late December, 2005
- Give Amato Liberty or give him Elvis
By Sammy Batten
(Fayetteville Online, December 31 2005)
N.C. State coach Chuck Amato has enjoyed many wonderful experiences at postseason bowl games, but none have been as eventful as the 1967 Liberty Bowl. Amato was a senior linebacker that season when the Wolfpack played Georgia in the Liberty Bowl, held in Memphis. One of the pregame events scheduled for the participating teams was a visit to Graceland, home of Elvis Presley. "We were walking through the place and everybody was asking, 'Does Elvis still live here?'" Amato said. "The guide told us, 'He's upstairs sleeping.' We walked by one area where there was a door was just open about like that. I guess he had come down and was in a back room. There was a crack in the door, so nosey me kind of pushed the door open. And there he was. "I said, 'Big E, I'm the Big C.'" Maybe Amato received some luck from "The King" because the Wolfpack wound up defeating Georgia 14-7. ...
- Canberra's Elvis wins a gig in Las Vegas
By Helen Musa
(Canberra Times, December 28 2005, p. 3)
One of Canberra's most popular working musicians has made the big time in Las Vegas. After a recent promotional tour to Las Vegas and Memphis in the US, Vince Gelonese, now known as Vinn Jorden, has been offered a contract to star as Elvis Presley in the 3000-seat Monte Carlo Hotel showroom in Las Vegas from early in the new year. His impersonation, described by director of the National Multicultural Festival Domenic Mico as "absolutely brilliant", stopped the traffic at the Tuggeranong Community Festival several years ago during the debut performance of the show. ...
- Elvis' birthday is cause for celebration
By Michael Lollar
(commercialappeal.com, December 30 2005)
Elvis Presley would have been 71 this Jan. 8. This year's birthday celebration includes an "Elvis Presley Birthday Pops" concert at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and featuring Elvis tribute artist Terry Mike Jeffrey and The Imperials. ...
Other birthday events
Jan. 5-7
6-9 p.m. Happy hour at Heartbreak Hotel with Elvis music performed live by Chris MacDonald. No cover charge.
Jan. 7-8
Free walkup tours to the Elvis grave site in Graceland's Meditation Garden are 7:30-8:30 a.m. daily and 6-8 p.m. on Jan. 7 and 7-9 p.m. on Jan. 8. The grave site is part of regular ticketed mansion tours during the rest of each day.
Jan. 8
Traditional birthday ceremony, 9 a.m., front lawn of Graceland with cutting of a birthday cake and an Elvis Presley Day proclamation by city and county officials. Complimentary cake and coffee served afterward at Chrome Grille in Graceland Plaza.
11 a.m.-1 p.m., singer Terry Mike Jeffrey performs Elvis songs in the ticket pavilion in Graceland Plaza. Admission free.
5-7 p.m. special evening tour of Graceland and the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum, including optional "bears on tour" scavenger hunt. For reservations or information call 332-3322 or 800-238-2000, or go to glsales@elvis.com.
8 p.m.-midnight, Elvis Birthday "Beach Bash" Dance Party, Graceland ticket pavilion. Dance to Elvis music with a deejay taking requests. Includes chances to win door prizes. The party is usually a sellout. To order in advance, call 332-3322 or 800-238-2000, or go to glsales@elvis.com. Tickets $20 for adults, $10 for children (7-12). Children 6 and under free.
- Show follows Elvis' musical life
By Elaine Gaston
(Myrtle Beach Online, December 30 2005)
"Rise to Fame - The Faces of Elvis" at THE PALACE THEATRE
One had the loose knees down pat. Another could gyrate like there was no tomorrow. And a third Elvis impersonator had women lining up for a scarf/kiss exchange. All did justice to the King of Rock 'n' Roll's music with sexy vocal imitations. Elvis Presley impersonators Shawn Klush (formerly of Legends in Concert), Rick Alviti (formerly of The Celebrity Theatre, now Tribute Theatre), Justin Shandor and Greg Miller star in "Rise to Fame - The Faces of Elvis," a two-hour tribute show at The Palace Theatre. Shows continue through Sunday. Alviti performs for the last time today and then Miller takes his spot.
The show features music spanning Elvis' early years through to the 1970s. The impersonators are backed by a six-piece band and are accompanied on several numbers by two female dancers. Vocal performances are supplemented by a pair of video monitors playing footage of some of Elvis' live concerts, TV clips of his movies and family photos. ...
- Elvis to the Max
By Lily Bragge
(Sydney Morning Herald, December 30 2005)
After 30 years impersonating Elvis, Max Pellicano has been "The King" longer than The King himself. From an estimated 85,000 Elvis Presley impersonators all over the world, only about 6000 are considered professionals at their game. Long at the top of the heap and showing no signs of flagging is the outrageously, impossibly youthful actor and singer Max Pellicano. In an enduring occupation that has spanned more than three decades, Pellicano has bizarrely exceeded being "The King" far longer than The King himself reigned in his own lifetime. Uncannily spooky in his rendering of Elvis - Pellicano eschews the deep-fried, peanut butter porker phase of the musical giant's career but still manages to celebrate the excesses of that era by donning multiple rhinestone capes and jumpsuits throughout the show. With an official 10,000-plus strong fan club in Australia, Pellicano is celebrating his 10th anniversary of touring here. ...
- 'Young Elvis' coming to James B. White
By Lily Bragge
(Tampa Bay Newspapers, December 29 2005)
The Elvis Birthday Anniversary Tribute Show, "Young Elvis," will be presented on Saturday, Jan. 7, 7:30 p.m., at the James B. White Performing Arts Theater. The show will feature Brent Howell and the Catillacs. In this trip down the back roads of 1950s America, Howell will re-create the look, sound and gyrating energy that startled a generation. Hailed as one of the best young Elvis performers in the country today, Howell is a natural in every way. His age, look, mannerisms and even the way he speaks is so reminiscent of Presley that audiences are stunned from the moment he walks on stage. ...
- On the block - Elvis Presley's 1960 Lincoln Mark V Limo
By John Neff
(Tampa Bay Newspapers, December 29 2005)
Even if youıre not a huge Elvis fan (like me), you have to appreciate the value of this car. Elvis had it special ordered in 1959 while he was stationed in Germany. Itıs one of the first 1960 Lincolns, serial #32, and comes loaded with every option. It was customized especially for the King by Hess and Eisenhardt who also built the X-100 limo in which Kennedy was assassinated. Regardless of its owner, the car is still a steal considering that it has only 33,000 miles and every document chronicling its life is present and accounted for, including its certificate of origin from Ford to Schilling Motors in Memphis, the bill of sale from Schilling Motors to Elvis and the application of title in Elvisı name. Memorabilia hunters will no doubt be salivating at the thought of Presleyıs chicken scrawl on a legal document.
Elvis only owned the car for five years, while for the last 40 years itıs been the proud possession of Alan Fortes, a close friend of the King of Rock N Roll who has been protecting the celebrity whip all this time. The car will be auctioned off by Barrett Jackson at the organizer's Scottdale, Arizona event from January 14-22.
- Fiend ran to Elvis: The hunted sex suspect made stop at Graceland
By HUGH SON and RICH SCHAPIRO
(New York Daily News, December 28 2005)
Fleeing cops and quickly running out of cash, accused Halloween sex attack suspect Peter Braunstein went sightseeing - strolling into Graceland just days before his dramatic suicide attempt in Memphis. "I went and visited Elvis' mansion," the pop culture-obsessed writer told a hospital official as he was being processed inside Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric ward. "It's what you do when you're in Tennessee," Braunstein added casually.
The hospital official told the Daily News he was interviewing another patient when Braunstein interrupted him to describe his bizarre outing in Memphis. The 41-year-old suspect was eager to talk about his "little tourist trip to Graceland," the official revealed, asking not to be named. "He's a talkative kind of guy. He seemed to be alert, oriented and healthy." The tour of Elvis Presley's famous home, where The King died in 1977, costs $22.
Visitors stroll through Elvis' living room, dining room and parents' bedroom. The hour-long tour ends with a quiet moment in the Meditation Garden, the site of the rock 'n' roll legend's grave. Graceland is just a 15-minute car ride from the University of Memphis campus where Braunstein repeatedly stabbed himself in the neck on Dec. 16 after being confronted by a campus cop. A top official with the Memphis Police Department said he wasn't surprised by Braunstein's comments. "He could have been an Elvis fan, and most Elvis fans do go to Graceland when they get a chance to," said Inspector Michael Smith. "He could have easily disguised himself when he went there." Graceland officials said they could not confirm that the disgraced Village Voice and Women's Wear Daily scribe had been among the more than 600,000 visitors to Elvis' hallowed home this year. "No one on our staff was aware of it if he did so," said Graceland spokesman Todd Morgan. ...
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