Produced by Manilow, "Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook" was released on September 30, 2003. It was the first time that the pair had worked together in more than twenty years. The album went gold, and they collaborated again in 2005 on "Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook". On December 3, 2003, A&E aired "A Barry Manilow Christmas: Live by Request", his second of two concerts for the series. The two-hour special had Manilow taking requests for Christmas songs performed live with a band and an orchestra. Manilow told the audience that he was what Clay Aiken was going to look like in thirty years, thus acknowledging an ongoing comparison between the two. Also on the special were guests Cyndi Lauper, José Feliciano, and Bette Midler (Midler, busy preparing her own tour in Los Angeles, appeared only in a pre-taped segment).