December 16, 2004

It's Viva Las Vegas for Barry Manilow

By Steve Friess

LAS VEGAS - Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, saying it was time to end decades of touring, has signed a long-term contract to perform exclusively at the Las Vegas Hilton, starting in February.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed. But a source close to the deal told Reuters it was valued at "far less" than the $US60 million reported in a New York newspaper.

"I've spent most of my performing life on the road all over the country and all over the world," Manilow, 61, told a news conference on Tuesday, adding: "On the last tour, I would joke with the audience that maybe they could just come over to my house. And now, from now on, they can."

The contract calls for Manilow to perform five 90-minute shows per week over 24 non-consecutive weeks, for a total of 120 dates running into early 2006, said Hilton Executive Vice President Ken Ciancimino.

Manilow, whose most recent tour sold more than 250,000 tickets in 22 cities, is the latest in a string of big-name entertainers to forsake the travelling concert circuit to settle down in Las Vegas for extended engagements.

Celine Dion is nearly two years into what began as a three-year, $100 million deal to perform at Caesars Palace and was extended to run through 2006.

Manilow reached the height of his popularity in the 1970s with a string of hits that included Mandy, Write the Songs and Can't Smile Without You.

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