What's Adam Lambert's favorite Elvis Presley song? Find out in this clip of the three "American Idol" season 8 contestants live on Elvis Radio at Graceland. Elvis Radio, SIRIUS Ch. 13 and XM Ch. 18 broadcasts live from Graceland in Memphis, TN. Get more info and a free trial at www.sirius.com/elvisradio
August 13, 2009
Elvis Tribute Artist Contest - Twenty Ultimate Semifinalsts Announced - that's what i'm talkin' about - Elvis Week 2009 -
News - Elvis Week 2009 - Twenty Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Semifinalsts AnnouncedTwenty Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Semifinalsts Announced
Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The following are the twenty Elvis tribute artists that will be competing in Memphis for the title of Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2009. They will compete in the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Semifinal Round on August 12 - with the top ten winners going on to the final round on August 13.
Click here for tickets to the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Semifinal and Final Round.
Joe Hall
Winner of the Last Chance ETA Contest at the Memphis Hard Rock Cafe
Joe Hall is from Nebraska and became interested in Elvis when he saw a show in Vegas in 2006. After returning home, he performed Elvis at a karaoke bar and Halloween party and loved it. After that, he knew this is what he wanted to do. Six months into his career, he decided to go full-time doing his tribute to Elvis. Joe says he enjoys performing his Elvis tribute with the upmost respect to Elvis’ legacy and fans. Joe’s favorite song is “Suspicious Minds.”
Stephen Freeman
Winner of the Ultimate ETA Contest at Harrah's Cherokee Casino
Stephen is from North Carolina. He served as a police officer and detective for 8 years before officially starting his career as an Elvis tribute artist in 1998. Stephen fell in love with Elvis’ music and life story as a small child when he first saw the HBO special One Night with You. Elvis' generosity and love for his fans left a huge impression on Stephen growing up, and Elvis' gospel music inspired him spiritually. With such a huge Elvis footprint in his life, the decision to become a tribute artist came easily to him. Stephen's favorite Elvis song is "I Can’t Stop Loving You.
Thane Dunn
Winner of the Collingwood Elvis Festival
Thane is from Moncton, Canada and has been performing his Elvis tribute for the past 10 years. Thane always admired and loved Elvis as a child and wanted to pay tribute to him. His friends and family said that he sounded similar to Elvis, which he took as the ultimate compliment and helped him in making the decision to become a tribute artist. Thane's favorite song is "American Trilogy."
Travis Allen
Winner of the MontBleu Resort Ultimate ETA Contest
From Henderson, Nevada, Travis has been performing as an entertainer and singer since the age of 15. He has admired Elvis since he was 5 years old. He said Elvis gave him a variety of music, dance and looks - and he wanted to try to recreate his image. Travis' favorite song is "Young & Beautiful."
Brad McCrady
Winner of the Hollywood Casino Lawerenceburg ETA Contest
Brad has been performing as a tribute artist since the age of 9. His family encouraged him to continue singing throughout his childhood. Brad graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College with a degree in music and business. He works for Professional Pools, is the president of the Owensboro Evening Lions Club and is the song leader for the Owensboro First United Baptist Church. He loves all of Elvis' music, especially his gospel recordings. His favorite song is "You Gave Me A Mountain."
Nathan Belt
Winner of the Myrtle Beach Legends in Concert Ultimate ETA Contest
Nathan began singing and playing guitar at the age of 13. Nathan began performing Elvis in 1999. He grew up listening to Elvis' music. It inspired him - mostly his gospel music. Elvis has been a huge influence in all aspects of his life and he wants to convey that with a tribute that is respectful and inspiring to others. His favorite Elvis song is "How Great Thou Art."
Mike Bravener
Winner of the MySpace Elvis Week Karaoke Contest
Although Mike says it seems like has been singing Elvis songs all of his life, it was only 6 years ago that he started to pursue a career in entertainment. Mike can be seen helping people and entertaining children at Chapter's bookstore in Fredericton, where he works a a C.E.R. He is married to Brenda and they have 4 wonderful children. Mike's favorite song is "If I Can Dream."
Stephen Kabakos
Winner of the Silver Slipper Ultimate ETA Contest
As far back as he can remember, Elvis Presley has always been a part of Stephen's life. For him, Elvis was an extended family member who was always present for family gatherings, birthdays, and of course, Christmas. As a child, he listened, watched, mimicked and performed along with him and learned from his sincere attitude and kind-heartedness as an adult. Stephen's favorite Elvis song is "Don't Cry Daddy."
Ted Torres
Winner of the Tampa Elvis Festival
Ted was inspired by both his parents and Elvis to do music as a career. After learning more about Elvis as a person, he became a bigger fan of Elvis. He hopes he can help people relive the memories of when a poor boy from Tupelo conquered both Memphis and the world with his music. Ted's favorite Elvis song is "The Sound of Your Cry."
Justin Shandor
Winner of the Chinook Winds Casino Ultimate ETA Contest
Elvis has been a part of Justin's life ever since his mother brought him home his first cassette tape for Christmas when he was eight years old. He remembers singing "Mama Liked the Roses" to his grandmother and how Elvis' music captivated his heart. Elvis became a big part of his life from that day on. Having a part in keeping Elvis' memory alive has been an honor and a dream come true for him. Justin's favorite song is "Mama Liked The Roses."
Ray Guillemette, Jr.
Winner of the Windsor Elvis Fest
Ray was born and raised in Massachusetts. When he was young, Elvis music was the only music he would listen to and he understood then that it was more than just music that made Elvis who he was - it was instead his underlying desire to make people and fans feel special beyond the stage. Ray says he works to make sure his performances are a positive interpretation and experience - and not just in costume and song, but from a personality perspective as well. In addition to being a tribute artist, Ray is also a professional chef, actor and motivational speaker. Ray's favorite song is "Walk A Mile in My Shoes."
Gino Monopoli
Winner of the Penticton Elvis Festival
Gino is from Toronto, Canada, and has been singing Elvis songs for as long as he can remember. Producing and promoting a musical retrospective of Elvis has enabled Gino to pursue his passion. After studying and learning Elvis' videos, he became more and more captivated with Elvis and read up on his life. Gino considers it a great honor to pay tribute to Elvis. Gino's favorite Elvis song is "Love Me Tender."
Donny Edwards
Winner of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest at Pechanga Casino Resorts
Donny has been performing his tribute to Elvis since 2003. He's been a fan since he was two. Little did he know that it would lead him to a beloved career paying tribute to the greatest musical artist in history. Donny tries his best to bring the same joy that Elvis has brought to him to fellow fans with his show. He believes his success has been because of his devotion to the man who has so greatly influenced his life, Elvis Presley. Donny's favorite Elvis song is "Suspicious Minds."
Bill Cherry
Winner of the Tupelo Elvis Festival
Bill has been performing Elvis since 1989 and has always been a fan of Elvis. He grew up listening to his music, watching his movies and singing along with him on records. Bill feels that as a tribute artist, he can help keep Elvis' memory alive. Bill's favorite song is "If I Can Dream."
Jim Barone
Winner of the Atlantic City Ultimate ETA ContestWhen Jim heard Elvis for the first time, he was amazed. After singing some of Elvis' songs for his friends, they told him that he sounded a lot like Elvis. Jim likes re-create the excitement that Elvis generated in his live performances. He says singing Elvis music "feels so right." Jim's favorite Elvis song is "Are You Lonesome Tonight."
Kevin Mills
Cinnaminson, New Jersey
Winner of the LakeGeorge.com Elvis Festival
Ever since Kevin was a teenager, he has had a love for Elvis and his music, and he felt Elvis was the natural choice for him to emulate. The many facets and genres of Elvis' career provides Kevin with a never ending challenge. Kevin says it is an honor to be able to be part of the Ultimate ETA Contest and be able to compete in Memphis, where Elvis called home. Kevin's favorite song is "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
Leo Days
Las Vegas, Nevada
Winner of the Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge Ultimate ETA Contest
Leo became an avid fan of Elvis at the age of 3. He grew up listening to Elvis and watching his movies. At the age of 15, he discovered his singing ability and has been performing since then. Leo enjoys studying every aspect of Elvis' life and career. Leo became an ETA because he said that nothing beats the feeling of being on stage portraying your childhood hero. Leo's favorite song is "If I Can Dream."
Victor Trevino Jr.
Denton, Texas
Winner of the Branson Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest
Victor's dream of a career in music and acting has been realized in his tribute to Elvis Presley. As a fan himself, he always remembers that his role is that of a tribute artist, and not the king himself. He strives to maintain a respectful image of Elvis for all fans with a humble attitude and honor for the man who "dared to rock." Victor says he became a tribute artist to show a younger generation what Elvis was really like and where the music they listen to today came from. Victor's favorite Elvis song is "Milkcow Blues Boogie."
Pete Paquette
Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada
Winner of the Toronto Elvis Festival
Pete has been performing since the age of 7, inspired by his musician father who also was an Elvis fan. Having enjoyed the music of Elvis and seeing the effect it continues to have on audiences, Pete decided to do his part to help keep the music of Elvis alive. Pete says, "Elvis was a role model for many people and I am proud to have been able to touch on some of his abilities in my performances." Pete's favorite Elvis song is "Why Me Lord?"
Lance Dobinson
Nottawa, Ontario, Canada
Winner of the Days of Elvis Festival in Niagara Falls
Lance is in his second year at Humber College studying music. He has had the honor of performing throughout Ontario, the US and Japan. Lance says that Elvis has been a tremendous influence on him and inspired him to pursue his passion of music. Lance is excited to be part of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest and says it allows him to do what he loves - perform for the fans and continue to keep Elvis' name alive. Lance's favorite Elvis song is "Trouble."
Memphis Flyer | Graceland
Memphis Flyer | GracelandUpcoming Events
Graceland Scavenger Hunt
- Thu., Aug. 13, 5 p.m.
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The Genuine Elvis Launch Party
- Fri., Aug. 14, 2-4 p.m.
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Elvis Candlelight Vigil
- Sat., Aug. 15, 8:30 p.m.
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Elvis Plaque Presentation
- Sat., Aug. 15, 5 p.m.
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Elvis Presley Gladiators Kick-Off Party
- Sat., Aug. 15, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
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Elvis Presley Run, Walk, Rock & Roll
- Sat., Aug. 15, 8 a.m.
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School of Slam | Cover Feature | Memphis Flyer
School of Slam | Cover Feature | Memphis Flyer
Jonathan Postal
Dismissing wrestling because it's fake is like criticizing King Lear for being inaccurate history. Those who do so miss the point. When skilled wrestlers get together, they jam like musicians, pairing the physical abilities of a gymnast with the responsive skills of an improv comic. And like an actor playing Lear, the men and women who step into the ring are motivated by a desire to tell stories about characters who are larger than life and to put on the kind of shows that make people want to shout. "It's a cool feeling to go out in front of 10,000 or 15,000 people and have them in the palm of your hand and to be able to stand them up and sit them down," says Ken Wayne, former wrestler and founder of the "Nightmare" Ken Wayne School of Professional Wrestling.
Wayne can list wrestling moves like he is reciting the alphabet: standing arm drag, hip toss, body slam, locking up, grabbing roll, alligator roll, hitting the ropes, gut wrench take-down, top wrist-lock, bottom wrist-lock, hammer-lock, full Nelson, and so on. Everything in wrestling, he insists, is derived from these and a few other essentials.
"I have guys come in here and ask, 'What kind of gimmick can I be?'" Waynes says. "I say, 'Shut the fuck up. Learn your craft, and you can be any kind of gimmick they ask you to be.'"
In a metal shed in a grubby corner of West Memphis, Arkansas, Kevin Charles, a stout man in his 20s, stoops to pick up a broom. He surveys the large empty room around him and the wrestling ring at its center, then with a feline grace at odds with his lumpy physique, he dives under the ropes, springs to his feet, and begins to tidy up the place. He dances his broom around the mat with studied purpose and meditative calm. Friday nights are fight nights at the school. The audience is on the way, and everything has to be perfect.
Charles, a New Orleans native, is a bartender and National Guardsman who enrolled in Wayne's school because he's always dreamed about flying off the top rope. He didn't know if he was the kind of guy who could do it, but now he believes he is that kind of guy.
He also understands now that when a match is over and the bright lights dim, the loud threats crossfade into collegial laughter. "Humble or stumble" is the wrestling fraternity's guiding principle.
For every student like Charles, there are eight or nine who don't make it past the first week of training. Wayne, the son of Memphis wrestler-turned-promoter Buddy Wayne, blames himself for the dropout rate. "I anticipated about a two-thirds percent quitter," he says, a Kool 100 smoldering in the ashtray near the freshly cracked beer on his desk. "It's more like about an 80 or 90 percent quitter. I probably run a lot of people off because I tell them exactly what it is they're getting their ass into."
Wayne grew up with a wrestling ring in his backyard and has done just about everything you can do in the business. He's built rings, hauled rings, and broken them down. He's wrestled solo as a bleach-blond brawler and alongside Danny Davis as half of a scrappy, masked tag team called the Nightmares. He grew up on the road with his dad, riding from town to town and from dressing room to dressing room. He knows what it's like to hold a championship belt over his head and to take four Darvons and not feel relief because he wrestled with cerebral fluid on his spine.
Wayne says he never imagined running a wrestling school when he got out of the business in 2005. Eight months after retiring, he faced the realities of being 46 years old, unemployed, and not knowing a thing in the world but wrestling.
"I didn't retire; I just quit," Wayne says. His skills were slipping. He hurt more than ever, and he could no longer fool himself into believing that fact wasn't reflected in the quality of his bookings. Increasingly, he was matched against wrestlers who were, in his opinion, poorly trained or not trained at all.
"I didn't want to be one of those guys who are the last to know that they should have retired a few years ago," he confesses. "And I didn't want to have a career-ending injury. What sense would that make?"
Wayne never became a WWE superstar, but for a smaller-than-average wrestler who came of age in the 1980s, when giants were all the rage and masked marvels were out of style, he pieced together an impressive 26-year career that took him across the United States and Canada and into Puerto Rico — where air conditioning is scarce and blood is absolutely expected.
"I've done all this," he insists. "I can teach these kids a whole lot more than just how to do a bunch of holds. They need history. It's essential that you know where you came from. And they also need to have a philosophy."
Wayne's school maintains a small but diverse student body of athletes, nerds, flamboyant personalities, and everyday Joes. At one end of the spectrum, there are wrestlers like Wayne's son Eric "3-G" Wayne, who bills himself as a "third-generation wrestling superstar," and 25-year-old Kevin "Kid" Nikels, a 220-pound construction worker with a bald head, a shoulder covered with tattoos, and the roar of a Viking berserker. Self-effacing backstage, Nikels describes himself as a "strong style" wrestler who doesn't mind getting knocked around.
In the opposite corner are saucer-eyed beginners like D.J. Stegall, an excitable, pint-sized fanboy of 19 who works for his father at a KFC in Batesville, Mississippi.
Between the extremes, there are intermediate grapplers like Charles and boy-next-door-type Dan Jones, an electronics repairman for Walgreens, who wrestles under the name Dan Matthews.
All of Wayne's students do have one thing in common: They grew up obsessed with TV wrestling. Most of them associate watching wrestling with happy memories of family life. They have nearly identical stories about bounding off their living-room sofas to put an elbow drop on dad or a sibling. "Hit him in the balls," Nikels says with a laugh, remembering a particularly effective off-the-couch strike against his old man.
Nikels is a graduate trainer at Wayne's school. He describes wrestling as therapy. "Sometimes you have a bad day or you're stressed out," he says. "But once I come in here and get started wrestling, it goes away. You think about throwing this guy or punching him in the head. You take out your frustrations and forget about what's bothering you outside the room. It's like going to the doctor's office."
Nikels originally wanted to be a rock star, but he didn't have the guitar chops. "So I figured I should work on getting big and learning how to wrestle," he says, describing a period when he trained three days a week, went to college full time, worked construction full time, and hit the 24-hour gym after hours. "I got used to sleeping only two or three hours a night," he says, rubbing his head bashfully and laughing at his obsession.
Hard work has paid off for both Nikels and Eric Wayne. Both have been called into auditions for the WWE and have received positive feedback. The younger Wayne says he left the audition feeling like he and Nikels already possess the skills they need to go all the way. "But you've got to stand out," he explains.
"The WWE is the top notch, so you've gotta be top-notch too," Nikels adds.
Both take this to mean they need to be bigger, or at the very least more ripped.
"You have to look like an athlete," Eric Wayne says. "If you're 185 pounds and ripped to shreds and you can actually wrestle and you don't trip over yourself getting in the ring, chances are you might be hired and get to the big show."
"Size is a big plus, but it's not the be-all and end-all," says Bruno Lauer. Known to Memphis wrestling fans as Downtown Bruno and to WWE fans as bad-guy manager Dr. Harvey Whippleman, Lauer sits with a beer in his north Mississippi clubhouse beside an action figure that looks just like him. Nearby is the WWE women's championship belt that he won by dressing up in drag and taking on the KAT in a special snow-filled ring.
Lauer, a referee and occasional adviser at Wayne's school, is the picture of contentment. Today, the self-described "dried-up 120-pound redneck" works outside the spotlight as head concierge for the WWE, a gig he describes as "head gofer." He is thrilled to have beaten the odds and made a 30-year career in professional wrestling. Lauer stresses the importance of charisma and credits his own unlikely longevity to "heart."
"To paraphrase Gene Hackman's Coach McGinty in the greatest movie of all time, The Replacement, [I owe my 30 years in the business to] heart. Tons and tons of heart," Lauer says.
"Everybody says professional wrestling is fake," Eric Wayne says. "They say we know how to fall and we pull our punches. My reply is, I've knocked out people's teeth; I've broken their orbital bones; I've shattered their knees."
The young wrestler isn't bragging and is remorseful for what he views as an unfortunate combination of poor judgment, circumstances, and bad luck. He worries that a reputation for being careless and cocky could hurt his chances for advancement. "When you start wrestling, your dreams and aspiration are 'I want to make it to the big show. I'll do whatever's asked of me,'" he says.
"There's an expression they have backstage [at the WWE]," Wayne adds. "They say, 'Humble or stumble.'"
"I'm going for it," Dan Jones declares during a break in his Monday-night training. At 31, Jones is old for a wrestling student. He knows he's only got about 10 years to see if he has what it takes to make it in the WWE.
"[My wife's] the one who told me to go do it," Jones says. "She saw how depressed I was just sitting on the couch watching [other people] do it. She said go do it. Get it out of your system."
Charles is younger and less driven than Jones. He's open to the idea of a professional career but also enjoys wrestling for its own sake. "You're not only performing athletically, you're putting on a show for the fans," he says. He calls the complex relationship between wrestlers and their audience "a new level of professionalism that you really can't find anywhere else."
On Fridays, a little before 7 p.m., a "$5 Admission" sign goes up near the door, and Wayne's secluded school on Jefferson Street is transformed into the high-tech home of New Experience Wrestling (N.E.W.), a weekly promotion that showcases the school's graduates and experienced students.
Wayne and his wife, Debra — also a second-generation wrestler — stand backstage, working out the show's technical details. "Today's wrestling business, on a national scale, is called 'sports entertainment,'" he explains, wondering aloud if fans might be attracted to a more competitive approach, blending older and newer styles of wrestling. "We want to show off the athletic abilities of our performers," he says.
N.E.W. events also help Wayne's students learn how to perform in front of a television camera and provide opportunities for training in operating audio, video, and computer equipment.
As fans take their places in a double row of folding chairs, two announcers banter, testing their microphones. Camera operators check their video equipment. Backstage, the wrestlers psych each other up for the show.
There aren't more than 30 people in the audience, but when the lights come up, the N.E.W. wrestlers go at it like there are 30,000 people in the seats. It's another chance for Eric Wayne to prove he's a superstar who isn't careless; another opportunity for Kevin Charles to live his dream and for the undefeated "Kid" Nikels to prove he's still the baddest man in the building and worth the thousand-dollar bounty on his head. It's a big show. They all are.
What most people call bleeding, wrestlers call "getting color." And, like the costumes and the trash-talking interviews, it's all part of the show. But there is nothing premeditated about the color drawn during Matthews' brawl with "Golden Boy" Greg Anthony, his fourth official fight in front of a paying audience. And the blood was nothing compared to the distraction of seeing his wife on the front row, calming their small children, who couldn't understand why Daddy was taking what appeared to be the beating of a lifetime.
After the match, an upbeat Matthews tells his instructors he won't be available for regular training on Sunday evening because he needs some family time. "It's my anniversary weekend," he says sheepishly.
Ken Wayne voices his approval. "You don't want to miss your anniversary," the twice-married "Nightmare" cautions.
"Well," Matthews says, walking out into the school's parking lot, past a maze of forklift pallets, mountains of sawdust, and shattered lumber, "my anniversary is actually today." The other wrestlers laugh and nod their heads knowingly.
"I'm here at the 'Nightmare' Ken Wayne School of Professional Wrestling, because, basically, it's my life," D.J. Stegall says, prior to a Monday-night class. He might as well be speaking for everyone who has ever found his way to Wayne's school and stuck around for more than a week. Stegall says he's no longer bothered that people taunt him because of his small stature, and he doesn't care what anybody thinks about his decision to go into the ring.
"I'm not in it for the celebrity status," Stegall says. "My goal is to be considered a great wrestler. Whether I get to the WWE or not, whether I'm wrestling in front of five people or 500 or selling out Madison Square Garden, I want you to look at me and say, 'That guy's a great wrestler.' I'm in this for respect and to do what I love."
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