From Wayne Brady's soulful opening of "Jump Shout Boogie," to Linda Eder's closing, soaring "Weekend in New England," it was an evening of one showstopper after another as the Society of Singers (SOS) honored Barry with the 12th Annual Ella Award. Others
performing Barry's tunes at the Beverly Hilton on April 28th included Debra Byrd... who took a break from "American Idol," with a gospel-tinged "I Am Your Child," Michael Feinstein's touching rendition of "Soon," Brian McKnight's rousing R&B take on "Even Now," a beautiful Monica Mancini crooned a beautiful "When October Goes," Curtis Stigers jazzed it up with "Centerpiece," Suzanne Somers sizzled on "I Was a Fool," and jazz great Diane Schuur, overwhelmed the crowd by
previewing "Midnight" from her new record produced by Barry and Eddie Arkin.

Uproarious laughter arose from the audience when Leeza Gibbons took the stage to intro a reel of Barry's favorite female singers who "inspire his life and career."

Pictured Above: (Left to Right): SOS President/CEO, Jerry F. Sharell, SOS Chairman Emeritus, Ginny Mancini, Barry, Clive Davis, and Carole Bayer Sager.

The video, compiled by Mitzi & Ken Welch, showed Barry belting "Can't Smile Without You" over the years with lucky audience members who were horribly off-key... you know who you are! Then came a special concert by the man who considers himself a "singer last" and puts composer, arranger, producer, and musician before vocalist. Needless to say, Barry was "thrilled, shocked and honored" to receive the ultimate singers award: the ELLA. He stopped his speech mid-sentence at the podium to sing his hit, "Beautiful Music," an anthem of love to the gift of song. He closed the evening running through hits like "Mandy," "Copacabana," "Daybreak," "I Write The Songs," "Brooklyn Blues" with sax men Dave Koz and Curtis Stigers, and the timely "Let Freedom Ring" with the SOS Choir.

Celebs, supporters of SOS and Manilow fans in the audience included Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Pat Boone, Tovah & Ernest Borgnine, Ruth Buzzi, John Byner, Cyd Charise, Phyllis Diller, Randy Edelman, Rhonda Flemming, Mitzi Gaynor, June Haver-McMurray, Florence Henderson, Ann Jeffries, Sally Kellerman, Gary LeMel, Tony Martin, and Ann Rutherford, along with Barry's long-time music collaborators Adrienne Anderson, Eddie Arkin, and Marty Panzer.

RCA Music Group Chairman, hit-maker, and long-time friend, Clive Davis, and famed songwriter/singer Carole Bayer Sager co-chaired the dinner which included presentations by SOS Chairman Emeritus, Ginny Mancini, and President/CEO, Jerry F. Sharell. The Society of Singers is the non-profit organization that advances the vocal arts through scholarships and offers services to meet multiple needs of professional singers worldwide.