"Almost Elvis"…..The Unusual and Bewildering World of Elvis Impersonators! (Part 17)

Unusual Impersonator Crusades: One of the more unusual activities involving an Elvis impersonator happened earlier in 2002. Los Angeles based impersonator, Mark W. Curran, undertook a 30 day trek across America's famous Route 66 in his 'Elvis Across America Roadathon'. His objective was to draw attention to the heritage values of the highway and places along the route.

And speaking of touring, another of the more unusual happenings involving Elvii occurred during (President) Bill Clinton's "King of the Road" pre-election bus tour in 1992. Texas Republicans interrupted the tour across the state with Elvis impersonators following his route. The white jumpsuited Elvii sang and distributed bologna sandwiches as part of "The Don't Be Fooled Tour" - "Bill Clinton thinks he's Elvis, but we've got the real thing" stated GOP spokesperson Mark Sanders. We indeed live in a strange world!

Mecca, the Vatican and Heaven: For many impersonators (and fans) there is an almost religious significance to their performance. Not only is Memphis regarded as Mecca, Graceland as the Vatican and Las Vegas as Heaven, but the issue of redemption is also raised. Without delving into the religious connotations of present day Elvis worship (which is a study in itself) it is enough to note that the Catholic traditions of rituals, relics and icons are ever present in the way the Elvis world is conducted (and this neatly leads us into our final two areas of consideration).

This series of articles are reprinted with the kind permission of www.elvisinfonet.com

Andy Stankovich

Elvis The Voice

www.ElvisTheVoice.com

One of the world's great Elvis Presley tribute artists