BARRY MANILOW - SMITHSONIAN BOSSES RETURN MANILOW JACKET

Officials at the Smithsonian Institute returned BARRY MANILOW's colourful COPACABANA jacket to the singer after he poked fun at the American museum complex. Manilow was thrilled to learn curators wanted to add his jacket to the Smithsonian, where America's most important historical and cultural items are exhibited. But he blew the honour when he joked it onstage - and superserious museum bosses heard about it. He explains, "They asked me for it and they sent it back. I kinda made a wisecrack about it; I gave an interview and I said, `I always knew the jacket would wind up in an institution,' and they said, `You can't make fun of the Smithsonian,' and they sent the thing back. "There's no sense of humour at the Smithsonian. "So we framed it and we have it in the Copacabana Bar at the Hilton (hotel in Las Vegas)."