I LOVE Britain and I love the whole Christmas thing. I’ve been looking forward to being here ever since I knew the dates were confirmed. We created a show just for Britain. 

“For my friends in the UK it had to be something amazing, because they are all very special to me,” says Barry. “They’re so loyal and have such a wonderful sense of fun. They’re not fans . . . they’re my friends and I really look forward to seeing them. It’s always a great moment when I walk out on the stage and meet them again.”
Barry was determined to spark off the Christmas season with a bang.

“I want my Christmas show to be something always remembered,” he says. “Christmas means so much to me — it’s such a special time.

“It’s nice that people remember you and send you cards and presents and that you have a great opportunity to express your love for them, too. Sometimes life gets so hectic for all of us that we just don’t get round to keeping in touch. Christmas gives us a wake-up call and a reminder that our friends and family are important.”

Barry is a great gift-buyer.

“I love buying gifts for people and I like to pick them personally, something different for each one,” he reveals. “I am not the sort of person to buy a case of wine and send a bottle to everyone. I like to think about the presents I give. Sometimes it might be something that is just nice to look at and other times it can be quite practical. I was once bought a juicer and it was great. I use it all the time.”

Barry Manilow had some of his earliest successes in Britain and many of his most cherished memories are of magical moments when he first toured here.

“I’ll always remember August 1983 when I performed to a 40,000 crowd at Blenheim Palace. As part of an encore, I sang We’ll Meet Again. As I sang the first line, everyone lit candles. It was a shock to me. I realised that I had only been seeing half of the crowd picked up by the spotlights. I had not grasped that there were so many people there until the candles glowed. The experience took my breath away and I couldn’t sing the next line for emotion. Fantastic!”

There are strong rumours that Barry will once again appear on the Royal Variety Show while he is in Britain. He has been the top of the bill artiste a number of times before.

“The British are so fortunate to have a royal family,” he says. “It has been a big thrill for me to meet many of them — not just a quick handshake but a little chat as well. 

“Believe me — they are nice people. I’ve photographs taken with them in my special album. In the States, we really envy your having a royal family. 

“Appearing on Royal Variety Shows is just such a fantastic thrill and goes down among the very best highlights of my life, not just my career.”

It might seem that since Barry has been there, and got more T-shirts than could be stuffed into a dressing room, he might be tired of performing. But he is still excited by every performance and every recording.

“I have had my health scares, but I feel great and am good for another 20 years or more yet. I love each performance and going out on stage to have a great time with all those people who have come to see me. It is the highlight of every day. It’s wonderful to have time to chat to people and to sing the songs they love as much as I do. People don’t want their favourite songs changed, so we perform or record them as near as possible to the originals. I am enjoying myself so much and all because of music.”

Music has been and still is the focal point of Barry’s life.

“I don’t have much time for personal relationships because music is the most important thing in my life. My passion for music has obliterated just about everything in its path during my entire life. I have had relationships of course and I have many good friends but, whenever there was a choice between music and anything else, music won hands down every time. No one person or material thing could come close to the feeling I get when the music is right.”

Of course, Christmas brings its own very special brand of music and songs.

“I especially love Winter Wonderland, White Christmas and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. They are ageless and are a part of everyone’s lives.

“Performing in Britain again near to Christmas is great. Some years ago I was in London near the festive season. It was wonderful to see all the lights and the shop displays. One evening I came across a guy roasting chestnuts on an open fire near Oxford Street. It was a moment of sheer Christmas magic.” 

That’s the cue for another of Barry’s favourite songs, one he is almost guaranteed to perform.

“I have been asked many times if I have a favourite song and that is not always easy to answer because there have been so many. Different favourites mean different things at different stages of my career but, if I have to pick one, then I have to say Could It Be Magic. It’s probably the song I’m proudest of to this day and sums up my life.”

Barry’s show Ultimate Manilow: The Hits . . . And Then Some can be seen at the MEN Arena in Manchester on December 8. Then it will be back to Las Vegas where his own show at the Hilton — Manilow, Music and Passion — will run throughout 2009.