TV: Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On HBO Preview

HBO rings in the New Year from Las Vegas when Bette Midler: THE SHOWGIRL MUST GO ON features the entertainment icon in a musical extravaganza chock-full of the colorful entertainment that is the hallmark of the "people's diva." The 70-minute special, Midler's first on the network since 1997, debuts FRIDAY, DEC. 31 (9:00-10:10 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

Taped before a packed house at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Midler's fifth HBO special spotlights the Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy winner's high-energy blend of spectacular music and bawdy humor. Featuring some of Midler's colorful characters and her entourage of talented performers, including the staggering Harlettes, her dazzling dancers, The Caesar Salad Girls, and a 13-piece band, which includes a six-person horn section from the Las Vegas band The Fat City Horns, the all-new presentation showcases many of The Divine Miss M's greatest hits, including "The Rose," "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "From a Distance," "Hello in There" and "Wind Beneath My Wings."

While performing before sold-out crowds at Caesars Palace for nearly two years, Midler decided to tape the most imaginative show of her career to share the experience with fans around the world.
Bette Midler made her HBO debut with the 1977 presentation "The Bette Midler Show," the network's first music special, followed by "Art or Bust" (1984), "Bette Midler's Mondo Beyondo" (1988) and "Diva Las Vegas" (1997), for which she won an Emmy®. She received Oscar nominations for "The Rose" and "For the Boys," both of which brought her Golden Globe awards. Overall Midler has received four Golden Globes, three Emmys®, three Grammys and a special Tony Award.

Bette Midler made her Broadway debut playing Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof. Thereafter, she began singing in clubs around town including at the famed Continental Baths where she developed the trademark act that would make her one of the most renowned talents of a generation--bawdy humor, revealing costumes and a distinctive voice made for an act that was poignant, tacky and altogether fabulous. Her performances of songs like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Delta Dawn, and Superstar were unforgettable and caused audiences to fall in love with the self-anointed "Divine Miss M." Bette's first album, The Divine Miss M, hit #9 on Billboard's Top 200 Chart and went platinum. In 1973, she won her first Grammy for Best New Artist. After successfully touring the world, she returned to Broadway in the Tony winning, Clams On The Halfshell.

Midler's first starring role in the feature film, The Rose, garnered two Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy for the film's title song and a best actress Oscar nomination. Additional films include Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune, Big Business and her most popular movie, Beaches. Forty years, four Grammys, four Golden Globes, three Emmys, a Tony Award and tons of record-breaking performances since she hit the scene, the "Divine Miss M" is still going strong, opening a brand new show in Las Vegas at Caesar's Palace in 2008.