John Travolta and Olivia Newton John put out a campy Christmas album together


When I first saw the CD cover for John Travolta and Olivia Newton John’s new Christmas album, I thought it was a gag that someone had ‘shopped up from a photo of a Grease reunion brunch. It just looks so ridiculous and campy, which is generally how Travolta looks in posed photos, but it still seemed fake to me. It’s not, it’s real, and Danny and Sandy are marketing it to the Boomers of their generation and the Gen Xers like me who used to watch Grease on a loop on HBO. I just wanted to BE Sandy, and to have her hair, swagger and accent. I never really wanted Danny as a boyfriend, though. He was way too much of a meathead for me. And now we know the reality. It’s all Ronco spray-on hair, illicit massages and tea parties. John and Olivia are totally serious about this, and they’re donating the profits to charity too.

Grease stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are going to make some beautiful music together.

This time it’s for a Christmas album, and they plan to include 13 guest stars. Among them: Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, James Taylor, Chick Corea and Kenny G.

The idea for the collection came from Travolta after he received a holiday season text from Newton-John noting that their 1978 smash, You’re the One That I Want, had just become the best-selling duet in pop music history. “From the moment we decided to do this, magic happened,” says Travolta. “Everyone we contacted agreed to do it.”

Adds Newton-John in the release, “With our busy schedules, I don’t know how we got it done. John and I have always connected. That’s never gone away. When we’re together, we have a good laugh and feel bonded to one another. We’ve been through some amazing experiences together.”

In addition to stars singing more classic seasonal fare, one of the highlights of the album is the one original song, I Think You Might Like It, a sequel to the Grease smash You’re the One That I Want. It’s a new tune by that song’s writer/producer John Farrar.

“My desire was to make This Christmas an intimate album, not something too ostentatious or showy,” says Travolta. “I wanted people to be able to play it around the house or in the car during the holidays, and make us part of your celebration.”

Travolta and Newton-John will donate the artist proceeds from the album equally to the Jett Travolta Foundation, to combat children’s disabilities, including autism and seizures, and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

This Christmas will be available Nov. 13 from Universal Music Enterprises.

[From USA Today]

I’ll say something nice, and then I’ll balance it out with something bitchy, as I’m wont to do. It’s cool that these two have remained friends, and it must be fun for them to get together after all these years. They probably don’t even have any sexual tension either. *smirk* It’s great that they’re donating profits to their own charities too. On the other hand, The Jett Travolta foundation has been criticized for being relatively small and inactive, although that may change, and Travolta’s deep ties to Scientology make any of his charitable endeavors suspect. (Plus he must have a lot of lawyers bills and settlements to pay. We haven’t heard much about that lately.)

Also, do we need more Christmas albums? I usually listen to the same Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald holiday CDs around Christmastime. (For about a couple of days really, not much more.) No one does the classics like they do. We don’t need more remakes and there’s only one original song on this album. This is all about a Danny and Sandy reunion, and we’re not buying it! Does anyone else have “You’re the One That I Want” stuck in their head now?

John and Olivia in 2011:

In 2010:

Classic:

Photo credit: WENN.com

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51 Responses to “John Travolta and Olivia Newton John put out a campy Christmas album together”

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  1. Charlotte says:

    I wondered if you would cover this – as if you couldn’t! The comments on the DM website are hilarious. Botox Twins.

    • thyphoid mary says:

      Wow! they both look like muppetts o_0 I never cared for ONJ, i get so sick whith her stupid songs…i get a flash back of my mom cleaning the house to the tune of Shanadoo…good grief! I abhor that damned song! I wish ONJ had sticked fo just acting and had never sang a thing in her life.Anyway, enough of my childhood trumas. I don’t think their christmas CD will be a good seller at all, total flop.

    • TrustMeOnThis says:

      Here’s some info on the “charity” aspect of this project, from a commenter on Tony Ortega’s new blog:

      “The Travolta’s have set up the Jett Travolta Foundation, a scam charity, which will funnel money into CoS projects and propaganda.

      The E! site incorrectly stated that money from this foundation “will go toward seeking to combat children’s disabilities, including Autism and seizure disorders.”

      The website does not even mention Autism or seizure disorders. It does mention some other recipients for the money, in an ambiguous way of course, but we’re familiar with the rhetoric so there’s no doubt about it, it’s a CoS cash cow. http://www.jett-travolta-foundation.org

      So really just another $cilon front. Not that this should be surprising to anyone. I’m just sayin.

    • Dark X says:

      Will they drown out the bisexual’s voice like they did in “Grease” by having the others sing over him?

  2. atlantapug says:

    Picture it, Hollywood, 1978….

    John Travolta is a rising young star and (straight) sex symbol who doesn’t harass masseuses.

    Olivia Newton John is a rising young singer who’s boyfriend didn’t fake his own death to escape massive debt.

    Wait, no, it’s 2012 and Hell must have frozen over.

    • DeltaJuliet says:

      How the mighty have fallen. I always forget how hot Travolta once was. It’s got to be hard on him. Now he’s skeevy and gross.

      Olivia is the exact age as my mom, born on the same day/year. My mom looks quite a bit older but then she hasn’t been hitting the botox 😉 I like my mom’s look better!

  3. Brown says:

    Is that a serious question “do we need more Christmas music?” Yes, always, yes.

    I turn on the tunes after Thanksgiving dinner and rock them all the way to New Years. One of my favorite Christmas CDs is Hanson, “Snowed In.” Can you tell I am a product of the 90s?

    Travolta is so sketch, and the CD cover is HILARIOUS

  4. Sophia says:

    JT’s face is looking uber-creepy these days – he’s starting to resemble a cabbage patch doll…

  5. Eleonor says:

    WTF???

  6. ZigZagZoey says:

    OMG! Will he just STOP with the Sharpie wig! WTF!!!
    EVERYONE is laughing at you John, and not just about the gay rumors….

    • judyjudy says:

      Sharpie wig! Hee hee hee….

    • Charlotte says:

      My partner once went to look at a car described as a ‘Sharpie car’. Yep, an otherwise great car covered in ‘unique & eye-catching Sharpie designs’ that ‘took dozens of hours to complete’. He did not buy it.
      I wonder how many other things can be Sharpie’d? Swifty Sharpie’d her eyeliner. Is Sharpie-ing a thing now?

      • TrustMeOnThis says:

        Rubbing alcohol will remove sharpie ink from most surfaces. 😉

      • ZigZagZoey says:

        You’d think he would know that ~ He is pretty familiar with rubbing oil!

      • Charlotte says:

        @TrustMeOnThis,not on the Sharpie Car – the ‘creator’ put 2 layers of lacquer over it. That ‘art’ was there to stay!

    • hypnotoad says:

      ROFLMFAO!!!!! Please! Who is his make up artist/stylist? Do they need coke bottle glasses? How can you let someone walk around looking like this? The older you get, the subtler your hair and make up need to be or you end up looking like Spocks half Ferengi brother. Jesus-Tap- Dancing-Christ! You’re scaring the children!

  7. Vee says:

    Creepy!

  8. judyjudy says:

    Oooh Oooh Oooh, Honey!

  9. L says:

    My go to christmas albums are White Christmas and the Snoopy Christmas album. Jazzy and awesome.

    But yea, this is campy and weird. Can Travolta even sing anymore? I love Olivia, so she gets a pass from me.

  10. fabgrrl says:

    I LOVE Olivia Newton-John, she can do no wrong. And Grease just makes me happy every time I see it. I think this album sounds like a lot of fun!

  11. Joy says:

    First off I agree that I too wanted to be Olivia especially in those satin pants. Nobody was cooler to me as a kid. Second, John needs some lessons in butching it up if that Christmas cover is the best he can do.

  12. SleepyJane says:

    Ummmm….what? This is too horribly, ostentatiously, crippled-with-embarrassment, good to be true.

  13. dorothy says:

    His hair looks sprayed on.

  14. & says:

    Bahahaha! That first photo is too much! I can’t stop looking and laughing. I’m off to dlisted… I can’t wait to see what Michael k has to say about this gem.

  15. Suzie says:

    Hoo boy. Doesn’t age lay waste. But to their credit, Olivia’s 80s music was something else! A couple of the best songs of All Time, eg. Magic. Olivia could hit those high notes with perfection, eg in Xanandu. I doubt she and John will be able to top Bony M’s Christmas Album, which I still play at Christmas. But maybe we are in for a nice surprise! A new beat and approach to those O-so-tired and dreary carols perhaps? I will keep my ears open in shopping malls in anticipation.

  16. Nicolette says:

    I would not have recognized her, she looks so different. And Travolta’s hair reminds me of a scene in “Shallow Hal” when Jason Alexander sprays on a new layer of “hair”.

  17. diva says:

    I love Christmas music. Its suppose to be cheesy and fun. I want to go watch Grease now lol!

  18. KellyinSeattle says:

    I think Olivia looks okay; it’s John that is spooky.

  19. Dirtnap says:

    “Summer Nights” to winter frights.

    John, don’t you think you’ve roasted enough chestnuts?

  20. Shelly says:

    I worshiped Olivia when I was a kid. But I want to know who that lady is pretending to be her in these pics, and WHERE did her cheek bones go?! Her face, my God! Sidenote: wasn’t her husband missing for a really long time, and did they ever find him?

    • Holly Hobby says:

      That was her fiancé. Yes they did find him but she moved on and married some other guy. Which explains the new face.

  21. SLim Charles says:

    I just can’t listen to Bing Crosby anymore, ever since his son’s book came out and portrayed him as a monster.

    It’s very hard for me to separate art from the artist.

    Johnny Mathis, Dean Martin and Rosemary Clooney are the best!

  22. TrustMeOnThis says:

    He looks a lot happier to be with Olivia than he ever has with Kelly.

  23. Holly Hobby says:

    I wish ONJ didn’t mess up her face. She looks horrible. John’s hair looks like it was sprayed on.

  24. Darth says:

    Can’t you just see them talking about shoes like a couple of old gal-friends in between takes?
    Quit trying to repair your image, John, it’s not going to work. In fact, all it’s doing is making you seem even creepier than we already think you are.

  25. photo jojo says:

    Their eyes — they follow me!!!

  26. dooliloo says:

    Hmmm… The first picture… I see John Travolta transformation into Mister Spock is almost complete.

  27. LibsW says:

    I sort of recognize Olivia, but who’s that creepy blow up doll next to her?

  28. ezra says:

    She’s botoxed to the max, his hair piece looks faker than his heterosexuality.

  29. Anoni Mus says:

    From the sprayed on hair on Travolta to the photoshopped hot chocolate (see how its surface is not in sync with the tilt of the cup), this is a so-bad-its-good campy CD cover. LMAO here.

  30. Chrissy says:

    I would not have known this was Olivia Newton John if it didn’t say so.

  31. Kirst says:

    I think his hair is like that to cover up the scars from when he was an FBI agent to and he had to swap faces with Nic Cage to go undercover to find a bomb.

  32. Ken D says:

    That is the worst rug I have ever seen. You would think that someone with his money could afford better.