She's soooo nice. Newton-John delivers sentimental show that delights her hopelessly devoted fans
By John Curran. For The Press
Golly gee, what a show.
That Olivia Newton-John, she sure can sing. And when she donned the black leather motorcycle jacket to sing “You’re the One That I Want,” it was just swell. Her “Over the Rainbow” Peachy-keen. Her medley of songs by dead friends! Nice, nice, very nice.
In In fact, “nice” might be the only word to accurately describe Newton-John’s two-hour performance Thursday night as she opened a two-night stand at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.
It was wholesome, it was earnest, it was nostalgic, it was inspirational, it was sugary-sweet. Why, you could get cavities just listening.
Twenty-eight years after her first hit, the former country diva-turned-biker-chick-turned-fitness-buff is touring for the first time since 1883, and making her first Atlantic City appearance ever.
Now 50, Newton-John sounds better than ever, still throaty, powerful and easy to listen to on all those hokey-but-hummable hits. As for her knockout good looks, which were always at least as big a part of her appeal as her singing, she has lost very little.
And she is a survivor, a relentlessly beat optimist whose successful battle against breast cancer - she had a mastectomy in 1992 - has galvanized her and now lends more significance to her songs.
As for her fans, well, they are nothing if not hopelessly devoted, many of the 3,000 who turned out at the Taj’s Mark G. Etess Arena were hardcore fanatics, outfitted in 50s bobby-soxer outfits and carrying album covers and parading up to the stage to hand her bouquets of flowers.
Backed by an eight-member band, she took the stage 13 minutes late in a black pantsuit trimmed in sequins and a sheer full-length black cover, opening with “Xanadu,” from the 1980 movie flop of the same name.
Then came “Magic” and from there the bits kept coming She played “Please Mister. Please”, the 1975 country hit: “If Not For You,” the Bob Dylan song she covered in 1971, and “Let Me Be There,” from her breakthrough 1973 album.
Talk about breast cancer
“Sam,” “Have You Never Been Mellow” and a new song followed that, and then she paused for a brief monologue about her cancer fight.
“It was exactly seven years ago this summer that I had breast cancer. But it’s gone I’m fine. I’m healthy,” she said, eliciting huge cheers.
With that she introduced a song called “Not Gonna Let You Do It” by imploring the crowd: “For anybody who’s going through anything, whether it’s physical or emotional, you must never give in to it.”
After that song, the band disappeared, leaving only Newton-John and a guitar player sitting on stools at center stage. She introduced “The Long and Winding Road” by saying “This is for a woman who lost the fight that I won,” a reference to Lauda McCartney.
After that, she played John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” and then “(They Long To Be) Close To You,” the Carpenters hit, prefacing each with remarks about the now-dead artists who made them famous. Of course, the songs sounded fine. But please. You half expected her to invoke the memories of JFK Jr. or Princess Diana. If they’d had theme songs, she probably would have.
Truth be told, Newton-John’s girl-next-door innocence and demur manner seem genuine. Every time someone brought her flowers, she made a point of shaking their hand even as she was singing. And she was as warm as could be when she brought two children - dressed “Happy Days” extras - up out of the crowd and onto the stage to help out on one of the three “Grease” numbers.
“Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina,” from the musical “Evita,” and “Over the Rainbow,” from “The Wizard of Oz.” were the only real surprises as far as the song list went, although the band played a spirited version of “Iko, Iko,” the old New Orleans standard, when Newton-John left the stage midway through the show to change clothes.
An allegedly reworked “I Honestly Love You” was the only encore.
Staff photos by Scott Sturzer
: Olivia Newton-John, in her first Atlantic City appearance, serenades an audience of appreciative fans Thursday night at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. The 50-year-old singer sounded better than ever, still throaty, powerful and easy to listen to.
Even as she sang, Newton-John accepted bouquets of flowers from fans and shook their hands.
More from Olivia’s 1999 Summer tour.