HE'S regularly taken his tour to Dorset but this time the final curtain will go down as Barry Manilow says farewell to touring with his last ever tour, taking in the BIC this month. Joanna Davis looks back at an extraordinary career and previews what the Dorset audience can expect.

LIGHTERS at the ready for a show-stopping finale as Barry Manilow plays the Bournemouth International Centre as part of his final world tour.

It's going to be hard for Manilow's legion of fans, 'the Fanilows', to keep the tears at bay as the American singer closes with one of his power ballads; Mandy or Looks Like We Made It, the likes of which have never been emulated.

Manilow's career encompasses virtually every area of music, including performing, composing, arranging and producing.

A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Manilow is ranked as the top adult contemporary chart artist of all time with more than 50 Top 40 hits. His worldwide record sales exceed 80 million. In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the best-seller charts simultaneously, a feat equalled only by Herb Alpert, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, and Johnny Mathis. He has recorded and released 25 Top 40 Billboard hit singles

The legendary showman, 72, who has been entertaining since 1974, brings the One Last Time Tour to the BIC on Tuesday June 21.

Last year Barry Manilow announced that he is going to “hit the road” and perform concerts across the world one last time.

The entertainer launched his multi-city One Last Time Tour last autumn in North America and is now heading to the UK.

Due to phenomenal public demand, extra dates were added including the BIC.

Platinum-selling and nine time Grammy nominated saxophonist Dave Koz has also been announced as special guest for the UK.

With his band of 13 musicians and singers, Manilow said, “We had a great time putting the show together. We hope to take everyone on an emotional roller coaster. I can’t wait to see everyone dancing in the aisles.”

After performing more than 400 concerts at the Las Vegas Hilton and Paris Las Vegas from 2005 through 2011, Manilow has limited his concert appearances.

The New York-born singer, who rose to fame in the 1970s, has a global fanbase. He is best-known for hits Mandy and Copacabana (At the Copa).

He has suffered a series of health scares over his career - having to undergo regular dental treatment after a benign tumour ruptured in his mouth in 1986.

The One Last Time Tour is a major undertaking and as Manilow said, 'is my way of thanking everyone for their years of support…one last time!'

But there's not really much he'll miss about touring, he says.

"No, I won't miss much at all. The only thing that's wonderful is the gig and the audience.

"If I could just do that every night, I'd be a happy guy. I heard this joke, 'Like the prostitute said, 'It's not the work, it's the stairs.'

"It's getting there that's the hard part for me. When that curtain opens and 10,000 people are screaming, you gotta be dead not to get so excited and grateful that they're still there. And 45 years of room service, it's enough."

And the room service really doesn't float his boat, Manilow says.

"In all these hotels, they're all the same. I don't like eating. I know that's crazy to say. I just don't really pay much attention to food. When I start to tremble, I think, 'Ooh, boy, I better eat something.' Usually it's a hamburger."

He loves taking technology on the road with him.

"These days, of course, I take my iPad, my computer. My Bose speaker has gotta come along with me."

Manilow's latest album, the Grammy-nominated My Dream Duets, features duets with the likes of Whitney Houston, John Denver and Louis Armstrong.

There isn't really anyone left who he dreams of duetting with, he says.

"When I sang with Barbra (Streisand), that probably was the last of my list. When I was younger, she was it for me.

"Getting to know her as a friend and singing with her as a collaborator was the top of the pyramid for me."

And Bette Midler was someone who Manilow performed with at an early age.

"She's got her own life," he says. "I've got mine. But I did produce two albums for her: the Rosemary Clooney tribute (2003) and the Peggy Lee tribute (2005).

"We hadn't been very much in touch before that. It was fun and energetic and exciting and crazy. Just the way it was when I used to work with her.

"Bette is the genius of our generation. She is so smart and so talented. And she's funny. There's nobody like her. She can do anything."

The singer suffered a health scare earlier this year when he was rushed to rushed to hospital because of complications from emergency oral surgery.

The singer was taken to a Los Angeles hospital and was back on stage a mere three days later.

One Last Time, One Last Tour is his final live tour, taking in the UK and North America.

The American leg of the tour has received good reviews - proving a homage to the Fanilows who have supported him over his four decade long career.

He has used video monitors to sing two duets – one with Judy Garland and another with himself, juxtaposing 1975 Manilow with 2016 Manilow.

In between tracks he has been plugging his Manilow Music Project, which gives used music instruments to children in need.

It is scheduled to end on June 23 at the O2 Arena in London.

It may be the final tour but chances are we haven't seen the last of Manilow yet.

*Barry Manilow is at the BIC on Tuesday June 21. Contact the box office for tickets.