OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN-BODY, HEART AND SPIRIT TOUR
Singapore Indoor Stadium. Last Friday
By Wong Ah Yoke
FOR an hour and 45 minutes last Friday night, I went back to being a teenage school lad again.
Working this magic was Olivia Newton-John, who charmed the audience in the Singapore Indoor Stadium with her songs from the 1970s and 1980s, including the hit song from her 1980 movie Xanadu. And I’m sure I was not the only one among them to feel it.
The seats were only three-quarters filled, but the people who turned up - among whom could be seen not a few grey hairs were certainly hopelessly devoted to her.
The show began at about 8.30pm when Singapore Idol finalist Olinda Cho warmed the stage up with two numbers, including a sultry, reworked version of Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon.
But the real idol that night was New-ton-John, or ONJ to her fans.
Launching the concert with a ballad, Have You Never Been Mellow, and following it up with more upbeat songs like A Little More Love and Xanadu, the 1970s sweetheart got things swinging with little effort.
With her slim figure wrapped in a spaghetti-strap black top and tight black pants with a metal chain belt, her only costume changes involved simply pulling on different pieces over her top from a sheer long-sleeved blouse, a pink lace coat and a sequinned jacket to a black leather jacket. Her dancing consisted of just a few simple steps and her banter was sweet and short.
But her singing was enough to hold everyone spellbound. Her speaking voice was slightly lower than the girlish tones fans remembered from the 1970s but when she sang, it sounded like time had not passed. If anything, her voice was stronger, with less of the wispy quality that characterised some of her old recordings.
The 58-year-old singer surprised the au-dience with an acoustic version of Physical, originally a high-energy number which saw her transition in the 1980s from country music and ballads to rock.
She joked that the re-arrangement, which had a lazy, sexy feel and included a saxophone solo, was “the aged pop-rock version”.
But in case anyone thought that she was too old to rock, she later launched into a rock medley of five songs, including Make A Move On Me, Totally Hot and Twist Of Fate.
Still, it was the segment of songs from the 1978 movie Grease, which she starred in, that got the audience rocking in their seats and singing along.
That also signalled the end of the concert.
She came out again for an encore of two songs, including a heartfelt rendition of I Honestly Love You.
The audience responded with a standing ovation. Yes, they honestly love her, too.