Barry Manilow had
a confession to make at the October 10 Society of
Singers' annual Ella Awards. "I've always wanted to marry
Elton John," he announced to the crowd as he paid
tribute to the evening's honoree. The event, held at
Los Angeles's Beverly Hilton, raised money for the
SOS, which provides emergency funds for singers in need.
According to SOS president Jerry Sharell, the evening broke
an SOS fund-raising record previously set in 1990,
when Frank Sinatra was honored.
John was visibly
moved by many artists' renditions of some of his and
Bernie Taupin's compositions, including Smokey Robinson's
soul-drenched "Tiny Dancer"; k.d. lang's
stripped-down, sublime version of "Sorry Seems to Be
the Hardest Word"; and Michael McDonald's muscular
cover of "Take Me to the Pilot." In his acceptance
speech, John recalled a youth spent listening to such
singers as Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald (for whom the
awards are named), Sarah Vaughan, Dean Martin, and
Bing Crosby. But he admitted that he would have to turn down
Manilow's proposal: "I couldn't have married you, Barry.
There would have been too much fuss in front of the
mirror." (Reuters)