Make room, Britney Spears. There’s another blond singer coming to Sin City and this one actually sings live. Beloved entertainer Olivia Newton-John has announced her residency at the Donny & Marie Showroom in the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas beginning April 8 (tickets go on sale Friday). The show will be called Summer Nights, a nod to her popular duet with John Travolta in the 1978 smash Grease, and will feature performances of many of her hits including “Physical,” which spent an unprecedented 10 weeks at number one in 1981 .
The golden-haired Aussie, who had a string of high-charting country and pop songs, such as “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “I Honestly Love You,” even before Grease made her into a global superstar, was expected to set up residency in the city last year but postponed plans so she could stay near her late sister Rona as she battled brain cancer.
“There was a time where I didn’t think I’d sing again, but time is a wonderful healer. It doesn’t heal everything but singing for me is my way of healing and it always has been,” Newton-John revealed to Entertainment Tonight. “Whenever I’ve gone through difficult times in my life music is what has helped me get through and [Rona] was always there for me, so I know, that I need to keep singing, she didn’t want me to stop.”
The environmentally conscious singer, who is a breast cancer survivor, will donate a portion of every ticket sold to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center. Go here for dates and more info.
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Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
And let’s just be blunt here. If you haven’t seen her in the 1980 film Xanadu you’re really terrible at being homosexual. You should be ashamed of yourself. Collect several of your buddies right now, plan a viewing party pronto and thank us later. Here’s a peek at what’s in store:
JonahM01
Wahoo! Lovely Livvy in Vegas?! So now I know where I’m booking my next vacation. She’s a fabulous woman, talented and timeless performer, and true friend and ally to our GLBT family. This is great news!
BlackHouston
Las Vegas seems to be the retirement destination of mediocre entertainers. I don’t care what anyone says. Britney and Olivia are both basic. Manufactured, generic talent, BASIC girls who are both well beyond their expiration date. Snooze.
ZaneStuart
@BlackHouston:
Oh god, you’re one of those. Juvenile and a bit of a bore.
While Xanadu is one of the top ten worst films EVER, Olivia Newton-John’s talent as a singer/song writer has never been in doubt.
Panda777
Glad to have ONJ back on the strip! Vegas could use her talent and star power. I just hope she gives us a little razzle dazzle in her act this time around. Bring on the dancing Kangaroos and male dancers from Thunder Down Under…..with a little dry ice thrown in!
northwest
Donny & Marie Showroom, lol. Takes me back to 1978. Now if only Andy Gibb could be resurrected to join them all.
stadacona
Saw ONJ perform recently..a class act that ACTUALLY SINGS. “Britney Who?” indeed.
jslick7in
Wow…saw Olivia in the mid 70’s when she was just getting hot…and thru all the years she’s just gotten hotter!! CAN NOT wait to come to Vegas and see her again!
TheNewEnergyDude
Good for her. Such a wonderful and cassy lady!
jimbryant
Please do not mention Britney and Olivia in the same sentence. Britney is a pure fake, a woman who made money by pretending to sing. Olivia has gorgeous vocal cords, or at least had them back in the 70’s and 80’s when she was Britney’s age.
Britney made millions by ripping money from her fans, many of whom included deluded, dumb and stupid gay guys who think miming drag queens have talent.
LadywithaLamp
Here’s a fun fact…I was a cocktail waiter at Harrahs in South Lake Tahoe back in the 80s and me and my roommate Toby were dating a couple of Mitzi Gaynor’s back up dancers, Mitzi is really nice and loves gay men and we were invited to this after party and Olivia Newton John was there and she was the sweetest nicest person ever…We all hung out at this fabulous Chalet having cocktails and there was a baby grand and Olivia sang and we were all just a bunch of people having fun. BEST NIGHT EVER.!!!
Stefano
@jimbryant : you like Olivia ? But she is a woman !??? She is one of your many enemies!?? LOL
jimbryant
Stefano,
Actually, I love Olivia. I love Pat Benatar and Suzi Quatro and Barbra Streisand.
You shouldn’t mistake my criticism of female culture for criticism of each and every single woman.
LadywithaLamp
My comment is flagged and awaiting moderation..??? What did I say..??? What did I do wrong…???
LadywithaLamp
I met O,N,J and she is the nicest sweetest person…Brittney makes me want to vomit in my throat.
Stefano
@jimbryant : sorry, but someone who say that women are like this, women are like that, means that ALL women are like this or like that….you post every day a misogynus comment about women, blqcks or even gay man…that’s not me who invented it, sorry.
Stefano
@jimbryant : you need a life.
Stache1
@northwest: Oh god that would be perfect. I’d love it.
Uppity
I met Olivia N-J in the mid 90s when she came to New Zealand for a breast cancer fundraiser and she was just lovely. I really don’t think she’s ever had the critical praise for her voice, which is superb. She was able to marry her effortlessly beautiful vocal quality with the right material, back in a time when female singers didn’t need to be overtly sexual to get ahead. That changed after Madonna. But before that, Olivia was pure pop perfection, able to interpret lyrics in a way that I can’t fault. Just a very likeable lady.
viveutvivas
I saw her when I was a teenager in the early 80s. She still looks just as great.
DShucking
Special place in my heart for ONJ:
A Little More Love
Dancin’ (Duet with The Tubes)
Have You Never Been Mellow
Heart Attack
Hopelessly Devoted to You
I Honestly Love You
If You Love Me, Let Me Know
Landslide
Let Me Be There
Livin’ in Desperate Times
Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee
Magic
Make a Move on Me
Physical
Please Mr. Please
Suddenly (with Cliff Richard)
Summer Nights
Suspended in Time
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Twist of Fate
We Go Together
Whenever You’re Away from Me (Duet with Gene Kelly)
Xanadu (with Electric Light Orchestra)
You Made Me Love You
You’re the One That I Want