Olivia in London - Ciao 2001

Translation from Italian:

London

Olivia Newton-John is pop on film, the little girl your grandparents want to see holding hands with in church. Pale, light, discreet, shy, a bottle of rosewater instead of a shroud of indiscipline and arrogance that rock 'n' roll women smear on your face and on every street in London and New York.

Olivia is not like them. Her face isn't drowned in tons of blush and mascara; it reflects the whiteness of a woman who sells off the vengeance of rock 'n' roll and offers country 'n' roll and rhythmic relaxation like the sounds of Let Me There.

You may have seen Olivia in Grease these days; virginal and modest fantasies leap into your brain with every grimace, with every glance she exchanges with Travolta, in every lyric that emerges between her very white teeth and glides onto the video.

She was born in Cambridge and lived in Melbourne, Australia. She already has several vinyl records under her belt and a film that has celebrated her worldwide. Her grandfather won the Nobel Prize for physics and her father is a teacher in Melbourne.

She started with a teenage band, The Sol For, but broke it up due to school problems. In London she formed a duo with her friend Pat Carroll. Her first single was a Dylan song, If Not For You.

In 1971-72 she was named best voice by the English Record Mirror, and in 1973, with the single Let Me Be There, she took the title of best country singer of the year (from an official biography).

Olivia has been singing for too long, and it's strange that the world wanted to wait for her only in Grease, and in sweet pop songs like You're The One That I Want, Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted To You and to permanently glue them to her blondish locks and the white dresses that twirl around her.

In the last few hours, the world's press has returned to talking about her, about Two Of A Kind, Olivia's latest film, again alongside Travolta but different from the previous one in concept and intent.

There is a soundtrack that runs along the thread of the film, bearing the same title and mixing Olivia with names like Journey and Chicago.

This and more were discussed in London with her, an Olivia who feels the role of the star in her heart but doesn't drown in it like others, a woman who experiences stardom with her feet on the ground.

Two Parallel Lives

O.N.J. - I'd rather not talk about the new film... I'm afraid of spoiling too much. You have to see it. It's coming out in America now, while here in Europe it will be out in March. I can tell you it's a romantic comedy, almost sweet, it's not a musical, it has its own soundtrack but it's not a musical. It's the story of two parallel lives - me and John...

2001 magazine - A reunion with John...?

O.N.J. - I work very well with John. It's very important to find a partner and know you can rely on him completely. I know it's become impossible to talk about Travolta in these terms. I open my mouth and the press already thinks we're about to get married... OK, so once and for all - John and I are friends, F-R-I-E-N-D-S. We see each other very often but we just get along... just...

2001 magazine - Is there another story then?

O.N.J. Ah, Ah... At the moment I'm free as the wind, no love stories. I have too much to do to think about it. A new film, a soundtrack, another album. It's clear that sooner or later I'll have to think about it, maybe one day I'll marry... this is a serious thing but you have to be prepared..

2001 magazine - A lot of time has passed since Grease?

O.N.J. - I waited years with John because we wanted a true, lively story. This is the first film that interested us. We examined the script for a long time, then there were setbacks... it took time.

2001 magazine - In five years the relationship with a partner can change...?

O.N.J. - With John the feeling is the same, same magic, we are fundamentally the same. The strength is that we are true friends, on set just a look is enough and we know how to get along.

2001 magazine - Have you had other film proposals in the meantime?

O.N.J. - Yes, some... nothing interesting. At the moment I'm interested in an Australian project. Melbourne and Australia are my lands, my roots, it would be wonderful to make a film that comes from there.

2001 magazine - Are you an actress or a singer?

O.N.J. - I would like others to see me as a woman who is a singer/actress. If I had to decide, however, I would remain a singer.

2001 magazine - Working as an actress involves restrictions that a singer would like to escape?

O.N.J. - That's not true... Of course, working in a recording studio is something more human. You have everything under control; if something doesn't work, you just have to stop and review it. While shooting a scene, you always follow a director and have to adapt.

2001 magazine - Would you have followed in your father's footsteps?

O.N.J. - Maybe... No, no, mine is a wonderful career

Between Dollars & HorseS

2001 magazine - Cinema has brought you to an oasis of dollars.

O.N.J. - I don't want to exaggerate... it certainly helped make many adolescent dreams come true. Today I have my own space to live in, I also have many animals, I still couldn't live off my income today. I spend my money living and the most privileged are precisely the animals.

2001 magazine - What do you mean?

O.N.J. - I have five horses, dogs and cats, money and a lot of free time to spend with them.

2001 magazine - Alone?

O.N.J. - No, I also do a lot of sport. I like tennis. I often go to the countryside for days. I hope to get back to regular training... the stress of the last few months has destroyed me.

2001 magazine - How much time has cinema taken away from music?

O.N.J. - Not much, but it has certainly been affected. A few days ago I started playing again and recording, I'm taking care of my image as a singer again, in this period I spent a few days in London for two new videos that I'm preparing...

2001 magazine - Have you ever thought about going back to the sounds of your origins?

O.N.J. - I don't go back to the past. I've almost forgotten my old songs. My stuff from ten years ago, the country and western for example, I don't know if I'd do it that way again. Of course, those sounds helped me a lot, they trained my voice.

2001 magazine - What do you usually listen to?

O.N.J. - Nothing elitist, very simple sounds. The radio practically always accompanies me. At the moment, however, I'm going back to R'n'B.

2001 magazine - Who would you like to play with?

O.N.J. - Maybe with Michael Jackson... but who wouldn't want to play with Michael?

2001 magazine - Who would you choose in a film?

O.N.J. - Hmmm... a movie with Robert Redford would be nice...

2001 magazine - There's talk of a new, big tour of yours...?

O.N.J. - No, no. I still feel the one from last year in my bones, playing live gives me an incredible feeling, physically, though, at least now I couldn't...

Olivia's devotees should be happy to know that a new solo album of hers is already in the works. In Two Of A Kind Olivia is alone on three songs while she duets with John on the very soft Take A Chance.

There's Patti Austin and the Jacksonian It's Gonna Be Special is the most beautiful song, and more songs from Journey, Chicago and Boz Scaggs. It's a record that tickles right there.

It enters when Staying Alive and Flashdance are no longer of any use to anyone, it slips where What a Feeling has stopped providing feeling. If you have those records, Two of a Kind must be there too, then a fourth will come and Patti Austin will no longer be special, then a fifth, then... special.

By Pier Giorgio Brunelli and Francesco Adinolfi