POP MUSIC REVIEW : Could It Still Be Magic? Yes, If You’re Barry Manilow : The show at the Universal Amphitheatre is his most entertaining and smartly designed in years.

A last-of-their-breed, all-around entertainer is headlining at the Universal Amphitheatre. The music is strong, but the real attraction is the star’s engaging personality--the self-deprecating remarks, the catty asides.

What?

Was Bette Midler’s run extended?

No, but on her heels is someone whose show was equally effective--her former music director, Barry Manilow.

Opening a six-night engagement Monday, Manilow seemed to be aware that the force of his personality transcends the music; that without his amiable, wise-cracking persona, he wouldn’t still be a major concert attraction a decade after his last big hit.

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So he hammed it up throughout the two-hour-plus performance. After screening an old clip of him singing “Copacabana” in a gaudy, ruffled shirt, Manilow cracked, “I looked like Desi Arnaz on acid.”

Manilow’s current show is his most entertaining and smartly designed in years. Though the Brooklyn native has toured virtually every year since 1975, Monday’s show never seemed to be on autopilot. Manilow has even revamped several of the arrangements.

He performed a hard-driving disco version of “Could It Be Magic” and pumped “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again” up to a thunderous climax that would make Meat Loaf stand up and take notice.

The weakest section of the show featured three songs from a planned Manilow album of ‘40s big-band material--a flaccid version of “Sentimental Journey” and a couple of tepid toe-tappers in which the entertainer seemed to be channeling Lawrence Welk.

Manilow should remember that the secret to his recording success in the ‘70s and early ‘80s was that he combined old-fashioned romanticism with the rhythm and dynamics of contemporary pop-rock. But on these three songs, Manilow just seemed old-fashioned.

As he has in the past, Manilow sprinkled his show with the take-a-chance, believe-in-yourself philosophy that is his version of Norman Vincent Peale’s Power of Positive Thinking. Introducing his inspirational anthem to self-reliance, “I Made It Through the Rain,” Manilow observed that his second favorite type of songs are “songs of hope.” It went without saying that his favorites are--paradoxically--songs of hopeless romantic devotion.

Even for a show that is billed as a “greatest hits” recap, Monday’s performance was too focused on the past. Twenty of the 29 songs were from the ‘70s, while only one was written and recorded in the last 10 years.

That song, “Brooklyn Blues”--which was part of Manilow’s 1987 “Swing Street” album--has a fluid, rangy melody and a smoky, jazz-club ambience. Instead of trying to bring back ballroom dancing, Manilow should aim to come up with a few more songs like this.

There are risks in relying too much on past glories--as Manilow was inadvertently reminded Monday when he brought a woman up from the audience to sing along on an old hit.

“Do you know the words?” he asked.

“I did ,” she replied.

Most performers would have let the fan’s remark go and hope that the audience didn’t catch it. But Manilow actually repeated it, just in case anybody missed it. His attitude: A funny line is a funny line--even if it is at his expense. As long as he retains that self-effacing charm and sense of humor, Manilow will be OK.