Elvis, Always the King

 

Today in 1977, Elvis Presley left this world but left a lasting impression that is never to be forgotten. Since I was a little girl, I have always loved Elvis. His style, his music, his Graceland home, everything about him I've always been fascinated with. When I finally made a pilgrimage to Memphis, it was everything I thought it would be. I was even lucky enough to return for Elvis Week. Every year since then I when Elvis week begins, I always wish I could be back in Memphis celebrating his life and legacy.

Elvis Week begins a week before the death of Elvis and culminates on the day of his death with the candlelight vigil. Thousands of people flood the gates of Graceland and make their way to the meditation garden which is home to Elvis' resting place. Holding candles and paying their respects this event brings in tons of fans and is broadcast live on the internet.

While I can't attend this years celebrations. I'm still thinking of the King of Rock n' Roll today! You can see all of my love and previous Elvis Week posts on Elvis here. You'll also see my Elvis Christmas tree! In the meantime here's my top 5 Elvis songs...

My Way

Kentucky Rain

Burning Love

Always On My Mind

If I Can Dream

Elvis Tribute Artists

We've all seen at least one person impersonating Elvis Presley. Most people think of Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas standing on the strip taking photos with people in their jump suits. However, Elvis Tribute Artists are in a whole different world. These guys are performers. Their real fans of Elvis who honor him each time they take the stage. They've learned his mannerisms, his music, his appearance and his voice. They've dedicated their singing abilities to belting out Elvis songs.

Every year at Elvis Week, Elvis Presley Enterprises hosts the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artists Contest. To be eligible to compete during Elvis Week each tribute artists must have won a prequalify contest throughout the year at one of the many contests held across the nation. Around 30 performers come to the stage and in preliminary and semifinal rounds they are narrowed down to the top 10. The top 10 performers are then narrowed down in the finals until one single ETA stands as the winner.

The winner gets recognized by Elvis Presley Enterprise, $20,000 cash, a ETA contest belt and a contract to perform for Legends In Concert. They also receive several other valuable prices. I've been fortunate enough to sit front row for these concerts and it really is amazing how much some of the performers sound and act like Elvis. The judges have a difficult time narrowing down the field. They judge them on Vocals, Style, Stage Wear and Stage Presence.

While there are hundreds and thousands of ETA out in the world, these are some that I've seen perform...

Ben Klein

Cody Slaughter winner of the EPE ETA 2011

Pete Storm

Gordon Hendricks

Ben Portsmouth winner of the EPE ETA 2012

David Allen

 Kevin Mills

Lou Vuto

Eddie Miles

Pete Wilcox

All of these guys were great in concert. I've seen a lot of Elvis Tribute Artists but these guys take the cake. If you ever get a chance to attend the ETA contest or any of the preliminary competitions, I strongly urge you to go! They are so much fun and the guys really are talented!

The Day the King Died

August 16, 1977 the world was hit with the devastating news that Elvis Presley had died at the young age of 42.

The last known photo of Elvis was taken on August 16 around 12:30 a.m.

Elvis' last day on earth has been highly documented by his friends, family and doctors. On August 15th Elvis woke up around his normal time of 4:00 p.m. He spent the evening watching television, playing with Lisa Maria (who was at Graceland on summer vacation and was set to return to Los Angeles in the next few days) and in the company of his fiancé Ginger Alden. He then left Graceland around 11:00 p.m. to visit his dentist. He returned to Graceland around 12:30 a.m. driving his Stutz Blackhawk through the gates and waving to fans at the gate.

Around 2:15 a.m. on the 16th, Elvis started to feel some pain in his teeth. He called his personal physician Doctor Nick and asked for something for the pain. He prescribed him 6 tablets and one of his assistants picked up the pills at an all night pharmacy. Once Elvis began feeling better he called his friend Billy Smith and asked if him and his wife would like to play racquet ball. Once they arrived they played on the racquet ball court on the property and then went into the den area beside the court. Elvis sat down at the piano and played for a little while. His last song that he would ever sing was Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. Elvis stayed up for a few more hours then proceeded to go to his bedroom.

At this time in his life, Elvis was highly dependent on drugs to help him wake up and go to sleep. He had prescribed packets of medication for all of his ailments and issues. He would take these prescribed packets and 3 different times of the day. Once he returned to his bedroom, he took one of the prescribed packets to help him sleep. Shortly after, Elvis told Ginger that he was going in the bathroom to read. Ginger told him not to fall asleep in there and he responded with, "Ok, I won't." At 1:30 p.m. Ginger woke up to find that Elvis was not in bed. She called her mother, got up and put her make up on and then walked over to the bathroom door. She softly knocked and didn't get a response. Then she pushed open the bathroom door and saw Elvis.

 

Elvis was laying face down in the shag carpet beside the toilet. There was also a pool of vomit on the carpet. Thinking that he had fallen and hit his head, Ginger called downstairs for help. His long time bodyguard Joe Esposito came running into the room. He immediately tried to perform CPR but with little hope they knew Elvis was gone. His face had turned a purple color and was swollen, his eyes bloodshot and his tongue discolored. Quickly, members of the household knew something was wrong. Vernon his father quickly got upstairs along with Lisa Marie. Ginger kept young Lisa out of the room while Elvis was being treated. Elvis was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis and 22 minutes after the initial call, Elvis was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. 

Colonel Parker and Priscilla were the first calls made from Graceland. Once news began to spread of Elvis' death the world went crazy with grief. Immediately after his death, the world wanted answers. The corners office began doing an autopsy on Elvis and determined the cause of death to be Cardiac Arrhythmia due to a undetermined heartbeat. They also quickly learned that Elvis had over 14 medications inside him. They also believed he could have went into anaphylactic shock due to a slight allergy to the medicine that was prescribed due to the dentist appointment earlier in the night.

In the meantime, fans flocked to the gates of Graceland. Quickly, florists in the Memphis area began receiving flower orders that rose to 3,000. The phone company had to ask residents to only place emergency calls due to the large influx of calls. Before the casket could arrive to Graceland for the home service over 50,000 fans had made their way to Elvis Presley Boulevard. They all wanted to see that it was true, that the King really was gone and to get a glimpse of his copper casket.

Fans were brought up from the street four at a time to view and pay their respects. The line stretched over a mile long. Fans began to faint in the over 90 degree weather. On the inside of Graceland, turmoil continued with the family and close friends. They all walked around in a daze not wanting to believe their good friend was gone. Elvis was buried in the same place as his mother. At the request of his father Vernon, the body was moved a few months later to the meditation garden at Graceland. Security concerns were high and the family was worried someone would try to disrupt Elvis' body.

Once the services were held, the fans continued to flock to Graceland. At the time of Elvis' death he was financially in trouble. Priscilla who had taken over the large portion of the estate in the name of Lisa Marie realized if they were to keep the property they needed to raise some money. She decided to turn Graceland into a museum for his fans and that's what it remains to this day.

 

Many people still wonder how Elvis, the King of Rock n' Roll could be almost broke at the time of his death? Well that's simple. Elvis loved to give. He would give strangers the shirt of his back. He also had a large payroll each month and upkeep on his planes, property and staff. He was set to go out on tour and that would have kept him financially secure. That day never came though. The fans would never get to see the King perform again. We lost a legend that late summer day in Memphis.

Elvis Week Begins

Every year in August the masses descend upon Memphis, Tennessee to celebrate the life of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n' Roll. This week is known as Elvis Week. The week is packed full of events that run all day and all night. It culminates on the day of his death August 16th with a candlelight vigil at Graceland. Fans, friends and family can walk up the driveway, make their way around the house and walk through the meditation garden to show their respects to the king at his gravesite. Elvis Presley Boulevard is closed off to traffic and fans line the street with shrines honoring his legend.

Elvis Tribute Artists Contest

Concerts from tribute artists pop up all over town and the Elvis Presley Enterprises hosts the Elvis Tribute Artist contest at the Orpheum. Old members of the Memphis Mafia gather for dinner hosted by one of Elvis' oldest friends George Klein and tell stories of their dearly missed friend. The best part is George gives all of the proceeds to charity. Co-stars from Elvis' movies come and speak about what it was like to film with Elvis. Late night Bingo happens in the sold out Heartbreak Hotel and Elvis souvenirs fly off the shelves of the stores in the Graceland shops. You can also compete in the EP trivia contest. You can drive by his old high school, see his first home not far from Graceland and you can go down to Beale street and visit the clothing shop where Elvis got most of his original clothing, Lansky Brothers. Are you a runner? Do the Elvis 5k!

I had the pleasure of attending an Elvis week and it was a week full of fun. I went there completely alone and I met so many wonderful people. I never felt like I was alone because so many Elvis fans were around. When you attend all of these events everyone is so approachable. Everyone interacts and mingles and likes getting to know other Elvis fans. I also learned so much about Elvis that I didn't know. If you have the chance to go to Memphis for Elvis week then go! Don't miss out on the opportunity to surround yourself with people who also love and appreciate the King of Rock n' Roll.

Each year Elvis Presley Enterprise hosts different events so Elvis Week continues to change and evolve. You can attend for years in a row and do different things each year. Just make sure to get your hotel reservations in early because the town fills up! Graceland is currently in the process of building their own hotel across the street from the mansion. It's called The Guest House at Graceland. It should be open to the public in the fall of 2016.

Start making your reservations now! Don't miss another Elvis Week! Check out the Graceland Website and Mobile App for all of this years activities.

Grass Roots Elvis

In 2012, Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) held a contest to find a co-host for Elvis Week. I made a video , submitted it and sadly didn't win. Elvis Week came and went and I wasn't able to go (I had went the previous year in 2011). It also happened to be the same week that I had to move from West Virginia to California. When I found out that I wasn't going to win, I was sad. I invested a lot of time and had my friends back me up in making the video. It took our time, our efforts and we had put a lot of thought into it. I thought we did pretty good. 

Now most people would just take their rejection and walk away. That's not me. 

You see, I'm one of those people who when they get rejected wants it even more. It doesn't matter how badly I wanted it the first time, now I want to co-host more than anything! You see, I'm not just an Elvis fan. I'm the Elvis fan. I've been a fan since I was a little girl. One Christmas all of my gifts were Elvis related. I got the 3D Graceland puzzle, vintage concert buttons, his movies, stand ups etc. Not to mention every Christmas since then I still get tons of new Elvis gifts. Growing up we would go to Pigeon Forge and watch the tribute artists perform, hang out with Charlie Hodge (one of Elvis' closest friends) and then go through the local Elvis Museum there. My love continued to grow. So naturally I started going to Graceland. Then finally I was able to go to Elvis Week. Plus I'm determined, smart and realllllly want it. 

The fact that the possibility of co-hosting is out there in the world makes me so excited. Just the thought of it makes me come alive with excitement. Now... I don't know if EPE is going to do it again this year for Elvis Week 2013 but I'm here now starting a #grassrootselvis plan to be apart of Elvis week in some way. I'll co-host events, I'll run errands if that's what they want. I'll basically do whatever they want from me as long as I can be apart of it in some official way. How am I going to do that? Well that's where you come in...

I need help! Get out there and start watching the video . Tell your friends, blog about it, tweet about it (tag me @jmomiller), hashtag about it (#grassrootselvis, #jennifermillerelvis), facebook it, instagram (tag me @jmomiller) it or like my posts about it. DO ANYTHING to get the word out there. Cause if there's one thing I've learned is that social media has a huge power and us bloggers are loyal. So help me succeed! I'm smart, I'm witty, well spoken and would love this opportunity. So there you have it. My campaign has began. I'm totally going grass roots. Plus the video is entertaining! 

You can find the link to all of my social media sites on the left hand column. You can also find the video on Youtube here . Spread the word friends! #grassrootselvis !!!! Just think of the updates and posts that could come from co-hosting this amazing event! 

Elvis Week 2011 Recap Finale

Incase you missed the previous two recaps they can be found here and here .

On my last day in Memphis, I started the day out right with breakfast. I had been wanting to try a place called the Blue Plate Cafe, so I made my way over there. I ended up getting their Blue Plate Buttermilk Pancakes and bacon.

Honestly, it may look really good but the pancakes were so dry. I was actually disappointed in the restaurant because I had been hearing really good things about it. Maybe it was just an off day for them. 

After breakfast, I set out to do something I've been trying to do the last two times I was in town which was visiting Humes High School.

Humes High School was where Elvis attended high school. It's also been featured in a few movies such as Great Balls of Fire and Elvis & Me. Now the school is a middle school. Be warned, it's in a bad part of town and I do not suggest going there at night.

Straight from there I headed to my river boat day cruise, Rollin' On the River! This was an all Elvis Insiders cruise so it was a few hundred EP fans cruising down the mighty Mississippi. The views were amazing and I was so glad that it didn't rain!

I'm not going to lie, the Memphis heat was awful. I thought it had been a hot summer in WV... well, I was wrong. I don't know how people living in Memphis are doing it. I literally would sweat through my clothing within minutes of being outside. So when I got off the boat, I changed clothing and headed to the big event of the day.

Elvis: Live In Concert was a great event where they featured Elvis performing but with a live, modern band on stage. They had this amazing see thru screen that had Elvis projected on it performing his Vegas show but you could still see the live band behind him with the lights. It was so cool. I don't know how to explain it properly but it was almost as if he was there!

You can kind of get an idea of what it was like from the photo. The band is behind the screen. It was very cool... trust me! So there you have it, besides a few other events that was my Elvis Week! 

Elvis Week 2011 Recap 2

Wednesday & Thursday Recap can be found here .

On Friday morning, I set out to tour Graceland. I've been inside a few times before but I really wanted to go through the house again during Elvis Week. I always love getting to see the funky and unique decor that Elvis surrounded himself in. I love all of the mansion but my favorite rooms are these two...

The Living Room

and the 

Jungle Room

I don't know why, but those have always been my favorite rooms to see in Graceland. I also love the outside of the house. The lions and the steps are my favorite. 

After I got done touring Graceland, I finished touring the remaining and surrounding museums that are attached to the Graceland complex. They have a lot of his cars, personal clothing and accessories on display. They also have his two planes and many of his jumpsuits. My favorite jumpsuit is still on display in the VIP room...

Once I was done touring Graceland, I headed down to Beale Street for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist finals. They started round one with 26 guys and went into round two with 15 and the final round went from 10, then 5 and the winner announced! Here's a few photos from the first two rounds then the final. 

waiting for the results of round 1

Ben Portsmouth Round 2

Ben Klein & David Allen Round 2

Kevin Mills & Cody Slaugher Round 3

 The Top 5 ETA's waiting for the results

The 2011 Ultimate ETA Champion: Cody Slaughter!

I know a lot of people personally do not like the ETA competitions but I love them. In fact besides one other event, I thought it was one of the best parts of Elvis Week. I just hope I can score front row seats again next year! 

Elvis Week 2011 Part 1

Look who's back from Elvis Week and being in Memphis! First of all, I had a wonderful time! I'm glad to be back though and blogging again. Let's recap the trip shall we? We shall! I was there for so many events and I did so many things, I'm going to have to break this into a few posts. So be warned!!


I pulled into Memphis last Wednesday and hit the ground running. My first stop after checking into my hotel was to hit up my favorite vintage store in Memphis: Flashback Inc. I've shopped there before and this time was another great trip because I found the matching butter dish to the canister set I got there last time. 

Once I got done shopping, I headed over to Graceland to pick up my event tickets and do the evening walk up to the Meditation Gardens. It's something really nice to do because normally you can't walk up the drive at Graceland. They have free morning and evening hours that you can walk up to the Meditation Gardens and visit the grave of Elvis. Since it was his favorite place on the grounds, it's a peaceful area for thought as well. 

(walking up to the gardens)

Thursday is when the real events really began to start. I'm a big fan of Elvis and I originally got interested in Elvis, his life and his music because when I was younger I saw an Elvis Tribute Artist. From there my love blossomed. One of the main ticketed events of Elvis Week is the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. 

(inside the Hard Rock Cafe Meet & Greet)

Since I was a VIP, I got to attend the Meet & Greet held at the Hard Rock before Round 1 began. It was really nice getting to meet and chat with everyone who would be competing for the Ultimate title. These guys are the best of the best. They have to enter a sanctioned EPE (elvis presley enterprises) contest during the year and win that to be able to compete in the Ultimate at Elvis Week. 

Remember me mentioning seeing an ETA when I was younger? This is him! I was in shock when I saw him there. I hadn't see him perform since I was in grade school! Mr. Eddie Miles! 

 

Ben Klein & I. He ended up taking 2nd in the competition! 

 Ben Portsmouth and I. He is gorgeous and from England so he's got that great accent.

The guys were extremely nice, not to mention easy on the eyes. Once the Meet & Greet was over, I had a little bit of time to kill, so I walked down the street and toured the Gibson Guitar Factory. I don't know that much about Gibson or Guitars but the factory tour was really cool. You actually walk through the factory and get to see them making guitars. It was very neat getting to see them cutting wood, painting, sanding, etc. I really recommend it. 

After the tour at Gibson I headed down to the Orphium Theater for Round 1 and 2 of the competition (which I'll post pics of tomorrow with the final round). Once those were over and we were down to 10 guys, it was dinner time! Since I had spent all day on and near Beale Street, I figured I'd hit up the famous Dyers. 

And of course it was yummy! Best burger in town! It was a great way to end the day. I also popped into one of the most eclectic shops on Beale Street.... Tater Reds! 

That was my first 2 days in Memphis! Don't worry Theater Thursday will be back next week.