For Europe!
by Nigel Hunter
1974 SHOULD be the biggest and best year yet in the singing career of Olivia Newton-John. She’s representing Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton in April, and whether she wins or not, the hundreds of millions of viewers around the world who turn on the contest are bound to be turned on by the pretty face and sweet vocal style of the lady.
But, British lads. brace yourselves. She may well decide to settle in Australia eventually, where she was brought up. Which would deprive the UK of arguably the best-looking bird in show business. “I could easily live in Australia,” Olivia declared. “The climate is much better, and Australians are much more open and forthcoming than people here. But I do like the English style of manners, though, in spite of the reserve.”
Olivia is well placed for living in either land. Her Welsh-born father has married again, and she now has relatives down under and up here who are always pleased to see her. She was, in fact, in Aussie land when she found out she had been picked to sing for Britain in this year’s Eurovision journey. “The phone rang in the middle of the night, and them was this reporter on the line from London asking me how I felt to have been chosen,” she smiled. “It was the first I knew about it. I felt thrilled and nervous, and I still do.”
Olivia has heard all the six songs she will sing in the eliminating process during Jimmy Savile’s Clunk Click BBC1 TV series with the viewers voting for the one which will be the UK entry at Brighton. She is impressed by the contenders, and it seems that 1974 should get us right away from the featherweight ditties which have been selected in the past as candidates for the UK song.
“The standard of the songs is very high in contemporary terms, and there’s only one that falls into the singalong sort of category. I think they’re all very good, and I’m working really hard at them to put them across as best I can. They’re a great challenge for me”
Seated on the Newton-John’s lap was a King Charles spaniel named Amy, who had aroused the envy of a series of male interviewers that afternoon. Olivia explained that she was dog-sitting for a few days for a friend. “I’d love to have a dog of my own, but is isn’t fair when one’s living in a flat. I think dogs are great, especially red setters, and I much prefer them to cats. Cats aren’t so loving, and they wreck the furniture. I don’t like birds in cages, either, because it’s not natural. I dislike zoos a lot because the animals are robbed of their dignity when they’re caged up like that.”
Olivia’s English home at present is a flat in North London. She’s been enjoying choosing a mixture of modern and antique furniture for it whenever time permits, but is now looking for somewhere larger as a result!
She’s a very modern and independent young lady without being one of the more virulent and fanatical advocates of Women’s Lib. She does have some very definite views about lady drivers, however. “The stories that they are a lot worse than men are a load of nonsense,” she stated fiercely. ‘Women have been intimidated for far too long by legends to that effect put about by men. I’ve got a BMW, and I drive myself everywhere, apart from when I’m working late and liable to be tired, in which case I get someone else to do the driving. I drive just as well as any man, and I’m sure most girls do. The only difference is that they’re ladylike on the road and far more considerate towards other people than men are.”
Olivia enjoys her driving, but is far less keen on flying. She has to do a lot of the latter in order to meet all her singing commitments, despite her distaste. “I was all right about air travel until a flight to England from New York on Friday the thirteenth of all days,” she recalled with a grimace. “We’d only flown for about an hour when the plane started lurching, and the man next to me said ‘We’re going down, we’re going down! I rushed up to the front of the plane to ask the crew what was happening, and they said an engine fault had developed, and they were jettisoning fuel before returning to New York. We got back and landed safely on one piece, but I haven’t liked flying at all since.”
Olivia’s pleased with the reaction her discs are receiving around the world, and hoping that her current single Let Me Be There will start emulating its American success in this country. That one and its predecessors like Banks Of The Ohio have caused her to be slotted firmly into a country cubbyhole among popwatchers here and abroad.
She doesn’t mind in the least. “I love country music, although of course I don’t intend to limit myself to that alone. I judge songs on their merit and whether I can do them well myself. I actually recorded Amoureuse before Kiki Dee did. As far as repertoire is concerned, I’m kind of cross-country.”
The extent of Olivia’s musical and art interest should be well demonstrated in three upcoming BBC-1 TV shows in which she stars called Moods Of Love. They will consist of a mixture of songs and poetry by people such as Rod McKuen among others. Being as pretty as she is, interviewers’ thoughts lightly turn to love when confronted with Miss Newton-John.
Her drama-laden, headline-holding romance rift with former Shadow Bruce Welch is now history, and she’s understandably not at all interested in discussing that or any other specifics about her personal life. She is certainly still in the marriage stakes, however. “I’ve got no timetable on marriage at all,” she said. “It’s just a question of the right husband. It doesn’t matter whether he’s in show business or not. It’s not what he is, but who and how he is.”
Olivia now is, entering the big money league as a budding international star. She is eminently practical and level-headed about a reasonable abundance of bread. “I’ve always liked and been interested in paintings, and just lately I’ve realised how valuable some of them are in terms of money. Property is something else that is a sure investment.”
Regarding the latter, there is a ray of hope for us still in Britain, lads. Olivia is looking for a place in the country. “I wouldn’t mind the cottage with roses around the door,” she grinned. “Somewhere quiet to relax and keep a dog.”