I'm all shook up 'cause I just saw Elvis leave the building

Today I'm celebrating those who celebrate and live the life of Elvis!

On this date in 1935, the king of rock and roll was born. There are some who believe that Elvis is still actually alive, with many fans reportedly seeing him each year. Many don't believe as is often said with a tinge of irony "Elvis has left the building." After all, with so many Elvis impersonators or Elvis tribute artists, as they prefer to be known, you can indeed witness a sighting of Elvis on practically any day of the week.

There's quite a network for Elvis impersonators. There are multiple directories of Elvis impersonators on the Web. There's on online Elvis impersonator search site, if you'd like to have Elvis at your event. They have their own professional association. There are online stores offering products needed by all Elvis impersonators, such as the sunglasses, the jumpsuit, belts, scarves, jewelry, boots, hair and music. There's even a DVD training tool for Elvis tribute artists, part of an Elvis University.

There's a documentary Almost Elvis about Elvis impersonators. There's even a book now featuring 75 Elvis tribute artists photographed by Patty Carroll, Live the Life!. You can view Patty's photo slideshows of the Elvis Explosion in LaCrosse, Wisconsin from September and the Elvis FANtasy Fest in Portage, Indiana from October on the Web.

In celebration of our current political process, you may be surprised to know that Mike Huckabee actually knows Elvis too. The Caucus from The New York Times Politics Blog reported in August 2007 how Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was seen in Ames, Iowa playing bass with his rock-and-roll band Capitol Offense when at one point an Elvis impersonator shared the stage. As reported by Michael Luo on the blog, by his very own words when the Elvis impersonator came out, Mr Huckabee announced "You are witnessing a miracle. The dead has risen."

You can attend numerous contests of Elvis impersonators and tribute shows. You'll see all types of impersonators. Some are look-alikes, some are sound-alikes, and some are both. Don't be surprised if you see bearded Elvis, a lady Elvis, a black Elvis, an Italian Elvis, a four-year-old Elvis, young Elvis, old Elvis, or fat Elvis. Graceland even sponsored its own "The Ultimate Elvis" contest recently, demonstrating its new embrace for Elvis impersonators, a change since it had "long regarded Elvis impersonators with a mixture of resigned bemusement and outright disgust" as reported by CNN. The 2008 Elvis Extravaganza impersonator contest national finals and Elvis fan convention will be held February 16-17 in Tampa at the Florida State Fair this year.

There's a lot that's been said about the Elvis impersonators or tribute artists, but here are two of my favorites:
If life was fair, Elvis would still be alive and all the impersonators dead ~Johnny Carson
There are at least 85,000 Elvis's around the world, compared to only 170 in 1977 when Elvis died. At this rate of growth, experts predict that by 2019 Elvis impersonators will make up a third of the world population.~ The Naked Scientists, 3 December, 2000

One of my favorite movies was Honeymoon in Vegas watching all those Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas, especially the skydivers. He's a video from YouTube to the song Wear My Ring Around Your Neck sung by Ricky Van Shelton with some memorable clips from the movie:


As posted on YouTube by mabrockmann


Image credits:
Photo by David Lienemann/Associated Press from The Caucus
Photo of Elvis impersonator in Memphis, TN in 2003 by Gary Bridgman from Wikipedia