OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN'S voice down the telephone from Sydney is bubble-gum bright and full of life. It's familiar and it's friendly. Close your eyes and you're almost back there in the 1978 blockbuster Grease, dancing along with Sandy, Danny, the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. Well ... I did say almost.
Newton-John is in rehearsals for the opening ceremony at next month's 2000 Sydney Olympics where, alongside fellow Australian singer John Farnham, she will sing the Games' theme song, Dare To Dream. But before she takes centre stage in Sydney, the 51-year-old is making a quick jaunt here for concerts at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this Friday and Saturday. The concerts are billed as her 'Greatest Hits Live' and when it comes to hits, Newton-John has had her share. 'I'm going to do a journey through my music up until now,' she says. 'So there will be a little bit of stuff from the 70s up until now. Next year is the 30th anniversary of the start of my recording career so, you know, I suppose I do have a lot of stuff to choose from.'
Newton-John ruled the world's airwaves from the early 1970s to the early 80s. Her breakthrough success came with a cover version of Bob Dylan's If Not For You in 1971.
From there, Newton-John has chalked up 15 top-10 hits in the US - including five number one singles. Her song Physical sat on top of the pop pile for 10 weeks in 1981-82. Along the way she has established a legion of devotees, complete with Web sites and chatlines. Although she was actually born in Cambridge, England, but moved to Melbourne at an early age, Newton-John is Australia's sweetheart; treated with the kind of respect once only afforded to royalty. And through all this, her role as the virginal Sandy in the film version of the musical Grease, alongside another young up-and-comer named John Travolta, remains perhaps the defining moment of her career. It launched her into superstardom and produced three huge hit singles which have become synonymous with her name: Hopelessly Devoted To You, Summer Nights and You're The One That I Want. And, for Newton-John, its success caught her completely unaware.
'I was surprised by the extent of the success and the length of time that it has been successful,' she says. 'I meet little kids all the time, who are like seven years old and they say they have been watching it every night. Every year, a new generation finds it. Every couple of years new people see it and like it. It's a real phenomenon. I could never have expected it. I just feel so proud to have been a part of it.'
The tale of high school romance during 1950s America was the hit of 1978, and remains one of the top 20 largest grossing films of all time. It is repeated countless times on televisions across the globe - even in Hong Kong, she was glad to hear. 'Oh, great,' she laughs. 'A promoter sent through a list of songs he thought people wouldn't know, and none of the Grease songs were included. I thought 'Oh my goodness!' Now I know I can sing them.'