2003
- Take a trip down memory lane with Gates on Jan 17 - Gates: A perennial favourite of the 1970s pop era
(The Star Online, December 14, 2003)
KUALA LUMPUR: Long-time followers of singer, songwriter and arranger David Gates will be treated to a trip down memory lane when he performs at the Genting Arena of Stars in a solo concert on Jan 17. Gates, in a phone interview with the Malaysian press yesterday, said that fans could expect a showcase of new material as well as a nostalgic rundown of his past hits. ... A perennial favourite of the 1970s pop era, Gates has written and sung evergreen hits like If, Goodbye Girl and Everything I Own as well as arranging songs for countless successful artistes including Elvis Presley, Duane Eddy, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Captain Beefheart. ...
- [FPJ: Siya ba ang susunod na Erap Estrada? "Si FPJ sa Palasyo?"
(ABS / CBNNEWS, December 5, 2003)
Philippines (?) -- Naniniwala ang mga experto sa agham pampulitika sa kasabihang "vox populi, vox dei." Kapag isinalin sa wikang Filipino, ang ibig sabihin nito ay "ang boses ng taumbayan, siya ring tinig ng kalangitan." Noong Sabado, Oktubre 25, ito ang tinig na narinig ng Special Assignment sa pagtitipon ng mga loyalista ng aktors na si Fernando Poe Jr. sa Cuneta Astrodome sa Pasay. Pero sino nga ba si Poe, higit na kilala bilang "FPJ" at "Da King?" Sa paos niyang boses at patilya na tulad kay Elvis Presley, naghuhumiyaw na ang pangalan ni Poe. ...
- Coming in droves to visit their adored Elvis . . . 25 years after his death
By James Astill
(Guardian, November 29, 2003)
Kabul -- They come in small groups, old men and young couples, streaming into the cemetery, five kilometres outside Kabul. The pilgrims hush and head for a concrete mausoleum among the cluttered graves. Its design is unremarkable: six concrete arches reaching up to a four-metre marble-tiled dome. Yet, to Afghan music lovers, this is Memphis.
Five months ago a group of fans rebuilt the tomb of Ahmed Zahir - a pop sensation of the 1960s and '70s - which had been obliterated by the music-hating Taliban. Zahir's devotees now flock in their thousands to pay tribute to Afghanistan's only modern celebrity, a man popularly called the "Afghan Elvis". ... Although divided by ethnic rivalries and 23 years of war, Afghans agree on their love for Zahir. As a Pashtun who sang mainly in Afghanistan's other main language, Persian, and the son of a prime minister who championed the poor, he symbolises for many the golden age of the '70s, when Afghanistan was at its most prosperous and united. "Zahir was our greatest singer and people will always love him," said Said Makh-doom Raheen, Afghanistan's Minister of Culture. "Truly, he was the Elvis Presley of Afghanistan".
"The Taliban tried to stop us coming, but our love of Ahmed Zahir was too strong," said Saraijahan, a pilgrim from Parwan province in the north. "Zahir was our brightest star, we will never know another like him," said Oman, a teacher making his weekly pilgrimage to the tomb. "I love him too much, but my wife and my daughters love him more. All women love Ahmed Zahir."
Zahir emerged as a musical prodigy at Kabul's Habibir high school, hence another moniker, the Nightingale of Habibir. He was killed, aged 33, in a car crash outside Kabul in 1978.
- A temple for his idol: There are fans and fans. And there is Gajarajan aka Rosemars
By M.V. CHANDRASHEKAR
(The Hindu, November 27, 2003)
The King is god to Gajarajan. KHUSHBOO'S HAD it, Amitabh's had it, Bob Marley's had it and now Elvis Presley and Princess Diana will get one each. An award? No, too boring. A temple, no less. Gajarajan, a Presley nut and former P&T Department employee, plans to build a temple to these two icons. Rosemars, as Gajarajan calls himself after Elvis's favourite flower, has taken adulation to new heights. Having made a Kannada movie, Dhara, in 1984 with a song on Elvis thrown in, he keeps a portrait of the rock 'n' roll pioneer in his pooja room, religiously observing his idol's birth and death anniversaries.
He has floated the Sri Arun Vani Trust and plans to build an Elvis Memorial Welfare Centre in Bangalore. He hopes this will eventually fulfil his dream of a grand temple for his idols, probably in Hennur, Chikkabanavara or Devanahalli. He did build an Elvis shrine at Devalapura, but it's too small for The King. Now he wants a grand double in the region of half a crore rupees, which he hopes to raise from Elvis and Diana fans.
In the twin temples, he sees a confluence of the USA and Britain. "If only Elvis were to sing "Candle in the Wind"," he exclaims, "I can feel the goose pimples on me." "It was Scotty Moore's "Guitar Riff" when he was doing the Steve Allen's show that got me into music. I have been an Elvis fan since I was a kid," says Gajarajan, who pretty much dresses up in Elvis fashion. He believes Elvis is the reincarnation of Karna, no less. In his book, "Why My Daughter Married Michael Jackson", Gajarajan claims Elvis had spoken to him from another dimension about daughter Lisa Marie who married Wacko Jacko. Explaining the couple's divorce, he writes: "She married a musician of her father's calibre and not Jackson per se."
Gajarajan, who has visited Germany to see the house where Elvis met Priscilla, has been celebrating Elvis's birthday by holding secular prayers, performing Elvis aradhane, playing his music, feeding and clothing the poor, distributing sweets to children, all topped with a mangalarathi to Elvis. He marks Elvis's death anniversary as "protest, request and compassion day", dedicated to distribution of fruits and giving solace to patients in hospitals. He visits the Tawkkal Mastan Dharga, Sacred Heart Church, and the Draupadiamman Temple on the day. Only Elvis's songs can cure the country of communal disharmony, he says, pointing as an example the King's 1968 number: "If I can dream of a better world where all my brothers walk hand in hand, Oh God, why can't my dream come true, there must be bright light burning somewhere where all my brothers walk hand in hand."
With his Sri Arun Vani Trust, Gajarajan plans to treat drug addicts, alcoholics, geriatrics, mentally challenged, and provide shelter to stray and wounded animals. He says he has the support of his family and friends in his ventures. He has managed to convert Chandrappa, a landlord, who has also become an ardent Elvis fan.
- In aid of Gamini Dissanayake Institute : Grand musical show at BMICH on Nov. 16
(Sunday Observer, November 1, 2003)
Sri Lanka -- What is described as a blockbuster in entertainment organised by Sri Sangabo Corea & Vijaya Corea, to raise funds for the Gamini Dissanayake Institute of Technology and Vocational Studies will be held at the BMICH on November 16. It is designed for lovers of music, song and dance both Western or Oriental, with performers carefully selected to give the audience a unique brand of entertainment. Funds generated will go to finance scholarships offered by the institute to students who missed by a few marks to enter university and cannot afford to try a second time because they are born to poor parents.
... Western vocals will be handled by Rajitha Rupasinghe and Wild Fire. Hits made famous by Bill Hailey, Chubby Checker, Del Shannon, Herman's Hermits, Chuck Berry, Paul Anka, Sandy Nelson, Gene Vincent, and super hits of Neil Diamond, Louis Armstrong and Elvis Presley will all be performed by some of the most talented artistes in the country. Oriental dancing by Rajini Selvanayagam will feature Kaffringna and a fusion of Oriental and Western dances created very specially for 4 by 4 Exclusive. The Western dance spectacle will be presented by Darshan Wijesuriya of Footwork featuring El Latino and the Dance Academy. ...
- Iranian pop legend dies at 74
By Sadeq Saba
(BBC, October 27, 2003)
One of Iran's best-loved pop singers, Vigen, has died in the United States at the age of 74. He was generally known as the king of Iranian pop. Like many other Iranian entertainers, he had to leave the county after the Islamic revolution in 1979, which banned pop music. Across more than half a century, Vigen performed some of the most memorable songs in recent Iranian history. He had a wonderful, resonant voice. For Iranians, young and old, he was a legend. He was born Vigen Derderian in 1929 in western Iran into a relatively poor family. He became Iran's real first male pop and jazz star and was generally known in Persian as the ''Sultan of Jazz''. Some of his fans compared him to the American singer Elvis Presley.
- Mideast scenario: Fate of Iraqis still uncertain
By GHULAM MURSHED
([Bangladesh] Independent, October 23, 2003)
They seek him. They seek him there. They seek him everywhere. But he is neither here nor there, in fact, nowhere; yet he may be somewhere. Six months after Saddam Hussein went underground as US-led coalition forces advanced on Ferdous Square in central Baghdad, he remains at large and, in the view of the most intelligence experts, somewhere in Iraq. Until the occupation army knows differently, and they mean conclusively, they're going to operate on the assumption that Saddam is probably alive and stays put somewhere around.
... "Elvis" is the nickname American forces have given to Saddam a sardonic nod to the many for-flung "sightings" over the years of Elvis Presley who died in 1977. The main speculation about where Saddam might have gone to ground has him hiding, disguised but in plain sight, in a major city like Baghdad or Tikrit, or skulking in a long-prepared bolt hole in the desert wastelands of northern or western Iraq. There are also the man-in-the street conspiracy theories, derided by most analysts, that he did a secret exile deal with Washington or fund refuge in neighbouring Syria or Iran. But analysts at London's Royal United Services Institute say neither Iran nor Syria would risk giving him sanctuary.
Meanwhile, the reward money, which includes $1 million bounty offered by American stunt actor, the famed Bruce Willis, on top of the $25 million offered by US government, was not working partly because many Iraqis did not believe the rewards would actually be paid. On Baghdad streets, many people believe Saddam is hiding some-where in the volatile "Sunni triangle", most probably in the Tikrit region where members of his tribe are protecting him. ...
- Brunei Speakers' Club holds speech contest
By Siti Y
(brudirect.com / Borneo Bulletin, October 3, 2003)
The Brunei Speakers' Club held a Humourous and Evaluation Speech Contest at SEAMEO VOCTECH, which was participated by members of the Club. In the Humourous Speech contest, Dk Noorul Hariaini presented her speech entitled "Cooking with Louie" and gave a simple recipe for success in Toastmasters. The second contestant, Rozana Yunos presented her speech entitled "That 3 Letter Word" that touched on the advantages of being fat while Wayne Metzger, the third participant, presented his speech on "Elvis is Back" which proved to be very entertaining.
Wayne Metzger with his Elvis antics won the Humourous Speech Contest while Dk Noorul Hariaini won the Evaluation Speech Contest. The two represented the Brunei Speakers' Club in the Area K6 Humourous and Evaluation Contest in Labuan recently.
Meanwhile, in the contest held in Labuan, Wayne made the audience laugh by running through the similarities of himself and Elvis, which was further enriched with this outrageous Elvis costume. He competed against Anita Wong, a member of the Labuan Toastmasters Club.
Tan Chui Eng emerged the winner for the Evaluation Speech Contest while Wayne Metzger from the Brunei Speakers' Club won the Humourous Speech Contest. Both winners will proceed to Kota Kinabalu for the Area K Humourous and Evaluation Speech Contest on October 5.
- Bhutan's stamps delight world of philately
By Sugita Katyal
(Yahoo News! India / Reuters, October 1, 2003)
THIMPHU (Reuters) - Tiny Bhutan's only source of foreign exchange once was the exotic stamps it sold in international markets, featuring icons such as Elvis Presley and Donald Duck. Today, the Buddhist kingdom still issues stamps that delight the international world of philately -- only they are meant to educate people about social issues such as the status of women, the disabled and refugees. "In the 1960s, stamps helped introduce us to the world. Anybody who knew anything about Bhutan knew it through its stamps. They were like goodwill ambassadors," Meghraj Gurung, managing director of Bhutan Post, told Reuters. ...
- DUSK OVER JAPAN: Three more years for Koizumi: Does it matter?
By Katsuo Hiizumi
(Asia Times Online, September 23, 2003)
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was re-elected Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president on Saturday in a landslide victory, garnering 399 of 657 votes (61 percent). Of the ruling LDP's 357 lawmakers in both houses of parliament, 194 (54 percent) voted in his favor. More significant, he received 205 of the 300 votes (68 percent) allotted to the 1.4 million LDP rank-and-file, repeating his strong showing among ordinary party members, which - in the spring of 2001 - had given him a surprise victory over former prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. If Koizumi serves out his three-year term and the LDP, as expected, wins Lower House elections (likely to be held in November), he will become the longest-serving Japanese prime minister in three decades, topping the five years in office of his role model Yasuhiro Nakasone.
... Reform until recently, to cynics, had still mainly meant a wild hairdo and belting out Elvis songs in karaoke bars (Koizumi, like Elvis Presley, was born on January 8). It won't any longer. ...
- New song to test Elvis appeal
(Hindustan Times / USA Today, August 20, 2003)
More than 39 years after the song was shelved, Elvis Presley's freshly unearthed "I'm a Roustabout" will test the King's posthumous reign over the music marketplace. The uptempo pop track, rejected as a theme song by the producer of 1964's Roustabout, arrives on October 7 on Elvis 2nd to None, a 30-track sequel to last year's Elvis 30 #1 Hits. RCA hopes the tune, which label executive Joe DiMuro calls "one of the most incredible discoveries of modern music," will entice the same buyers who scooped up 3.5 million copies of Hits in the USA and another 5.5 million overseas. That collection topped the US chart for three weeks and reached No. 1 in 26 countries.This year's compilation includes such familiar fare as “That's All Right”, “Viva Las Vegas”, “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Always on My Mind”. Collectors, however, are panting for the long-buried treasure. Written by Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell, “I'm a Roustabout” vanished after a different composition was chosen for the musical starring Presley. Scott found the original acetate recording in his New Jersey basement.
- Now I know what it's like to be a foreigner
By David Whitley
(Orlando Sentinel, August 4, 2003)
TOKYO --[About strangeness from an American's viewpoint]
Clue No. 1 for Japan -- a $1,200 Elvis wig for sale outside a 1,400-year-old temple.
What kind of person buys a $1,200 Elvis wig, even one with muttonchops? I wandered through the temple, veered into an alley and was almost run over by a man wearing a kimono and an Elvis wig. At least I think he was a man. I wish I knew. Or maybe I don't. Like all but seven people in Tokyo, the person spoke no English. The encounter became just another mystery of the Orient.
- If I can dream: Gandhi, Elvis share vision
By Michael Donahue
(GoMemphis, August 4, 2003)
Mohandas Gandhi and Elvis Presley were alike in at least one way, said Lalit Mansingh, India's ambassador to the United States: They cared about children. The ambassador was the special guest at the Gandhi Exhibit Inaugural Gala presented by the Indian Community Fund for Greater Memphis Friday night at Woodland Hills. The dinner followed an inauguration ceremony for the exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum. The exhibit was installed in April for the 35th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's death.
During his speech before dinner, the ambassador concluded with some words "from the most famous son of Memphis, Elvis Presley." He quoted Elvis: "I figure all any kids need is hope and the feeling that he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world." The ambassador said, "It is difficult to imagine two more dissimilar personalities than Elvis Presley and Mahatma Gandhi. And yet the words of Elvis Presley are strangely close to Gandhi's thinking when he said that he dreamt of an India where he would be able to wipe the last tears of the last child."
The ambassador said he was impressed with the National Civil Rights Museum. "I was expecting to feel his (King's) presence and I did when I to the museum." Yash Chopra, one of the guests, said the Gandhi exhibit was something of which Memphis's Indian community could be proud. And it "sends a message of nonviolence in a city where it is much needed."
Narquenta Sims, manager of the mayor's office of multi-cultural and religious affairs, gave the ambassador the key to the city from Mayor Willie Herenton and a certificate of appointment from Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton making him an "honorary Shelby County citizen."
- Johnny Halliday still knows how to get a crowd going: Now in his early 60s, 'French Elvis' puts on a timeless show
By Taha Rassam Culhane
([Lebanon] Daily Star
, August 4, 2003)
In the early 1960s, a rock concert by pop star Johnny Halliday, known to the Francophone world as the French Elvis, was canceled by Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanon's then minister of the interior. "The Western degenerate images do not suit our moral values and might be harmful to our youth," Jumblatt declared at the time. How times have changed. This past Saturday night, a concert by the enduring rock legend, now in his early 60s, proceeded without a glitch and rocked Lebanon's Baalbek Festival to its foundations, proving the old adage that rock 'n' roll can never die.
The packed audience was as diverse as the material Halliday chose to present. From silver-haired couples whose faces beamed with nostalgia to screaming, twistin' and shoutin' teenagers experiencing their first taste of Johnny-mania, from romantic young couples drinking Bekaa Valley wines under the stars to 30- and 40-something professionals waving arms and cigarette lighters in the air with unselfconscious abandon, there was something for everyone and someone for every style that Halliday, a masterful showman in extremis, performed. ...
- Indonesia 'all shook up' over singer
By Gary LaMoshi
(Asia Times, May 10, 2003)
DENPASAR, Bali - Some of the most contentious issues across Indonesia involve ngebor, drilling. ... In Aceh at the far northwest tip of the archipelago, where a ceasefire between separatists and the government teeters on the brink of collapse, economic and environmental concerns over oil and gas drilling combine with interpretations of Islam to create volatile, divisive passions that threaten national unity.
That description also fits dangdut singer Inul and her ngebor dance thrusting seismic rifts throughout Indonesian society. Ainul Rokhimah was just another kid in East Java dreaming of escaping the grind of poverty through music. ...
Saving her pennies from singing for Rp3,500 rupiah, she made her way to Jakarta, picking up a new name, Inul Daratista. More important, she picked up her trademark ngebor hip gyrations. Pirated video compact discs (VCDs) brought Inul nationwide exposure that has made her Indonesia's top-earning entertainer, commanding up to Rp20 million (more than US$423,000) per show, as well as the center of national controversy.
Elvis vs King
Inul draws comparisons with a trend-setting, hip-swinging singer of another continent and era who also overcame humble roots to achieve fame so great he was identified by first name alone: Elvis. However, Elvis had it all over Inul in the looks and voice categories. Without those below-the-waist-drilling moves, nothing would distinguish Inul from thousands of skinny 25-year-old Indonesian females.
That made the outcome of Inul's meeting with Rhoma Irama particularly terrifying. The newcomer went to pay her respects to the singer popularly known as the King of Dangdut who introduced heavy metal to the genre's musical mix. In addition to those credentials, Rhoma is an Islamic cleric and head of the Association of Malay Music Artists, the dangdut trade group.
His highness reportedly lashed into Inul, characterizing her ngebor as "pornographic", and forbade her to sing any of his songs. He further accused Inul of "throwing dangdut music into the mud, tearing apart the nation's social fabric and encouraging illicit sex and rape". The Indonesia Council of Ulemas, the nation's second-largest Muslim organization, supported Rhoma's call for Inul to abandon drilling, as did the Alliance for Anti-Pornography Society.
Rhoma's comments triggered a swift backlash, the norm in Indonesia. Traditionally, the public has gone along with establishment figures, particularly venerable, successful ones and those with religious credentials. Rhoma wins the trifecta by those criteria.
Drilling rights controversy
However, the public reaction was decidedly for Inul, not against her. A poll in news weekly Tempo found nearly 80 percent opposition to banning Inul's performances. A majority of respondents contended that Rhoma overreacted out of jealousy to a new star threatening to eclipse his fame. In addition to backing from the general public, more than 90 human-rights and civil-liberties groups declared their support for Inul's freedom of expression.
... It's fair to ask whether the controversy swirling around Inul and her twirling hips indicates Indonesia is growing up or dumbing down. With an estimated 40 million unemployed, no way out of an economic crisis in its sixth year, its first free direct presidential election ahead next year and no worthwhile candidates in sight, surely Indonesians have more pressing matters than an insignificant dangdut singer.
Question authority
Still, it's undeniable that Inul, like Elvis, indicates the times they are a-changin'. For example, it's a shift from the authoritarian days for public defiance of an old lion like Rhoma in favor of an underdog newcomer. While Rhoma may be yesterday's man, he still wields significant power behind the scenes in the music industry, where the real action in Indonesia remains.
Perhaps equally significant is the readiness to dismiss religious authorities' moral preaching. Inul found support in some Islamic circles, but that's beside the point. "This ought to tell people not to worry so much about the power of radical Islam here," one of my Muslim friends notes. "People don't follow everything they hear in the mosque".
Academics have seized on the defense of Inul's freedom of expression to demonstrate how much things have changed since the bad days of Suharto. However, support for Inul has been far from absolute. Some, like deposed president Wahid, contend that only the Indonesian Supreme Court can restrict expression. Others say that it's up to the community to set standards to replace those of Suharto's authoritarianism, warning of social and moral degradation without such standards.
... Students of musical politics will note that Elvis pushed the boundaries in the US, but it took The Beatles, an injection of genius from overseas, to create a social revolution. Across the front page from Inul, news that Singapore's government investment company and Deutsche Bank bought the Indonesian government's stake in Bank Danamon is a reminder that such foreign inspiration is a long way off. Inul, her critics and supporters indicate that domestic genius is no more evident.
- The Elvis Factor: Big king, little king
By Kate Drake, Joyce Huang
(Time Asia, date unknown, found May 3, 2003)
The similarities are eerie and undeniable. Both launched their careers by borrowing styles liberally from black musicians. Both played Vegas. Elvis is the King. Chou is known as a "small, heavenly King." Elvis transcended conventional musical boundaries, and Chou does too, boasting a strange power over fans' lives. Consider a story posted in an Internet chat room by a group of Taiwanese nurses who swear that Chou's music is the sole connection a comatose six-year-old patient has with the conscious world. "The only thing holding him up is Jay Chou," they write. "He'll respond to Jay's songs by trying to open his eyes or lifting his legs a little bit."
Of course, Chou can't fly (neither could Elvis), but his tunes sure get around. The Taiwanese singer doesn't speak anything but Mandarin, yet more than 200 websites - some based in such counterintuitive locales as Michigan and Australia - have been established by zealous fans. Foreigners give him awards: MTV Japan last May named him Best Asian Artist for 2002.
Even in Hong Kong, which has an oversupply of homegrown pop stars to worship, Chou is a phenomenon. In January the local television station TVB overlooked his citizenship and nominated him as Hong Kong's Most Popular Artist of 2002. Perhaps more tellingly, all 37,500 tickets for Chou's recent Hong Kong concert dates were snapped up in just 45 minutes - the fastest sellout for a Hong Kong tour ever. College-age girls who were waiting in line, upon hearing that all tickets were gone, burst into tears. "Jay is different from other Hong Kong artists, who just look good and wear beautiful things," says Joyce Ho, a 33-year-old assistant in a law office who refuses to buy music by anyone else. "I hear his songs and forget all unhappy things." Even Ho's four-year-old cousin can relate. He changed his English name from Christopher to Jay as a tribute. "He says he'll love Jay even after he dies," Ho says. See? Chou really is Elvis.
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