For someone who once sang “Have You Never Been Mellow,” Olivia Newton-John is one busy lady. Newton-John has been making the rounds on the morning talk show circuit promoting and performing songs from her latest album, the holiday-inspired Christmas Wish. She had upwards of three scheduled television appearances in one week alone recently, but she graciously managed to make time to speak with the Gay and Lesbian Times.

Aside from morning shows, the delightful and vivacious 59-year-old Newton-John is slated to perform on “ABC’s Holiday With The Stars” on Dec. 16 and “ABC’s Holiday Celebration at Ford’s Theatre” on Dec. 19.

Her CD, Christmas Wish, is a blending of time-honored Christmas classics, such as “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and “Silent Night,” and it features duets with Michael McDonald, Jon Secada and Barry Manilow. If that isn’t enough to put you in the Christmas spirit, there are new songs Newton-John penned with her producer/songwriting partner, Amy Sky – including the stirring “Underneath the Same Sky” and the doo-wop flavored “Christmas on My Radio,” which is sure to please her ardent Grease fans.

It was a tough call for her to pick a favorite, because different songs on the album have different meanings for her.

“I like all of the traditional ones – ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘Silent Night.’ I particularly liked whichever one it is that I got to sing in different languages (‘Silent Night’), ’cause that was fun to do,” she said, laughing. “I just love the arrangements on the traditional ones, and I really, really enjoyed writing and recording the new ones, so it’s really hard for me to pick one.”

During the course of her music career, the four-time Grammy award-winning artist has had 10 top-of- the-charts singles, sold more than 50 million albums the world over, been nominated for a number of other Grammy awards, and even snagged an Emmy for songwriting.

With an expansive catalog of hits at her disposal, Newton-John will be releasing the DVD Olivia Newton-John and the Sydney Symphony: Live at the Sydney Opera House on Jan. 15, which puts a different spin on some of her songs.

For example, the rehashing of her 1981 mega hit, “Physical,” which spent a staggering 10 weeks in the No. 1 spot on the charts, is a stripped-down version of the original song. While there are some signature tunes that remain intact, Newton-John said she sometimes likes to mix it up.

“Pretty much I will do my hits, and change them up,” she said. “I have to leave a certain core of the ones that are best known, and I think, best liked. And then I add in a couple of new ones, or a couple of things, just to change it up now and then.

“But, I always remember going to see one of my favorite artists years ago, and she didn’t do her hits. And, I always remember thinking, ‘If I ever get to that position, I’m always going to do my hits, because that’s why people come.’”

The same day the DVD is available, there will also be a companion CD, Olivia’s Live Hits, being released – a double bonus for fans of this talented lady.

This next year is going to be particularly eventful for the songstress, as she has a gamut of varied projects in the works, including reprising her role as Bitsy Mae Harling on a television version of “Sordid Lives” for LOGO, which begins filming in January. (Leslie Jordan, Delta Burke, and much of the film’s cast, are also on board for the series.) And Newton-John is looking forward to stepping into the Birkenstocks of the lesbian ex-con character once again.

“Oh you know, I love Del (Shores, who directed the film version and has a hand in the TV version, as well.), so it will be a hoot!” Newton-John said. “I like the character, because she’s so opposite from me. So, it’s like Sandy II (her transformed-into-a-temptress character in Grease), it’s like going against who I am, so it’s a challenge. It seems in my life that I always challenge myself, and I don’t know what that is – if it’s something out of my comfort zone, and if I’m a little bit scared of it, I should do it. Because it makes you stretch into places you wouldn’t have gone into.”

Newton-John has even penned some new tunes for the series, which taps into and brings to the table her crossover country-western appeal, which she experienced early on in her recording career.

“The fun part is I’ve written five new songs for it [the series] with Amy Sky,” Newton-John said. “We got together for two days and recorded five songs for this crazy character, Bitsy.”

Of course, the role of Sandy Olsson, which left an unforgettable mark on the pop culture landscape in the 1978 film version of Grease, holds a very special place in her heart. Newton-John shared her favorite memory of making the film, and why this movie musical, the most popular of all time, has such a lasting appeal.

“Well, my favorite memory is just the actual energy between all of us, the cast members; making friends with Didi Conn and John (Travolta) and the cast and crew, we just had a blast,” she said. “On a day-to-day level, you couldn’t have more fun – we just had a fantastic time. Which is why I think the movie is so popular, ’cause that energy transcends.”

Another of her films, the 1980 camp-tastic, roller-skating ladened musical, Xanadu, has been resurrected on Broadway, and has been very well received by audiences and critics alike. Newton-John had this to say about the new version.

“I love it! I went to see it, and I had such a giggle, thought it was fantastic.”

It is Newton-John’s real life role as an advocate for promoting health and all around well- being that will also fill up many days in her 2008 day planner.

Having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 and surviving, Newton-John has become an advocate for health awareness.

For example, she owns Gaia Retreat & Spa, a haven located in her native homeland of Australia, which is designed to help visitors “relax, refocus and rebalance your well-being,” according to its Web site.

In two upcoming ventures, Newton-John will also promote wellness. She will be joining the PBS integrative health series, “Healing Quest,” as a co-host.

“I’m very proud to be going with that team,” she said. “Deepak Chopra was really the one who encouraged them to get me for it. It’s going to be really lovely. I really believe in what they do. They are going to be teaching people about integrative medicine and things you can do to maintain your health, rather than wait until you get sick – kind of the Chinese way, really, is to stay healthy, to watch what you eat. And little changes that you can make by buying organic, and lots of healing things. My life seems to be going that way, so it all seems to tie in together.”

To further her advocacy, Newton-John will be getting physical in the New Year by participating in “The Great Walk to Beijing 2008,” which will raise funds to build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. The walk is a 21-day trek in April along The Great Wall of China.

“‘The Great Walk to Beijing’ is something we’ve been working on for four years – it took us four years to get permission from the Chinese Government,” Newton-John explained. “This is very exciting, because it’s going to lead up to the Olympics, and we’re inviting celebrities and athletes and politicians and visionaries from all over the world to come. And, hopefully, they’ll be supported by their fan base to kind of sponsor them on the walk; which is very steep and very, very long.

“I’m doing 240 miles on the Wall, obviously not the whole thing, ’cause a lot of it is not even walkable. It’s all to draw attention to cancer research and to raise money for my hospital. It’s going to be incredibly challenging, because I do the whole thing – my guests come and go, but I have to do the whole thing!” she said with a laugh. “So, another challenge, see? But this will be not only emotional, but physically challenging.”