By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
September 5, 1999
Before Shania, there was Olivia.
In a greatest-hits concert Friday at the Chicago Theatre, Olivia Newton-John took the audience on a two-hour tour of songs that showed off her aptitude for country (“If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”), pop (“Xanadu”), rock (“You’re the One That I Want”) and ballads (“I Honestly Love You”).
In the ’70s, when female country stars wore their hair big and their sequins even bigger, Newton-John – who was born in England, raised in Australia and pretty enough to be a model – ruffled many Nashville purists by winning the 1973 Grammy Award for best country vocalist.
No matter. Now she’s an icon.
On this tour, her first since 1983, Newton-John seemed very comfortable. Backed by an eight-piece band, she appeared on stage wearing tight black pants, a matching top and a long, silky duster.
Men of all ages made pilgrimages to the stage throughout the night to give her flowers, shake her hand and get a smile. She made a gracious point of acknowledging everyone who tried to get her attention.
The way the audience popped up and down for standing ovations throughout the show, you’d think they were making a video for her hit “Physical.”
Speaking of which, there’s something insidiously dirty hearing the ultimate good girl peppily sing, “I want to get animal. . . Let me hear your body talk.” It makes more of an impact than, say, when that tortured Trent Reznor snarls, “I want to – – – – you like an animal.”
The strain of this two-month tour – Chicago was the second to last date – showed at times. Newton-John’s voice lacked her usual pristine clarity, especially on ballads such as “Sam.”
But the husky tinge worked in her favor on her pleading rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” If you just looked at the singer – still impossibly beautiful in her early 50s – it’d be difficult to conjure up any sympathy for her character. But when she sang her anguished plea – begging Jolene not to take away her man – you accepted her pain.
Midway through her set, Newton-John good-naturedly said, “I’ve lived my nightmare and survived it.”
She wasn’t talking about her bout with breast cancer, which she has overcome. Rather, she was acknowledging the coughing fit that marred her emotionally effective rendition of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.”
I could’ve done without the song sung from the perspective of a tree, but the concert overall was a welcome return for one of pop music’s original princesses.
