LAS VEGAS — Thirteen No. 1 hits. Winner of an Emmy, Tony and Grammy. A seven-decade career — Barry Manilow truly needs no introduction.
His latest venture is a one-hour Christmas special, appropriately titled "A Very Barry Christmas," which airs Monday, Dec. 11 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
"It's filled with great Christmas songs. I've had three Christmas albums out, so I could have gone on for hours because they're wonderful," Manilow said. "I actually figured out a way to put my own pop songs into the Christmas show, so even though I'm singing 'Copacabana,' it always feels like a Christmas show."
And it all takes place at at the Westgate Las Vegas, where Manilow recently performed his 637th show — beating Elvis Presley's previously-held record for most appearances on the same stage.
"We flip our regular show when it comes to November and December, and we make this gorgeous Christmas set," Manilow said. "I was so happy when NBC decided that they wanted to tape it."
As a sneak preview, Manilow said he'll be performing Christmas classics like "Rudolph," "Happy Holidays," "White Christmas" and more.
"It's exactly what I wanted, and I think it's exactly what the audience wants," Manilow said of the setlist. "In the beginning, the audience wanted the new songs, the album cuts. Now, they want those hits, and I'm happy to give it to them."