Newton-John dazzling at Hilton
AMES. IA. It was a journey a Hilton Coliseum crowd of more than 15,000 will never forget, Saturday night, they took a walk through the life of a singing superstar, Olivia Newton-John.
The blond beauty razzled and dazzled an audience that seemed to hang on every song she sang and to hold tight to every word she uttered.
The evening began with a short film projected over the stage that traced the childhood of the Australian-born singer. Finally, the last baby picture crossed the screen and out popped Newton-John from the middle.
She was decked out completely in black and immediately began singing the songs that early in her life took her to the top of pop and country charts across the nation.
She then told the crowd she wanted to see how old they were, and sang an impressive falsetto rendition of the 50s anthem, “Jolene.” But the crowd did not want songs like that, they longed for the songs that made her an idolized movie star.
They didn’t have to wait long, because next came the songs that made her two block-busting movies, “Grease” and “Xanadu,” such successes.
With a substitute John Travolta who was not very impressive, New ton-John breezed through songs such as “You’re the One that I Want”, “Magic,” and the theme from “Xanadu.”
Cavorted
Those songs made her an instant millionaire, and Newton-John joked and cavorted across the stage with a catch-me-if-you-can attitude. She sang hits such as “Let Me Be There,” and finally, what the crowd had waited for, her hit song “Physical,” the song that gave its name to her current 50-city tour.
But before the song began, she left the stage, and returned in white short-shorts, tennis shoes, headband and an Iowa State T-shirt. The crowd, or at least the men in the crowd, went wild.
During the entire concert, a group of 20 men just in front of the stage stood and screamed while leading cheers for the rest of the coliseum crowd.
Newton-John dragged the last song out for 20 minutes, encouraging the crowd to sing with her while she did calisthenics and jogged around the stage.
Long Journey
By the time she completed “Physical,” the crowd knew they had been taken on a long journey, down a road that also had its rough spots. The warm-up band was also Newton-John’s backup band.
They opened with a few electronic numbers that everyone was bored with. They seemed to be more interested in enjoying themselves than in entertaining the audience. They did look as though they were having fun but the audience wasn’t. When they announced their final song, most everyone applauded.
Another confusing note in the concert came when Newton-John changed into her third outfit. The crowd was entertained with a five-minute dolphin movie that no one seemed to understand.
The unexplained pauses left the audience wondering which way to go, to the concession stand or home.
But to leave on a negative note would not tell the entire story. The crowd did get their $15 worth of entertainment and seemed as though they would do it all again.
By Barry Carroll, Register Staff Writer