A suburb of Elvis
July 4, 2010 1:03 AM Subscribe
The Elvis World Cup, a competition for Elvis impersonators, takes place in Cardiff this weekend. Some say that if impersonators keep increasing at the rate they are today, by 2020 one in four people on the planet will be an Elvis impersonator. Swedish Elvis. Chinese Elvis. Jewish Elvis. Lady Elvis. Black Elvis. Lesbian Elvis. Child Elvis. Mexican Elvis. The King, an impersonator who covers the songs of dead people in an Elvis stylee.
The Elvis World Cup has been marred by bad officiating yet again. I'm through.
posted by vapidave at 2:04 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by vapidave at 2:04 AM on July 4, 2010
Must have been a very mediocre singer, if so many people can impersonate him so easily.
posted by ijsbrand at 2:06 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by ijsbrand at 2:06 AM on July 4, 2010
So, according to the bio of Black Elvis - Colbert Hamilton - "Colbert was one of the last unknown artists to collaborate with Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy fame. They recorded a track called "D'ya wanna rock?"" Phil Lynott played in Thin Lizzy alongside Gary Moore, who later played lead guitar on the Traveling Wilburys song 'She's My Baby', alongside Tom Petty, who famously got interested in music at the age of 11 after meeting Elvis himself at a film shoot.
All hail the mitochondrial Eve of rock and roll!
posted by Catseye at 2:13 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
All hail the mitochondrial Eve of rock and roll!
posted by Catseye at 2:13 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Must have been a very mediocre singer, if so many people can impersonate him so easily.
Not necessarily: Nobody said the impersonation is successful.
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:51 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not necessarily: Nobody said the impersonation is successful.
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:51 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
This'd be a great time for a whole lot of angry weevils to pop through the rift.
posted by fleetmouse at 5:19 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by fleetmouse at 5:19 AM on July 4, 2010
If Renelvis isn't at this competition, then it's a sham. A flat out sham.
posted by NoMich at 7:09 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by NoMich at 7:09 AM on July 4, 2010
Hey! Elvis Herselvis is the receptionist at the place I get my hair cut. I have such a crush on her.
posted by mollymayhem at 7:55 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by mollymayhem at 7:55 AM on July 4, 2010
El Vez isn't really what you'd call an Elvis impersonator. It's not entirely incorrect, but he's an actual musician who does his own interpretations of Elvis songs as well as original songs. He's also awesome live, and a former member of seminal LA Latino punk band The Zeros.
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:20 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:20 AM on July 4, 2010
The first Swedish Elvis in your list, Eilert Pilarm, is from my tiny Swedish hometown. His story is quite tragic actually. In the beginning, he truly thought that he was Elvis due to a psychotic break of some kind ("It just said 'bang' inside my skull, and suddenly I was a different person" he has said.). So he changed his last name from Dahlberg to Pilarm (to have the same initials as Elvis), and spent 16 years with Elvis "in his body" - while also working at the town's paper mill.
He had a reputation as a very eccentric man - one of those people who the kids talk about and many adults sort of avoid if they can. The whole time, he made the clothes and sang the songs as Elvis, releasing a home-recorded cassette tape to his buddies at the paper mill, which was the beginning of his fame. He had cult success then, and it must have been weird for him when he began getting his sickness under control with medications to realize that he had somehow started a successful career as an Elvis impersonator...
He had lots of success and fame in the 2000-2002 time-frame, but it got to be too much and he "quit touring" in 2003, when there was also a documentary published about him called "Eilert Forever" (available on a DVD called "Stockholm Stories - 03" but nowhere online that I could find). He didn't quit performing, though. The last time I saw him perform was in 2004, but he is still giving occasional concerts and doing small venues (like retirement communities and school auditoriums) to this day.
posted by gemmy at 11:23 AM on July 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
He had a reputation as a very eccentric man - one of those people who the kids talk about and many adults sort of avoid if they can. The whole time, he made the clothes and sang the songs as Elvis, releasing a home-recorded cassette tape to his buddies at the paper mill, which was the beginning of his fame. He had cult success then, and it must have been weird for him when he began getting his sickness under control with medications to realize that he had somehow started a successful career as an Elvis impersonator...
He had lots of success and fame in the 2000-2002 time-frame, but it got to be too much and he "quit touring" in 2003, when there was also a documentary published about him called "Eilert Forever" (available on a DVD called "Stockholm Stories - 03" but nowhere online that I could find). He didn't quit performing, though. The last time I saw him perform was in 2004, but he is still giving occasional concerts and doing small venues (like retirement communities and school auditoriums) to this day.
posted by gemmy at 11:23 AM on July 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
Must have been a very mediocre singer, if so many people can impersonate him so easily.
That's right, because all impersonations are evidence of mediocrity.
posted by blucevalo at 11:28 AM on July 4, 2010
That's right, because all impersonations are evidence of mediocrity.
posted by blucevalo at 11:28 AM on July 4, 2010
Now I can't help linking to these priestly and fictional Elvis impersonators: The Three Ages of Elvis
(Probably with a pointless advert from an IT company in front. Sorry)
posted by BinaryApe at 1:43 PM on July 4, 2010
(Probably with a pointless advert from an IT company in front. Sorry)
posted by BinaryApe at 1:43 PM on July 4, 2010
Must have been a very mediocre singer, if so many people can impersonate him so easily.
Fightin' words!
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 7:31 PM on July 4, 2010
Fightin' words!
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 7:31 PM on July 4, 2010
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And they ain't no friends of his.
posted by Phanx at 1:44 AM on July 4, 2010