Olivia's solid talent is more than hype
In a nearly-flawless Wednesday night performance in Oklahoma City, Olivia Newton-John showed that she is more than a leggy creature from the world of hype.
The Australian-born singer has gone through several packaging stages: in the early ’70s she hit the states as a “country” singer, doing such hits as “Let Me Be There;” later, she evolved into a pop singer, then a rocker of sorts with the movie and soundtrack for “Grease,” and finally slid into pop-rock with another movie, “Xanadu.”
Now she is into hard-driving rhythms and vocals with the “Physical” album. Nearly every week, the brightly packaged star magazines feature her, but she has never achieved much artistic acceptance: Porter Wagoner and the country purists scorned her; the “Rolling Stone” crowd has never been enthusiastic about her.
Artistic acceptance from the powers that be may never come for Newton-John: she is more an entertainer, out to give people a good time, than an artist seeking to impart some unique perception of life. But as an entertainer, she is solid, professional and very, very good at what she does. Of course there is artistry in that.
What she does is sing, and sing she did through four sets of old and new songs, bringing a big crowd at the Myriad to its feet more than once. She has a soprano voice with both power and range, and her numbers are selected to show off that voice to best advantage.
From the moment she hit the stage she was ready, and carried the 90-minute performance throughout with vigor. She was her best on the hard-driving tunes such as “Physical,” but showed sensitivity and interpretive ability with slower ballads such as “Sam.”
Newton-John is as good a showman as she is a singer. The concert had the multi-media, lighting effects and choreography that added to most of the songs. None of it was original, but Newton-John’s stage presence and charisma made the effects and the routines seem fresh and alive.
She also knows the sexual power of her aggressive innocence and maximized it with miniskirts and short-shorts.
But that was secondary to her poise and power onstage, which were impressive.
The concert was marred only by its size. Anything less than the frenzy of rock loses something in a hall the size of a football field.
It was Middle America at the Myriad Wednesday night: a very clean-cut audience seeking entertainment. Newton-John gave it to them, and more. When she turned “Physical” into a 15-minute jam-sing-along, the audience was stamping, cheering and singing.
They loved her, and she seemed to love what she was doing as well. Middle America has always loved her, accepted her, and has made her its cheerleader-goddess.
Beneath all the posters, t-shirts, glamor photos, promotion people, accountants and sexual appeal, Olivia Newton-John is indeed a capable performer. Beyond the packaging stages, she is a talented singer who shouldn’t wear labels. She seems, well, real. It’s a pleasant surprise.
By Jon Talton