Do you like impersonators? - two fan perspectives
"Take them with a pinch of salt"
“Yes, some of them do a great job"
Welcome to the Weird and Wacky, But Equitable World of the Elvis Impersonator!
George Plasketes, in his seminal work 'Images of Elvis Presley in American Culture 1977-1977' described the profession of impersonating Elvis as "an equal opportunity enterprise". Plasketes hit the nail perfectly on its head. The world of the Elvii can be a very strange one indeed.
Apart from 'western' impersonators, Elvii take on many quite amazing forms, many of which are hardly in good taste but perhaps symbolise the broad under-strata that the Elvis persona appeals to.
There are:
female Elviii, notably Elvis Herselvis (a lesbian), Ella Vis and Janice K,
the ethnic Elvii - Israeli Elvis, Indian Elvis, and
various types of Oriental Elvii.
They also come in all shapes and sizes. There are numerous young impersonators, the grotesquely large lead singer of the group Dread Zeppelin, Tortelvis, the similarly large 'jelly doughnut' Elvis, Bearded Elvis, cross-dressing Elvii, BBQ Elvis, Altruistic Elvis and other 'specialist' impersonators such as Gary Stone (the Evangelistic Elvis) and environmentally friendly impersonator, Green E!
And it doesn't stop there as we can add to the list: Ski Instructor Elvis, Police Sergeant Elvis, Executive Elvis, Columnist Elvis, the Ghost of Elvis, Disabled but still singing Elvis and Physicist Elvis. A notable Elvii is Bruce Borders who in the early 1990s held down his day job as Mayor of Jasonville, Indiana and at night moonlighted as The King.
Then there is the father and son combination of Julian "Elvis" Campo and Angelo "Elvis" Campo. The list wouldn't be complete without mentioning Nude Elvis.
Robert Washington is an African-American who has featured prominently in the top places in the annual Images contest, but despite his obvious love and talent for his craft is arguably hampered from reaching the upper echelon because of his color.
And of course many fans are familiar with The Flying Elvi, the group of white jumpsuited parachutists who featured prominently in the Nicolas Cage movie, Honeymoon In Vegas.
Anyone who has seen the quarterly magazine from the International Elvis Presley Fan Club in
Andy Stankovich
Elvis The Voice
www.ElvisTheVoice.com
One of the world's great Elvis Presley tribute artists
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