more of the songs that I sing. It’s just an evaluation of life, or I’m just getting older,” she says self-deprecatingly.
She might be facing the big 60 in two years, but she has no plans to slow down. She jokes drily that she has been trying to retire for the last 10 years.
“But every year the flood of possibili-ties is always so surprising. I’m still going on and having fun.” She flashes a toothy smile, and the pop queen looks ageless and here to stay.
Olivia Newton-John’s Body, Heart And Spirit Tour is at the Singapore Indoor Stadium tonight at 8pm. Tickets at $88, $138, $168, $198 and $228 are available at Sistic outlets. Tel: 6348-5555.