John Katsilometes connects the dots that led to the Hilton having one of the hottest shows in town

George: Neo-Rat Packer George Clooney is the scheduled guest tonight on "Larry King Live." He'll be discussing his Academy Award nominations and fending off questions about

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006 | 12:33 p.m.

It's a miracle, come true.

Maybe not, given Barry Manilow's multiplatinum track record. In any case the Las Vegas Hilton is hot (hot! we tell you) following news that Manilow's new album, "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties," is No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

Hilton spokesman Ira David Sternberg says ticket sales have picked up "across the board" and the hotel is benefiting from the unique mix of a star headliner, committed to a single showroom, riding the momentum of a No. 1 album.

"It's not as if he's touring all over the country. There's no where else to find him but here," Sternberg said. Manilow returned to the stage Wednesday night; his one-year Hilton anniversary is Feb. 23. "He's at one venue, and he's at that venue for an extended period of time."

Also announced Wednesday, Rhino Entertainment has teamed with Manilow and Stiletto New Media to market Manilow's performances on DVD. First up is "Manilow: Music and Passion," which will be released on March 28.

The DVD documents Manilow's 100th show at the Hilton and was filmed in high-definition for a special to be aired on PBS. Along with his long list of hits, Manilow performs "Unchained Melody," and "Venus" from his latest album. That PBS special airs at 8 p.m. March 9.

Tony the timer: The new Vegas-centric souvenir item we mentioned recently, which is produced by longtime Vegas entertainer Tony Sacca, is (drumroll, wildly criscrossing spotlights) a singing clock (cymbal crash!). Sacca has been working on this new Las Vegas trinket for the past six months, and on Wednesday sent over a rendering of the gift item bearing the title "Las Vegas Rocks."

The face (the clock's, not Tony's) resembles a roulette wheel. "Las Vegas Rocks," a Sacca original (which he wrote to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his TV show, "Entertainment Las Vegas Style") plays each hour or when someone claps his or her hands. The clock (which will retail for $39.95) will be released, amid many personal appearances by Sacca, on April 15 ...

Wigged out: A sphinx fixed with a big blue wig is a funny concept, but in practical application - not so funny. Or at least in poor taste.

Matthew Galat, a Las Vegan for six weeks and president of his own company, MCG Innovations Inc., was told as much by Luxor executives a couple of weeks ago. Thus, his plans to help promote the musical "Hairspray" by adorning the Luxor sphinx with long blue locks never made it past the planning stages.

No matter. Galat, an inventor since age 16 who recently moved to Vegas from Detroit, has kept pressing forward with his hairy ideas. The most promising are bookmark-clips with the "Hairspray" logo and long strands of blue hair that would hang from the casino ceiling.

There are many, many more intriguing ideas from this fertile mind and the guess here is Galat will have a bright (and maybe even blue) future in Vegas ...

'Q' out: Maybe the theater was just too large - "Avenue Q," after all, was essentially a puppet show that did not play well to the nether regions of its 1,200-seat theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Or maybe it was just too offbeat (featuring such happy sing-along numbers as "It Sucks to Be Me") for mass appeal. Whatever, the announcement that "Avenue Q" was leaving the Wynn on May 28 to make way for "Spamalot" was unhappy news. It is one of the most inventive shows I've seen here ...

Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. John Katsilometes can be reached at 259-2327 or 812-9812, or at kats@lasvegassun.com.