Mid October 2004
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No pride for this bride
By Jaime Kazlo
(Indian Express News Service, October 17, 2004)
Mumbai: Bride and Prejudice had a weak week in India. You know how the critics reacted to the film. Here's what the foreign press said. This was supposed to be Aishwarya Rai's big launch into Hollywood. Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice is yet to be released in the US, but in the week that it opened in India and the UK, the foreign media did not take too kindly either to Bollywood's reigning queen or to Chadha's modern-day Indian adaptation of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice. Excerpts from reviews:
... "Bride & Prejudice is like an Elvis Presley musical from the '60s, filled with shiny bright colors, bouncy music and happy, smiling, pretty people. Like those old pop vehicles, this upbeat blend of Bollywood and Jane Austen is an acquired taste ... While the plot is inane and the acting bland, the film's relentless effervescence may endear it to mainstream audiences."
- Ray Bennett, www.hollywoodreporter.com
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Fans are stuck on The King
By Jaime Kazlo
(Capital News 9, October 16, 2004)
Fifty-one Elvis Tribute singers and a whole lotta fans came to the Queen of American Lakes, to honor the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. ... And the people do love it. Elvis is loved by young and old, and his legacy spans the globe. That's why organizers brought this festival to the North Country, as a way to entertain and bolster the Lake George economy during this fall season ....
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Tix to Bway's All Shook Up On Sale by Phone Oct. 17
By Kenneth Jones
(Playbill News, October 16, 2004)
"All Shook Up", the upcoming new Broadway musical comedy driven by songs made famous by Elvis Presley, goes on sale by phone to the general public Oct. 17. Performances begin Feb. 20, 2005, at the Palace Theatre toward and opening of March 24. The opening of the Palace box office, for walkup sales, has not been announced. Directed by Christopher Ashley, "All Shook Up" will receive its world premiere in Chicago in a five-week, pre- Broadway engagement at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre, Dec. 21, 2004-Jan. 23, 2005. Ken Roberson is the musical's choreographer. ...
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Wiggle on by to see Elvis, Little Miss Minnowt
By JORGE SANCHEZ
(St Petersburg Times, October 15, 2004)
Inverness is full of smaller festivals this weekend, with a live band, an Elvis look-alike contest and a sock hop Saturday evening at a restaurant courtyard, while the annual Catfish Festival on the Courthouse Square kicks things off Saturday morning. The two small block-party type events fall under the catch-all Cooter Festival that lasts all month and is sponsored by Inverness Parks and Recreation and Heritage Week, which begins Saturday. A Sock Hop and an Elvis Presley look-alike contest will begin at 7 p.m. in the courtyard of Chateau Chan Sezz, a French restaurant at 207 N Apopka Ave., Inverness. The classic rock band Twist of Fate will perform for the Hop. The Elvis Presley look-alike contest will be judged by Kenny Watson, a Citrus County emergency worker who is also an Elvis impersonator. Contestants for the Elvis contest do not have to sing; it's sufficient just to resemble the King. Also, males and females can enter the look-alike contest. Prizes will be awarded in two age brackets, 15 and younger and 16 and older.
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Excerpt from 'A Paper Life'
(book review)
By Tatum O'Neal
(Yahoo! News / WLWT News 5, October 15, 2004)
The story of paper moon reflects my childhood, but it also closely parallels my mother's and strangely foreshadows my daughter's. Three generations of women: we all lost our mothers early in life - the first literally, to death; the second virtually, to addiction; and the third, my daughter, temporarily, when I succumbed to familiar demons. It is a cycle that I'm determined to break. My mother was born, like Addie, in the heart of the Great Depression, not in Kansas but in Americus, Georgia. ... Winning a beauty contest brought my mother to Hollywood in the mid-1950s, where she was discovered at a cocktail party and signed to Universal. ... In "A Touch of Evil" my mother had to darken her hair to avoid out-blonding Janet Leigh. After hours, she had to dodge Charlton Heston, who once lured her to his room, seemingly to seduce her. Later Elvis Presley hit on her with even less finesse. While making Follow That Dream in 1962, he actually tried to break down her door. But my mother had no use for the idol of millions of teenagers, telling an interviewer, "He's a bore." ...
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Teenager Accused In Hotel Arson Was Fire Cadet
By Brian Hamrick
(Yahoo! News / WLWT News 5, October 15, 2004)
Three teenage boys accused of setting a fire at an abandoned hotel appeared in court Friday. The fire at the old Royal Crown Hotel caused about $350,000 in damage. Several witnesses described three juveniles who were seen running from the scene just before the fire broke out about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. ... The hotel at 7965 Reading Road was once part of the Carousel Inn complex and used to be one of this area's most prominent hotels. The Beatles and Elvis Presley stayed there, and it was a popular place for wedding receptions and banquets.
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Lake George turns into home of The King
By Elliot Grossman
(Capital News 9, October 15, 2004)
It will be all things Elvis this weekend in the Village of Lake George. The Adirondack community is hosting its first Lake George Elvis Festival -- a weekend-long celebration of Elvis Presley and his contributions to American music. ...
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Polka king's scamming ways get him jail time: Musikfest, Allentown Fair favorite Lewan gets almost six years behind bars for $5 million, 21-state swindle
By Elliot Grossman
(Morning Call, October 15, 2004)
For polka lovers, Jan Lewan was like Elvis Presley. People adored him. Lewan, a singer and bandleader, had a magical quality. Fans followed him on sightseeing trips to Europe and gave him their retirement money to invest in his music businesses. But Lewan broke their trust. He scammed people in 21 states out of their savings, netting nearly $5 million. ...
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Elvis statue unveiled at Louisiana Hayride site
By The Associated Press
(The Advocate, October 15, 2004)
A bigger-than-life bronze statue of Elvis Presley was unveiled Friday in front of Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium where the king of rock `n' roll performed before the Louisiana Hayride for the first time 50 years ago. The $60,000 statue stands 7-1/2 feet tall and weighs nearly 1,000 pounds. The Downtown Development Authority funded $40,000 of the sculpture's total cost while the Elvis Angels, a fan group, raised $20,000 in private donations.
`Never underestimate the power of Elvis fans," said Dianne Patrick, president of the Shreveport chapter of Elvis Angels. Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of Presley's Hayride debut on the Municipal Auditorium stage on Oct. 16, 1954. The statue was created by Houston artist Erick Kaposta. Kaposta, a Shreveport native, said having a piece of his artwork in his home city "is a wonderful feeling." ... The Louisiana Hayride, which featured a regular cast of musicians similar to the format of the Grand Ole Opry, had a weekly three-hour program that was broadcast on KWKH radio from 1948 to 1960.
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All shook up over 1950s Heritage Week
By JORGE SANCHEZ
(Edinburgh Evening Evening News, October 15, 2004)
Get ready for a hunka hunka Heritage Week. Starting today and ending Oct. 23, the week will include everything from a 1950s-style prom night to a river cruise - all with a nod to Elvis Presley.
Why Elvis?
Because the King visited Citrus County in 1961 to film "Follow That Dream" . Elvis starred as Toby Kwimper, a man whose car runs out of gas here, prompting him to homestead along with his family. ... To enhance the Elvis theme, the Historical Society is giving away a vacation to either Hawaii or Las Vegas. Tickets to win the prize are $30 each and available at all Citrus County Chambers of Commerce offices and the Historical Society in the Old Courthouse Heritage Museum, which is in the Historic Courthouse in downtown Inverness.
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Despite clear skies, Seahawks are storming
(4th item)
By Adam Schefter
(NFL.com, October 14, 2004)
HOWARD'S END
Even if Sirius Satellite Radio was not an NFL partner, this next item would not be written any differently. Next to TiVo, Sirius is one of the great technological contraptions of our time. Over 120 channels of music, news, sports, weather, traffic. Commercial free. Just sit back and listen. Only problem was that Derouin insisted that, on the drive back to the airport, we listen to channel 13 -- all Elvis Radio. Nothing but Elvis Presley, 24/7. Have you ever heard of such a thing? There's not even an all-Beatles station on Sirius, but Elvis has his own channel. After hearing it, I'm all shook up.
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Tribute act succeeds in keeping the wonder of Elvis alive
By MARTIN LENON
(Edinburgh Evening Evening News, October 14, 2004)
ELVIS PRESLEY would be stunned by the sheer number of impersonators he has inspired. Last night it was the turn of The Elvis Collection to perform at (where else?) the King's Theatre to a crowd who, while not actually screaming, were at least vigorously applauding. Billy J McGregor, as Elvis, claimed not to be impersonating the star, but thatıs hard to believe considering his costumes, hair, moves and - more importantly - voice were all clearly modelled on the King. There are much better copycats out there so perhaps McGregor was wise to shift the focus on to the songs. All the favourites featured: Heartbreak Hotel, The Wonder Of You, Suspicious Minds, and more, together with a few unexpected gems.
At one point, McGregor left the stage to a second singer, JJ Smith, who effortlessly captured Presleyıs early, raunchier years, not to mention his pelvic gyrations. He also sang a rarely remembered ballad from the film Jailhouse Rock, Young And Beautiful, which was definitely one of the showıs highlights. As a show, The Elvis Collection is fragmented. It makes no attempt at chronology and instead simply celebrates the music. And more than two hours of powering through ballads, love songs, and plain old rock nı roll was impressive. Long live the Kings.
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Dr Pepper adds new flavor
(KGBTV 4 / Associated Press, October 14, 2004)
Dr Pepper is adding a new cherry vanilla flavor. The company will produce regular and diet versions of Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper for Texas and nearby states, then take the diet version nationwide in January. Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages plans to enlist carhops and Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe imitators to unveil the new flavor. ...
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Bob Dylan
(ktvu.com, found October 14, 2004)
Arguably the most influential rock musician this side of Elvis, poetic songwriter Bob Dylan has been helping shape the sound of music ever since he released his first fiery folk recording in 1962. ...
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Saint Diana: Americans growing increasingly obsessed with the late princess
By Karen Haymon, MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
(Winston-Salem Journal, October 14, 2004)
Princess Diana once described herself as the Marilyn Monroe of the 1980s. After she died seven years ago at just 36, she ascended to the lofty heights of a pantheon of saintly stars. Like Marilyn, Elvis, JFK, Princess Grace and James Dean, Diana died beautiful and before her time. Rather than fade away, the adulation - even a sort of celebrity deification - bestowed on her in life has grown more mystical and powerful in death. Even though she wasn't one of us, Americans can't seem to let go. Books about her become best sellers. Americans, yearning for more, make pilgrimages to her grave on a wooded island on her family's English estate. ...
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SmartServ Announces 'Vote By Phone' Mobile Presidential Election; Vote at Uphonia.com by Downloading Free Presidential Screensavers and Mobile Bumper Stickers
(Yahoo! Finance / PRNewswire -FirstCall/, October 13, 2004)
SmartServ Online, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board) is holding its own presidential poll now at the Uphonia.com mobile content superstore. Vote by phone by downloading a free presidential screensaver or mobile bumper sticker image right to the screen of your cell phone.
... Uphonia.com is an online mobile entertainment superstore where wireless subscribers can customize their phones with ringtones, images and mobile games that are downloaded through SMS messages, over-the-air, right to their cell phone. Uphonia.com features popular ringtones from American Idol, The Matrix, Eminem, Britney Spears, 50 Cent, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and Frank Sinatra; a wide variety of images from country flags, to animals, race cars, graffiti, and cartoons; and games such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, NHL Power Shot Hockey, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Charlie's Angels, Q*Bert, and Rayman.
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Huge Fire At Abandoned Hotel Ruled Arson
(Yahoo! News, October 13, 2004)
Witnesses saw three teenagers walking away from the building just before the fire broke out about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The Royal Crown at 7965 Reading Road was once part of the Carousel Inn complex and used to be one of this area's most prominent hotels. The Beatles and Elvis Presley stayed there.
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Sing-along-a-King
(whtimes.co.uk, October 13, 2004)
ELVIS might have left the building back in '77, but that doesn't have to get in the way of a Friday night of entertainment. Sing-a-long-a-Elvis celebrates the career of Elvis Presley with dance competitions, singing and general King-inspired merriment.
Audience fancy dress is "recommended but not obligatory" and the audience will also receive a complimentary goody bag. Sing-a-long-a Elvis is at Stevenage Arts & Leisure Centre Concert Hall on Friday.
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Armory plants seeds of ideas: Among the proposals mentioned in a tour of the Fort Homer Hesterly building are a skating rink and a film studio
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
(sptimes.com, October 13, 2004)
The history of the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory on Howard Avenue - host of countless dances, high school graduations, wrestling matches and even a performance by Elvis Presley - is well-known. But the armory's future is less certain ...
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Fans to be all shook up as Elvis returns to the building
By ADRIAN MATHER
(Edinburgh Evening News, October 12, 2004)
The Elvis Collection, King's Theatre, Leven Street, tomorrow, 7.30pm, £14, 0131-529 6000. It may be more than 25 years since Elvis last left the building, but fans of the King are still flocking to shows in his honour. A veritable minefield of impersonators, tribute artists and performers who have dedicated their stage acts to Elvis Presley are currently gracing stages across the globe to millions of fans every year. And next week, one of the UK's finest Elvis tribute acts is set to appear in Edinburgh at - appropriately enough - the King's Theatre to offer an evening filled with the great man's hits.
The Elvis Collection, comprising a 12-piece band complete with three lead vocalists, will arrive at the King's tomorrow for the only Edinburgh date of their current European tour. Fronted by singer Billy J McGregor, the show claims to offer "a tribute to the finest entertainer that ever lived". He explains: "We aren't a cheap gimmick act, but rather we provide a tribute to the man and his music, and we've always been well received up in Scotland." An Elvis fan since his childhood in the 1970s, McGregor formed the Elvis Collection in 1998 alongside his old school friend Alan Wearmouth, now the show's musical director. Playing a selection of Elvis's hits at every performance, including Jailhouse Rock, Suspicious Minds and Devil in Disguise, he claims the show is one of the most comprehensive and professional Elvis experiences in the Europe.
McGregor adds: "We have a 12-strong group of musicians and there is a section of the band which includes three of the best female black gospel singers in the UK, who provide the music for our segment of Elvis's Grammy-winning gospel music.
"We've got three different vocalists, including myself, who perform the songs in the show, so there's a good variety of Elvis material spanning his entire career.
"Elvis was such a charismatic guy that too many Presley tribute shows rely on jokey impersonations that completely miss the point. We don't do that - we just focus on the music."
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Police aid Elvis, chase 'Blues Brothers' look-a-like
(CNN / Associated Press, October 12, 2004)
Police responding to a call of a convulsing Elvis Presley impersonator soon found themselves in a high-speed chase of another faux celebrity -- a man dressed as one of the Blues Brothers. Crystal Police Capt. Dave Oyaas said the bizarre string of events began when officers were called to a veterans hall Monday morning to find a man dressed as Elvis Presley apparently in convulsions. When the officers approached, Oyaas said the man suddenly jumped up and yelled, "Viva Las Vegas!" before singing show tunes.
At about the same time, two women said another man at the veterans hall dressed as John Belushi's character in "The Blues Brothers" had stolen their car and driven to a nearby airport. The man led police on a high-speed chase around the airport before officers forced him to stop and arrested him. ...
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Blogs abuzz with gossip in caustic US election campaign
(New Zealand Herald, October 11, 2004)
The US presidential campaign between George W. Bush and John Kerry has prompted a frenzy of gossip and conspiracy theories among internet bloggers, hybrid online sites that blend news, gossip and opinion. As Bush and the Massachusetts Senator slug it out in a neck-and-neck race ahead of the November 2 election, partisan bloggers have flooded the internet with alternative views about both candidates, which they hope will help sway voters. Experts say much of the gossip on the internet is as loony as supermarket tabloid stories claiming Elvis Presley lives, but that it still has a role to play in the campaign. ...
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Rappers find 'gangsta' sells
By GLENN GAMBOA
(newsday.com, October 11, 2004)
The statistics are clear. During the past decade, across America, the murder rate is down. The violent crime rate is down. Overall crime? Also down. Lawlessness is pretty much down everywhere except one place -- the hip-hop charts. ... What is selling these days, as the multiplatinum success of 50 Cent shows, is gangsta rap, hard-hitting songs laced with often brutal images. Always looking to cash in on a trend, record companies couldn't get enough of the stuff.
However, it is harder and harder to find talented rappers who have struggled through crime-filled lives. To meet the demand, more and more aspiring rappers are tailoring their songs to fit the gangsta mold, whether they lived that life or not. "A man who is starving will say anything and do anything to get on," explained MC Serch.
"It's a new twist in hip-hop's long-running relationship with violence. And it's given birth to the most potent of put-downs -- "the wanksta." No one knows the consequences of this trend better than Ja Rule, who only two years ago sat atop the music world.
He had a string of Top 5 hits, four platinum albums and booming businesses as a songwriter and producer on the side.
That year, he once held the top two singles in the country -- a feat that only eight artists, including Elvis Presley and the Beatles, can claim. The Hollis native's success came by forging a middle ground in hip-hop, which he summarized in a recent interview by singing one of his signature lines, "Every thug needs a lady." ...
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Rock of old ages
By Tim Grobaty
(Yahoo! News / Hollywood Reporter, October 11, 2004)
VETS AT THE VAULT: If you're an AARP rock ... say around 50 years old or so ... and have a hankering to return to the good old days of rock, we've got some shows for you over the next several weeks, all at the Vault 350 at 350 Pine Avenue. We thought we'd picked up an old L.A. Free Press when we saw a recent print ad for the new upscale downtown nightclub: Johnny Winter, Boz Scaggs, America, B.B. King and Leon Russell are all swinging through the Vault doors between Sunday and the middle of December. We've seen 'em all, though it was back in the days when we were skinny and had brown hair. The mellow rockers America are the most callow of the Vault 350 headliners, having debuted in the relatively recent year of 1972 (very relatively; you know how much stuff has been invented since '72?). Leon Russell was already a seasoned pro when his first LP, a self-titled classic that features "A Song for You" and "Delta Lady," was released in 1970. In '72, Russell was among the hall-of-fame headliners that played Long Beach Arena. Among the Arena's Class of '72 were the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Three Dog Night, Joe Cocker, Santana, the Moody Blues, Elvis Presley and the Grateful Dead.
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Vinton's formula for success: soft love
By LACHELLE SEYMOUR
(The Advocate, October 10, 2004)
While the Beatles and Rolling Stones sang to hordes of screaming teenage women, Bobby Vinton's crowd was a bit more silent. "I had the girl at home by herself wishing she was in love or in love and nobody knew about it," Vinton said. There emerged his niche: Soft love songs for secret swooners. Vinton, a 1960s-era teen idol who outsold all other male vocalists of his time -- including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra -- performs at The Midland at 8 p.m. on Oct. 17. ...
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Film review: Bride & Prejudice
(Yahoo! News / Hollywood Reporter, October 10, 2004)
"Bride & Prejudice" is like an Elvis Presley musical from the '60s, filled with shiny bright colors, bouncy music and happy, smiling, pretty people. Like those old pop vehicles, this upbeat blend of Bollywood and Jane Austen is an acquired taste. While the plot is inane and the acting bland, the film's relentless effervescence may endear it to mainstream audiences. ...
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