A new star is born - Musziek Expres

A new star is born, wrote many newspapers in their ignorance about Olivia Newton-John. The blonde beauty is rightly very angry about these kinds of statements.

The first contact was made in the spring of 1975 in a still wintry Stockholm, where the Enschede group Teach-In won the Eurovision Song Contest with Ding A Dong. The blow hit the English entry, the legendary Shadows, hard. The quartet was listed as the favorite and ultimately had to settle for second place.

Only John Farrar isn't sad. Actually, I am very happy that we have lost, he says. I'm much too busy with Olivia Newton-John. She's finally made her breakthrough in America. What do you think of her? When we tell him we're really into the girl in question, Farrar asks. Wouldn't you like to interview her? She could still make it big in the Netherlands.

For various reasons, the appointment is constantly being postponed. The years pass. Grease makes Olivia Newton-John into a superstar. Frantic attempts to contact her come to nothing. Miss Olivia doesn't have time, her publicity agency tells us.

Desperate, we call John Farrar and remind him of our Swedish meeting. He promises to take care of the matter. Two days later, we're waiting for Olivia in London.

She's considerably more beautiful than the photos of Grease suggest; a classic beauty, with a somewhat haughty English accent. An introduction is unnecessary. Olivia immediately goes on the offensive. It's ridiculous what all those newspapers are writing. That I've become a star because of Grease. Those people don't understand anything. When John Travolta was still crying at his mother's breast I'd already sold hundreds of thousands of records.

I was already a big star in America before anyone had ever heard of the name Travolta. John turns out to have enormous sex appeal. Nice for him, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have made it without Travolta. I'll tell you even more: initially, I was the big draw for Grease. Robert Stigwood had given me the big role because effortlessly my singles had cracked the American top ten. Travolta was only a sideshow. Saturday Night Fever gave things a different twist. But now they have to tell me that I became famous thanks to Travolta. I even taught the boy how to sing!

They still see me as a bitch.

Olivia is clearly in full swing. She's completely lost her reserve. The haughty look has given way to an angry look; she speaks faster than we're used to.

You know what also irritates me so much? she continues. That people keep seeing me as a bitch. A kind of eternal virgin. I may look like one, but I know for myself that's not true. I can be a damned annoying girl, a terrible cat. If I have a fight with someone, you better hide. Then I throw everything that is near me and use obscenities you wouldn't hear in a harbour! By the way, I think all that chatter stems from the fact that I only show up at a party with my boyfriend.

Can I please say that I have a great relationship and I want to keep it that way. I refuse to jump into bed with other guys for the sake of my image. Or even to suggest that I could do so.

I'm willing to accommodate the public, but there are clear limits.

Olivia has vented her anger. She suddenly calms down considerably. She chats with us about all sorts of things related to pop culture.

Then she gets up, makes a phone call, and says, I hope you didn't find me too annoying, but I just had to get it off my chest. Don't spare me the story. Maybe now people will finally see me as a full-blooded woman.

The photo is from Olivia's appearance on the Carpenters' TV special 1976.