Looks like Barry Manilow has made it.



Here's the 30-year-old back in 1973 (left) -- and 36 years later, the 66-year-old version at an event in Hollywood late last year (right).

Could it be magic?

Here's Barry Manilow at an event in Beverly Hills on Thursday (left) -- and "Jon & Kate Plus 8" star Kate Gosselin at an event a little while back (right).



The highlighted, bi-level, reverse mullet weave ... strong enough for a man, but made for a raccoon.

We're just sayin'.

Amber Alert! With his best orange self-tanner and favorite frosted Barbara Walters weave in place, Barry Manilow hit the "Today" stage on Friday.

FYI -- Manilow's music was used as a form of punishment in Colorado, where a judge forced noise violators to endure an hour of Barry's music ... and so far, the research shows the method was effective -- the number of repeat offenders in that particular court is down.

After he ditched "The View" -- or got ditched by them, depending on who you're talking to -- Barry Manilow and his face seemed to be unmoved by the uproar over his Hasselbeck boycott. And that's Barry in the picture here, not Babwa Walters.


TMZ caught up with the man of exactly one face after a rehearsal, and he told us that while he loved "all those people" at "The View," appearing with Elisabeth on the show "didn't feel good." Barry said he wouldn't appear on the show because he disagreed with what he deemed Hasselbeck's "dangerous" opinions.

Meanwhile, on today's show, Elisabeth wondered if, given recent studies about older men and younger women, she and Manilow couldn't get along down the road. Whoopi said that Barry had already agreed to be on "The View" again soon -- and we're presuming that means that Elisabeth will have to be there, too.

"View" den mother Barbara Walters says that as much as she wanted Barry Manilow to come and croon, no one -- not even the "Mandy" singer -- tells her how to run her show!

Manilow told TMZ yesterday that he decided to ditch his appearance on today's "View," because as a close friend of Rosie O'Donnell, he didn't want to sit on the same stage as right-winger Elisabeth Hasselbeck, whose views he called "dangerous." Babwa, on her Sirius radio chatfest last night, said it was "too bad" about Barry's stand. Added co-executive producer Bill Geddie, "We don't do that ... we support everybody ... he's not going to call the shots."

Geddie also pointed out that lefty celeb political flamethrowers like Susan Sarandon and Jane Fonda have also appeared with Elisabeth, and it sure looked like everyone was having a pretty good time last November when Manilow appeared on the show.

Today, we salute Barry Manilow. Why? Because Barry Manilow rocks.

TMZ caught the Copacabana singer leaving Mr. Chow last night, signing autographs and posing for photos. When one guy put an old Manilow album cover in front of him, the guy who writes the songs quipped, "Oh you just ran home ... to your grandmother's house to get that!" How can you not love this guy?!

On the opposite end of the machismo spectrum, Iron Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard also hit Chow's place for some grub last night.

Meanwhile, at Joseph's in Hollywood, Alfonso Ribeiro and Wilmer Valderrama partied with a pantied-up Britney Spears.

All this and more in today's "dress cut down to there" edition of Star Catcher.

When aging male rockers like Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart and Jon Bon Jovi need beauty advice, they turn to ... Barbara Walters?!

The 77-year-old "View" host is fast becoming the go-to-ma'am for the latest in blown-out, wispy, ash blonde shag trends for the post-post-post-MTV crowd. When you're a graying Grammy winner, the Rosie man-bob just won't do! He bangs!

And for you men who find yourselves pushing 50 and beyond, but don't feel like going blonde, fear not -- the starched Walters Wave also comes in a lush Richie Sambora Chestnut Brown!

Only your hairdwesser will know for sure!

In its never-ending quest to provide you with the moments that everyone will be talking about Monday after the Emmys, TMZ offers: King of schmaltz-pop Barry Manilow.

The 60-year old crooner will be performing at the Emmy Awards on Sunday, and the drama of his performance might not be whether the Manilow can still hit the high notes, but whether he can get through it without falling flat on his face.

Manilow announced earlier this month that he was going to delay surgery on both of his hips until after the Emmy Awards, where he'll be participating in a special tribute to Dick Clark. The singer is also nominated for Best Performance in a Variety Show for his PBS special "Music and Passion." But the usually self-assured Barry recently said, "I'm anxious to make it through the Emmy Awards and then right to the hospital."

So it looks like it'll be a bit of a struggle for Manilow and his rickety hips, providing one of the more riveting, TiVo-ready moments of the telecast. Will he make it? And do you really care? Most of all, what Manilow classic performance will you miss the most if the legend is laid up for longer than we'd care to think about?