ELVIS, the All-Time King of Rock n’ Roll, begun his singing career with the song “That’s Alright Mama.”  From that moment on, he was destined to change the face of American music forever!  Today, every Elvis Tribute Artist (ETA) in the world pays tribute to this legendary performer … and his remarkable music, dazzling performance style, and unmatched versatility.

      The Elvis’ legacy lives on … thanks to all the ETAs, Elvis fans, websites, magazines, and other publications that continually feature Elvis, and anything and everything Elvis. And of course, the Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE) that presents the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist competitions around the world.

      For the fourth year in a row, EPE is continuing its search for the “best representation of the legacy of Elvis Presley.”  Every year, the response to the excitement generated by the very first contest in 2007 is spectacular!  It even increases as time goes by!

      As of this writing, twelve preliminary winners have already been selected, and these 12 will be traveling to Memphis to compete in the semifinal round during Elvis Week 2010 for their chance to become the 2010 Ultimate ETA World Champion.  Three more upcoming preliminary rounds are on schedule so far, and probably some more will be scheduled before Elvis Week this year.

     DWIGHT ICENHOWER (yes, that’s his real name!), a very gifted and fantastic performer who came all the way from Orlando, Florida, is one of the 12 who will compete in Memphis this August.  As winner of this year’s Pechanga competition, he bested the rest of the Top Five Pechanga winners: TRAVIS ALLEN, JAMES KING, CLINT INGBRETSON and CHRIS LUNA.

      Dwight, by the way, will not only compete at the semifinals for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest.  He will also compete in the 2010 Images of the King contest, as winner of the Images preliminary contest held in Frankfort, Kentucky, this past February 26-27.   In 2008, Dwight was one of the Top Ten finalists in the Ultimate ETA Contest in Memphis.

      A full-time Elvis Tribute Artist, Dwight performs 4-5 shows weekly, and keeps his audience asking for more.  Born four years after the King passed away, Dwight has studied every move that Elvis made and has mastered the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s eras of Elvis’ career.  He has performed all over the United States and is planning a worldwide tour soon.

     Raised in Pomeroy, Ohio, Dwight began his career singing karaoke at a local fair when he was just 16 years old.  Now, he is one of the many ETAs that have made a full-time career out of keeping the legend and memory of Elvis alive.  As a performer, he had the opportunity to share the stage with some personal friends of Elvis, including DJ FONTANA, THE JORDANAIRES, THE SWEET INSPIRATIONS, CYNTHIA PEPPER, JULIE PARRISH, JOE ESPOSITO, and the late CHARLIE HODGE.

       The other 11 preliminary winners who have been selected so far to battle it out  in the Memphis semifinals in August are the following:  GINO MONOPOLI, Atlantic City Ultimate ETA Contest; RICK LENZI, LakeGeorge.com Ultimate ETA Contest; KEVIN MILLS, Tupelo Elvis Festival; VICTOR TREVINO, JR., Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge Ultimate ETA Contest; DANNY VERNON, Chinook Winds Casino Ultimate ETA Contest; ERIC “ERock” HAWS, Branson Elvis Festival; MARK ANTHONY, Toronto Elvis Festival; VINCE KING, Legends in Concert Myrtle Beach Contest; TRENT CARLINI, Ultimate ETA Contest at Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg; CHRIS AYOTE, Elvis Fantasy Fest Ultimate ETA Contest; and JIM BARONE, New England Ultimate ETA Contest.

       The three more preliminary rounds on schedule are: the Penticton Pacific Northwest Elvis Festival on June 25-27, at Penticton, British Columbia, Canada; the Japan Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest and Festival on July 3 in Yokohama, Japan and July 4 in Tokyo, Japan; and the 8th Annual Tampa Elvis Festival/Contest on July 17 at the All People Life Center in Tampa, Florida.

      This year, a unique feature has been added!  As part of the 2010 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest, one of the semifinal round spots will be filled by a tribute artist selected by the fans themselves.  Top reality shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars may have originated this practice.

      Now through July 12, every fan can place one vote for the Elvis Tribute Artist whom they would like to see compete during the semifinal round of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest on Thursday, August 12, at The Orpheum Theatre.  The Elvis Tribute Artist who gets the most fan votes in the poll will receive the following:  roundtrip airfare for two to Memphis; five-night hotel accommodations at the Memphis Marriott downtown; and tickets for two to several events and venues in Memphis.

    The Memphis event will include the semifinal on August 12, 2010, with the Top 10 proceeding on to the final round which will be held August 13.  The Top Three winners of the final round of the competition will receive valuable prizes.

      The First Place Winner will receive the title of Ultimate Elvis Tribute of 2010; recognition by the Elvis Presley Enterprises; cash prize of $20,000; an opportunity to perform as part of the Legends in Concert Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Tour; and a selection of other valuable prizes.  The Second Prize Winner will receive $3,000 in cash and other valuable prizes; and the Third Place Winner will also receive $2,000 in cash and other valuable prizes.

    The Ultimate ETA World Champions of the past three years are SHAWN KLUSH (2007), BRANDON BENNETT (2008), and BILL CHERRY (2009).  Who will it be this 2010?  Again, your guess is as good as mine!  Will it be DWIGHT ICENHOWER, Pechanga’s Champion this year?

      At this year’s Pechanga contest, sixteen tribute artists battled it out in three rounds of competitions for two successive days.  The 16 contestants were:  TRAVIS ALLEN, a local boy and former electrician from Temecula. California,  who later moved to Las Vegas when he started his career as an Elvis tribute artist; FREDDIE WUNDER of Oceanside, California; KEN YUVIENCO of Los Angeles, California; SEVE BOTELLO of Modesto, California; ALFRED SANCHEZ of Los Angeles, California;  JESSE ORTEGA also of Los Angeles, California; JAMES KING of Long Beach, California; RUBIN MEJIA of Myrtle Valley, California; JAMES KRUK of Oceanside, California; MANNY CAOILE of Union City, San Francisco, California; JIM LeBEOUF  of Boston, Massachusetts; CLINT INGBRETSON of Medford, Oregon; PAIGE POOLE of Las Vegas, Nevada; PAUL MONROE of San Diego, California; CHRIS LUNA of Ontario, California; and DWIGHT ICENHOWER of Orlando, Florida.

      An hour- and-a-half before the contest started Friday, the first day of the 3-day competition, the Cabaret Lounge opened.  Even before the Cabaret opened its doors, there was already a long line of excited Elvis fans waiting outside.  

      While the fans scrambled for choice seats, ELVIS PRESLEY, the Entertainer of the Century himself, was shown on the wide-screen monitors flanking both sides of the stage, singing hits after choice hits of the songs we love through the years.  In the dressing room behind the stage, the 16 contestants were getting dressed in their choice of Elvis outfits – ranging from the Elvis’ outfits of the 50’s, and all the way to the Concert Stage and Tour years of the King.

      And at exactly 4:30 p.m. the lights dimmed, and KURT BROWN of the Brown Productions LLC, producer and emcee of the contest, emerged from behind the curtains to start a night of action, fun and music.

       Just like in the past three years of the Memphis Ultimate ETA competitions, this year’s judging criteria are as follows:  Vocals – the ability to match the sound and quality of Elvis’ voice; Appearance – the ability to create the look and style that represents Elvis well; Stage Presence – the ability to recreate the charisma Elvis created when performing on stage; and Overall Performance – the quality of the overall performance as a whole.

       The most important of these judging criteria, according to Kurt, is the package, voice, look, and performance taken together.  In other words, the best representation of the legacy of the King!  The points will be totaled up after the Friday and Saturday rounds to select the five who will move on to the Sunday finals, Kurt continued.

       “It’s not as simple as it sounds,” Kurt said, “There’s a lot of strategy involved as performers try to play to their strength in the quest for the Top Five slots and the title of Pechanga’s Champion.”

      There was so much strategy, indeed, as the performers do not directly get to choose the songs they will do.  Who performs what song is determined by lottery, with each performer singing one song during the first three rounds, and three songs each for the five finalists during the final round.  After the five finalists pick up one song each, the order is changed for the second selections, and changed again for the third.

      The winner of the Pechanga competition will walk away with $2,000 in cash, and will compete during the Semi-Final round of the Ultimate Tribute Contest in Memphis during the Elvis Week 2010 in August.

      In order of appearance, here are the 16 contestants, the outfits they wore, and the songs they selected by lottery: TRAVIS ALLEN, in a 50’s Gold and Black Lame outfit, “Trouble”; FREDDIE WUNDER,  in white-fringed jumpsuit, “Blue Suede Shoes”; KEN YUVIENCO,  in GI Blues outfit, “GI Blues”; SEVE BOTELLO, in a Spanish Flower jumpsuit,  “Proud Mary”; ALFRED SANCHEZ,  in black shirt and white pants, “New Orleans”; JESSE ORTEGA, in a black Fringe jumpsuit, “Walk a Mile in My Shoes”; JAMES KING, in an Aloha jumpsuit, “My Way”; RUBIN MEJIA , also in an Aloha jumpsuit, “The Wonder of You.”

       JAMES KRUK  in a white Fringed jumpsuit, “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling”; MANNY CAOILE, in a white Fringed jumpsuit, “That’s All Right Mama”;  JIM LeBOEUF, in a black Fringed jumpsuit, “Let It Be Me”; CLINT INGRETSON, in an Aztec Calendar jumpsuit, “Hurt”; PAIGE POOLE, in a black Pinwheel jumpsuit, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”; PAUL MONROE, in a black Checkerboard jumpsuit, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” ; CHRIS LUNA, in a blue Owl jumpsuit, “Never Been to Spain”; and DWIGHT ICENHOWER, in a 50’s white blazer and black pants, “Won’t You Wear my Ring Up Around your Neck.”

     On the second day, there were two rounds of competition.  The judges’ points were cumulative for the three rounds of competition and the top five highest scorers will compete during the Sunday finals.

      If the line was long during the first day of the competition, on the second day the line was much longer snaking all the way down between the long rows of slot and video machines.   With only so much room inside the Cabaret, not everyone was able to get in.  Kurt said that maybe next year a bigger room will be chosen instead of the Cabaret Lounge.  

        Before the first round on the second day, I had a chance to chat with a few of the Elvis fans and managed to jot down their names for this article:  IRENE LITLE, ROBERT HAMILTON, RENE SKAADEN, ARLENE BURROUGHS, CAROLYN TAYLOR, PATTY FINGER, DOROTHEA CROSS, BECKY BOND, ALLEN & MICKEY SABIN, VICTOR & ALICIA GARCIA, JESSE & ROSIE NUNO, JESSE NAVA & SYLVIA RONQUILLO, CAROL IKAMI, LESSA IKAMI, KATHY GARRISON, TINA MARIE ALTMAN, VITA ELISKALNS, CHARLOTTE WRIGHT, SUE WOLFRAM, ALEX KRUK, DENNIS & DEBBIE SKYLES, CONNIE W. BUNGE and FREDERICO CISNEROS.

       Elvis Tribute Artists and Elvis impersonators, no matter how good they are, are nothing without their fans.  It’s the Elvis fans who build them up and make them famous.  The fans will follow them wherever they go, will drive or fly to be with them, all in the hope of bringing back Elvis!     

    During both rounds of the competition, again the contestants choose the songs by lottery – songs that we all love to hear like:  “Heartbreak Hotel Medley”, “He’ll Have to Go”, “It’s Now or Never”, “Polk Salad”, “Little Sister”, “Suspicious Minds”, “Sweet Caroline”, “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”, “You Gave Me a Mountain”, “Trying to Get to You”, “How Great Thou Art”, “American Trilogy”, “Baby, What I Say”, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, “Love Me Tender”, “I’ve Got a Woman”, “If I can Dream”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Steamroller Derby”, “The Impossible Dream”, “Viva Las Vegas”, “Don’t”, “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, “Kentucky Rain”, and “Proud Mary.”

      On the second day of the contest, each of the 16 contestants had to sing an extra song – the first lines of “Old McDonald.”  This is because Kurt has been quoted as telling contestants that: “You should be able to sing ‘Old McDonald in Elvis style.” Kurt was not kidding at all, because Elvis sang the children’s ditty in a movie once.  According to Kurt, anyone who cannot reproduce Elvis’ style in singing the children ditty with a substantial degree of authenticity may just as well not even try to join the contest.  Every one of the 16 did!

      The judges for the first two days of competition were JANET BORLAND, Talent Management Manager of the Pechanga Resort & Casino; JANNA JOOS, President of the International Celebrity Images in Palm Springs California and Las Vegas, Nevada; and MINERVA (who like Madonna and Cher goes by one-name only), Special Events Coordinator of the Pechanga Resort & Casino.

      To the delight of the audience, Kurt conducted a mini-trivia contest to fill the time gap while the judges recorded their votes.  The trivia winners received DVDs and other prizes.  As producer and emcee, Kurt is superb!  He has a great sense of humor, a vast knowledge of Elvis trivia, and is adept at introducing the Elvis Tribute Artists.

     He is a great singer too, and is a man of many voices. He even gave a perfect rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”  The audience loved him, and so did I!  Kurt asked if any in the audience can do impressions.  All of us in the front row seats pointed at DENNIS SKYLES and told Kurt that Dennis can do KENNY ROGERS to perfection.  The microphone was passed on to Dennis, and Kurt was amazed and impressed at how Dennis sang the first few lines of “Lady.”

      Kurt also introduced a special guest of the contest, PATTI PARRY, the only female member of the Memphis Mafia.  Patti, dubbed as “Elvis’ Little Sister”, came to the contest with Dwight.

      After the judges were done tallying the votes, the five finalists were announced in no particular order: CHRIS LUNA, JAMES KING, CLINT INGBRETSON, TRAVIS ALLEN and DWIGHT ICENHOWER.

      The day of the Finals came, and The Showroom was filled to capacity.  In the order of appearance, here are the Top Five, the outfit they selected to wear, and the three songs they performed:

       JAMES KING in an Aloha jumpsuit, “How Great Thou Art”, “Suspicious Minds” and “Unchained Melody”; CLINT INGBRETSON in an Aztec Calendar jumpsuit, “You Gave Me a Mountain”, “Moody Blue” and “My Way”; TRAVIS ALLEN in  Gold Lame, “Blue Suede Shoes”, “It’s Now or Never” and “Hound Dog”; CHRIS LUNA in a white Tiger jumpsuit, “Mystery Train/Tiger Man Medley”, “American Trilogy” and “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You”; and DWIGHT ICENHOWER in a Peacock jumpsuit, “Burning Love”, “Always On my Mind” and “Hurt.”

      Instead of the recorded music that accompanied the performers on the first two days of competitions, at the Finals they were accompanied by a live band.   It was the EAS Band itself – the official EPE Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artists back-up band. The EAS Band, considered the definitive ETA back-up group (not counting the original Elvis band of course) has the following members:  JOHN CRENSHAW, drums; TOMMY MADDEN, guitar; BRIAN HARRIS, piano; RICK CRENSHAW, bass; JASON PARKS, keyboards; CHERYL CRENSHAW and DONETTA CRENSHAW, vocals.

       James, Travis and Dwight were all accorded a long standing ovation after each of their turn on stage.  Prior to the announcement of winners, I asked RAY WILDER, an Elvis fan who was seated beside me, on his guess as to who will win first place, and he said, “DWIGHT ICENHOWER – he has the most powerful clear voice and the best stage presence.”

     JANET BORLAND and JANNA JOOS, judges during the first two days, were also judges in the finals. The third judge was FORREST KELLY, President of First Run TV, who covers and interviews movie stars during movie premieres in Hollywood and elsewhere.

      On the last day of the contest, I exchanged business cards with Staff Writer AARON CLAVERIE of The Californian, a local paper in Temecula.  He was there, too, to cover the event for his paper.

      And then the moment we were all waiting for came – the announcement of winners.  DWIGHT ICENHOWER won 1st place; TRAVIS ALLEN, 2nd; JAMES KING, 3rd; CLINT INGBRETSON, 4th; and CHRIS LUNA, 5th.  Congratulations!

      During the 3-day contest, members of the media were provided with press passes and complimentary tickets.  My thanks to ROBERT BLEDSOE, Public Relations Manager of the Pechanga Resort & Casino for the wonderful hospitality he accorded us, and for providing myself and my photographer NARRIE BABAO with press passes.  And my thanks to KURT BROWN, producer of Brown Productions LLC, for giving us complimentary front row seats tickets.

      Pechanga Resort & Casino is an ideal venue for the Ultimate ETA contest, being one of Southern California’s premier entertainment resorts.  The no-cover Cabaret Lounge, where the first two days of competitions was held, provided a comfortable yet energized atmosphere.   

       The magnificent 1,200 permanent seat Pechanga Showroom puts the audience “up close and personal” for headliner acts and concerts.  The Showroom, this year’s venue for the Ultimate ETA contest, regularly features internationally recognized performers like: ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK, BOB DYLAN, KELLY CLARKSON, TIM CONWAY, M.C. HAMMER and JULIO IGLESIAS, just to name a few.

      World-famous comedians including JERRY SEINFELD, RAY ROMANO and BILL COSBY have left guests in stitches.  And thousands have been enthralled by Broadway musicals performed there, such as “Cats”, “Aida” and “Grease.”  Upcoming events at Pechanga include:  PAUL ANKA, THE BACKSTREET BOYS, THE STEVE MILLER BAND, GIPSY KINGS, JIM GAFFIGAN, PAT BENATAR, BILLY IDOL, CHRIS ISAAK, THE BEACH BOYS, LATIN LEGENDS and THE DOBBIE BROTHERS.

      The Pechanga Resort & Casino, nestled in Temecula’s picturesque Southern California Wine Country, is California’s biggest and best resort and casino.  It is even bigger than the MGM Grand of Las Vegas!  It offers the ultimate destination setting and is the winner of AAA’s Four Diamond Award for several years in a row.  It has an immense 200,000+ square-foot gaming floor which features more than 3,700 state-of-the-art slot and video machines and 139 table games.

       Temecula is the perfect central point of Southern California, located about an hour’s drive from downtown San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles.  From my San Diego home, it takes an hour and a half.  Just 20 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, the area offers a Mediterranean climate perfect for vineyards as well as enjoyable outdoor activities.

                                                                       XXX

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