Last Friday, the Manilow himself was set to premier his new show Paris Las Vegas but technical issues interrupted final rehearsals and postponed the show. Before the concert, a power surge shut down all the music and audio-visual components of the show, causing $150,000 in damages.

"You could smell the burnout," said one of the stage engineers. "One or two of the protectors failed or didn't turn on, and the lot just went up."

The disruption probably didn't come as much of a surprise to Barry Manilow, who had a suspicion something of this nature would happen.

"I don't know if we will make it," the singer said. "There's just a tremendous amount of brand new technology never been used before."

Technicians worked through the night while 700 of the audience members who hadn't heard about the postponement were entertained at a free cocktail party, hosted by Paris president Marilyn Winn.

The repairs were finished by 2pm Saturday and Barry performed two shows that night to make up for Friday's incident.

After the double concert, Barry said, "This all turned out great. I felt so good, so energized, I'm ready to do a third show back-to-back."

I'm his audience would have been ready as well. After the first show, people lingered around trying to get tickets for the second concert later that night. During the shows, Barry also received a standing ovation for every song while some members just remained standing throughout the entire 82-minute phenomenon, plus the "Copacabana" double finale. Now that's dedication.

While the show will include all of his hits (including my personal favorite "Mandy), it's all wrapped up in more romance than even die-hard Fanilows are used to. The entire spectacular relates to his latest compilation album Greatest Love Songs of All Time, which was released in January.

The show is a not-to-be-missed experience, blending emotional story-telling from Barry about his relationship to his grandfather with more novelty music sequences, such as when Barry and three other pianists run around the instrument while keeping the music going. The speed and precision of these musicians while they race around the piano and play is truly astounding. Especially seeing how in-shape the 66-year old singer is. I don't even think I could pound the keys or run around the piano that fast.

His Paris performances also simply have an intimacy that his past run at the Las Vegas Hilton lacked.

Jeffrey Hornaday, the show's choreographer explained how at the Paris, "There's nothing to hide behind or cover up any mistakes. Every night, we all have to be perfect because the audience is right there - and not hundreds of yards away. Barry has handcrafted a production that is incredibly personal and nuanced. The result is an original, moving and thrilling theatrical experience. For me personally, it has been the most exciting creative process I've ever participated in."

"It's great. We couldn't be more pleased," said Barry. "We set out to achieve something that should have been impossible, but we pulled it off - and we still had a lot of fun doing it. The theater at the Paris is perfect for what we wanted to do, large but still intimate. It's a beautiful room, and I'm proud to call it home for the next two years. The city of Paris, this Vegas hotel called Paris, it all marries beautifully as love and romance, so it will be a romantic show."

Barry has also turned out to marry beautifully with the city of Vegas as well. Las Vegas middle school and high school music programs will reap benefits from the singer's two-year run on the Strip by receiving a portion of the proceeds generated from the Platinum Experience Tickets. These special tickets include a front-row seat, pre-show champagne reception, a meet-and-greet plus photo with Barry, along with an autographed show program. You can buy yours at ManilowParis.com.

Though a little rocky at first, Barry's strip debut seems to be an out-and-out sensation. After his double-billing on Saturday Barry mused, "Did we have fun tonight? This was simply the best, the highlight of a blessed, long career. I couldn't be happier about being in Vegas, entertaining fans and singing better than ever. I'm looking forward to every night of a fantastic two years."