barry manilow... my new boyfriend...

last night chris and i got free tickets to see barry manilow... i would be lying if i said i wasn't excited... cause i was giddy like a little girl.  i went through a phase when i was a teenager and would listen to this cd i have called "ultimate manilow" and its all his big hits...and i listened constantly, so yes i know almost every song by heart. so i begged chris to take me... he's a really good sport.  when we walked in they gave us these awesome red glow sticks to wave around during the show.  the audience was mostly 50+ very excited women and their husbands... ha!

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the show opened up with him singing "come... come... come into my arms" and lots of screaming women... yes including me.  i will say i was shocked how good he sounded for being a 68 year old man... i mean really good... he sounds about like he did in the beginning only his vibrato is a little slower... but really good! still hits all those high notes!!

the whole show was entertaining and fun as he kinda goes through all his hits and then mixes in a few new songs... all the while kinda telling his life story... i being pregnant was a little chocked up the whole time.. at any moment i could have easily produced tears... at one moment there were a few that made their way out of my eyes.  he shared the story of his beginning and his grandpa taking him as a 4 year old to this recording booth in time square where you could record anything for 25 cents... and he played a little of it... mostly his grandpa coaxing him into singing and the kid saying no... haha... and then he said his grandpa wouldn't give up and finally one day he got him to sing and some guy play the piano... bla bla bla... but it was so cute! and then in the show barry manilow sang "this ones for you... where ever you are" and i totally lost it! they brought down a picture of him as a tiny kid standing next to his grandfather.  i think the reason this hit me is because my own grandpa vern has always encouraged me to sing and praised me every time i did..  but he has always been my biggest fan... so thinking about that barry's story really touched me.

the whole show was so great! he plays the piano off and on (and very well i might add) and he would show clips from old tv shows like his appearance on american band stand where he sang "oh mandy" and then the movie screen moves up and he comes out singing the song and at one point sings a duet with himself in the video... very cool!!!

chris' favorite song was "copa cobana" it went on forever and they did a whole huge finally party with the entire audience standing and dancing waving their red glow stick in the air singing... i had a huge smile on my face the entire show and was so excited to go... i'm lucky chris was so willing to go and he enjoyed it more than he thought he would.. and recognized enough songs... we are now listening to the cd in our home... i have a feeling i'm going to have these songs stuck in my head for a month!!!