LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An iconic artist returned to perform in Louisville and celebrated a southern Indiana teacher.

Music legend Barry Manilow performed at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville on Monday. Before the concert, Manilow met with Doug Elmore, a Floyd Central High School teacher.

Elmore was the winner of the Barry Manilow Music Project contest that brought in around 100 nominations. He received $5,000 "Manilow bucks" to buy music instruments for his school's program, along with $5,000 cash.

"I thought how crazy is this, I'm going to meet Barry Manilow and talk to him about music, I never saw it coming, but I'm so grateful for it," Elmore said.

Manilow met with Elmore and his family backstage before the concert.

"Congratulations, it's great to meet you, everybody loves you," Manilow said to Elmore.

Doug Elmore won the Barry Manilow Music Project award.

Elmore, who teaches around 450 students daily, was presented a $10,000 check. Elmore, who has taught for nearly 40 years, will use the funding to support the school.

"We have a prioritized list of instruments that we have been trying to get that were going to be a struggle for us. We're going to try to use this to get us over the top," Elmore said. "One of the things we are going to look at is we are trying to get a harp for our orchestra room because as it is now, she has to drag hers back and forth to school. It's very hard on your instrument, you're not supposed to do that."

Elmore has been a fan of Manilow since he was in high school. He also received VIP tickets to the concert.

To date, the Manilow Music Project has given away more than $10 million in money and donations for music instruments.

Manilow was also presented a personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bat before the performance. 

Having sold more than 85 million albums worldwide, Manilow is one of the all-time best selling recording artists with 50 Top 40 singles, including 12 number one hits and 27 Top 10 hits. He is ranked as the number one Adult Contemporary artist of all time, according to Billboard and R&R magazines.

Manilow is best known for hits including "Copacabana," "I Write the Songs," "Could It Be Magic," "Mandy," and "Looks Like We Made It." The 80-year-old music icon is also a Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award winner.

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