I saw him on Sat. at the O2 and he is still an amazing singer. He held 20000 spellbound as he sang a capella -he is a brilliant arranger, composer + singer and he certainly doesn't mime on stage. If you don't like him, fine, but you can't deny that his contribution to the history of popular music is immense.

He is obviously struggling with a health problem.
He is painfully thin and he has had one (or both?) hips replaced and seemed to be in pain at times on Sat. He avoided using the stage set steps quite a few times, making his entrances from the side of the stage.

I saw him at the O2 last night - absolutely amazing! I had a great time!

He did seem to sing out of one side of his mouth at times and have difficulty walking; I wonder whether he has been ill (there was a lot of press earlier in the year about him losing too much weight). Also, he has had major mouth surgery in the past to remove a huge cyst, so that can't have helped. Despite all this, though, it was a fantastic show. If you haven't seen him live, you've missed a treat.

Quite a few years since I've seen Barry live - last time he played the Albert Hall IIRC - but he was absolutely fantastic.
Every time I see an accordion I remember his story about having to learn to play it. 'Every mother's dream '(that their child would learn to play it). 'every kid's nightmare' (that they had to learn).
And he used to do a great mickey-take of groups like Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Diana Ross & the Supremes.

He did seem to have a very plastic face, but if he's had surgery on his mouth etc. he might have had to have plastic surgery too.

However, even though I don't like Bruce Forsyth, he did look much better than Barry.

I wish these botoxed people would realise that they'd look better "au naturel".

His performance was just brilliant on the results show and even though I've never been a fan of his I still thought he knocked spots off some of the other guests we've had this year. He's a proper entertainer and showman, even before you consider how much he's written.

I was surprised to read on here that he's only 64. He looked much older than that to me, probably because he looked really ill and far, far too thin.

In that case, can you tell me what microphone he was using.

As a Professional Sound Engineer of many many years, I have never come across one than can pick up a voice like that and not feedback, in a live situation.

This is not to belittle his talent, but all these artistes! are paid a lot of money and should do what they are paid for.

Maz

I did a double take when he came on , he does look ill , more than older .He was enjoying himself though and a fab tune for the professional dancers to strut their stuff too !

I thought it was quite obvious that he wasn't miming, in fact he talked his way through some of it when it got to the higher notes. Must admit that I love Copacabana though

Could not have said it better

The guy didn't look any more or less shocking then he did the other 300 gazillion times he performed (that same song I might add) on the resultshow Go figure probably an OLD friend of Brucie, you know from back in the day

However you would think he'd know at least one other song to sing besides that overly done cuba song.
I swear when those first few bars set in I was convinced Darren and Lilia would show up at some point and do one of their tried samba routines.........guess what I was right

I guess next week it'll be another coversong by.....oh I don't know....Westlife:sleep:

If he was at the O2 arena on Saturday night, when did they film his performance on Strictly?

He's always looked the same to me.... although wasn't there a thing a while back about his loosing weight and an eating disorder I find the lyrics of that song extremely depressing so didn't pay much attention to it......

He chatted on Saturday about recording Strictly on Friday. He made a joke about the male dancers and where they put their "bits" as their trousers were so tight! He said how good the dancers were.

I knew there was something wrong on Saturday at the O2 (having seen him before a couple of times in the 90's) he wasn't the same happy guy I saw before, the pain thing totally makes sense! He was still amazing though, he seemed a little less exurberant than he has been in the past.

He is legend!

Who were the audience for his Strictly performance then if it was Friday that he recorded it?



Loved his performance and the pro dance.

he wasn't lipsyncing because he just doesn't, the vocal was imperfect and it is never the same lyrics twice, the fact that the performance was totally imperfect makes it all the better to me. As for the techics of it all I am totally ignorant but I just know how he sings it and that was different as it is everytime. If you didn't know the song well you wouldn't know how different it is to the recording.
Just thought I'd put my two cence in.

Love the song, don't love the botox! Hope he is okay though. Like him or not, he is a legend.

He did say at the concert that he recorded it on the Friday, but I am wondering if I misheard him and maybe he recorded it early afternoon on Saturday, the concert didn't really start until after 9pm.

Here here, I saw Barry with my mum at the 02 on Saturday night and he fantastic, the man is a superstar, I hope he comes back to the UK again soon.

We love you Barry ))
x

Regardless of his looks, I think he is woefully underrated as a musician. He is a talented composer and arranger as well as a singer. Personally I'm not that keen on his music (sorry!), but I have huge respect for him as a musician.

I love Barry Manilow, I'd love to see him in concertWas great having him on the results show.

Enjoyed him on the Graham Norton Show too.

I thought he was FAB! OK the immobile top lip was a bit weird, but apart from that. A real Hollywood performance!

If you go to Covent Garden, you'll often see the opera singers do the same thing. It's just a habit singers sometimes get into. I knew one once who was deaf in one ear. He ended up singing out of the side of his mouth towards the hearing side!!! True.

Barry is a legendary singer, and always a delight to see his performances.