Olivia Newton-John takes Seoul audience back to '70s

Olivia Newton-John performs with her band members in April 2014. / Courtesy of World Show Market

By Park Jin-hai

Olivia Newton-John, star of "Grease" (1978), a movie adapted from the musical of the same name which made her an entertainment icon in the 1970s and '80s, returned to Seoul 16 years after her last tour.

Performing here as the final stop on her Asian tour this year, the blonde beauty in black leather pants reversed time during her concert at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Jamsil, southern Seoul, Saturday, taking audiences back to the glitzy London nightclubs of the 1960s where a teenaged Newton-John performed, as well as to scenes of the famous musical film "Grease," where she starred as Sandy singing "Summer Nights" opposite John Travolta.

"Grease and playing Sandy has been such an amazing part of my life. People come up to me all the time and say ‘I just watched Grease again ― with my grandchildren,'" said Newton-John, during an interview with The Korea Times ahead of her concert. "That means a lot to me as it shows that the film and music have brought such joy to so many generations over the last 38 years."

Although nearly 40 years have passed since her appearance in the movie, Newton-John still has the same gorgeous smile and looks. Her charming voice delivered all her famous songs during the 100-minute-long solo concert, ranging from her movie hit songs to country and pop songs.

Opening her concert with "Have You Never Been Mellow," she continued with her favorite songs "Xanadu," "Magic" and "Suddenly."

Newton-John performs during her concert in Manchester, England, in March, 2013
/ Courtesy of WSM

Up next were some of her folk and country hit songs, including the well-known "If Not for You," "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "If You Love Me."

The country song parade then gave way to "Physical," the song that spent ten weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the ‘80s, ultimately becoming Newton-John's greatest American hit. Throughout the performance, the audience danced along, cheered and gave standing ovations.

Under the blue dim light, with the jazzy sound of a harmonica, she sang "Cry Me a River," and followed with Latin beat-clad "Not Gonna Give Into It," the song she wrote during her recovery from breast cancer in the early ‘90s.

Saying "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee," the 67-year-old four-time Grammy award winner transformed herself into Sandra, a goody teenage girl who falls in love with leather-clad Danny (John Travolta) in the summer romance story. She sang "You're the One That I Want," "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and "Summer Nights" from the musical.

Her performance came to a finale when Newton-John and her female chorus crew sang "Tell me more, tell me more" from the song "Summer Nights" along with the female members of the audience, and the male chorus, wearing leather jackets, sang the response parts with the men in the audience.

In an interview with the Korea Times, Newton-John said the movie has been around for a very long time and she is grateful for those beautiful songs. "Playing Sandy in Grease ― especially Sandy 2 as I call her at the end of the film ― allowed me to branch out from my country and softer songs to let me record music that was a little more edgy and rock," she said. "I probably never would have done ‘Physical' had I not had the chance to show everyone that I was more than just the good girl."

An upbeat song "We Go Together" also from the movie "Grease" carried the heated mood further.

Appearing in a glittering silver dress, she sang the song "Grace and Gratitude" and ended her concert with "I Honestly Love You," her first worldwide number one hit from 1974, before disappearing backstage. Soon, she returned to perform an encore of Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Newton-John is a longtime advocate for many environmental and animal rights issues. Since surviving breast cancer in 1992, she has been active in health awareness projects, becoming involved with various charities and fundraising efforts. "I like to be involved in many philanthropic projects as I can that are important to me ― whether it's protecting the environment, the animals and anything relating to Mother Earth," she said.

Her biggest focus these days has been the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre (ONJCWRC) in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia.

"I am very proud that this state-of-the-art center bares my name and that we are providing not only wonderful cancer treatments and research, but we have a designated wellness center on the hospital grounds," she said. "I'm very excited as well that a portion of every ticket purchased at my Las Vegas residency Summer Nights at the Flamingo benefits the wellness programs at the center. So, every night when I get on stage I know that the show is helping someone going through their own cancer journey."

Saying that her future as an artist will see her continue to record and perform music that expresses what's important to her, she added that what matters most is having the ability to have a voice and a message and for her fans to connect to the music and emotion.

"I would like to be remembered as an artist that shared a life as a musician the way it was and that connected emotionally with my fans," she said.