Tonight's ABC Special not getting much promotion

[SeeSeeRider777]

It was a good show but it could have been better without the 3 6 mafia, they should have spoke about Elvis' style (jumpsuits, clothes, sunglasses) a little more. What a big mistake not letting Elvis do A Star is Born.

[txwoman4]

This show was not at all what I expected! While I loved the performances by Miranda Lambert,Faith HIll, Daughtry,Toby Keith and Joe Perry...what the H**L was that thing by the 3 6 mafia? That was just a total and complete slap in Elvis' face. It made that song sound rediculous! I cant believe that they even put that on. Also some of the comments bt 50cent were rude! And the way they harped on the perscription drug thing and the "other" women. This was just not a special that painted Elvis in a good light. I thought it was more or less a documentry of his Vegas yrs. but it wasnt.

[King_Creole]

As a whole complete showcase, I was also disappointed. I thought there would legitimately be a show about Elvis' connection to Vegas. It was really only a sidenote. I guess only something on PBS could explore this a bit more in depth. The mainstream media show has to deal with everything.

I wish the Elvis related guest list had extended beyond EPE approved guests and included someone like Red West, who despite the book, really did love Elvis. I also wish that someone other than Elizabeth Vargas, whose journalistic gifts seem to consist of providing looks that range from approval, to disgust, to sincere sympathy.

Some of the comments about Vegas were astonishingly wrongheaded. Elvis did change the way Las Vegas worked. His was the first show to make money, he provided a forum for a new style of entertainment in the city and he raised the ante on spectacle in a live performance from a pop performer. However, it is possible to note all this without labeling people like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as "has beens" at a time when Martin was hosting a top television show and both were having hit records and selling out venues across the nation. It also would have been possible to note Elvis' slump without making an erroneous statement like "the artist who hadn't had a hit record in seven years".

HUH ???????

Did someone forget to do their homework ? As far as I can remember, Between 1963 and 1968, Elvis placed three (3) singles in the Billboard Top Ten and another nine (9) in the Top 20.

The list of performers was mostly B-list. Norah Jones did a nice "Love Me". Chris Isaak was good on "Love Me Tender, but awful on "Don't Be Cruel".

Celine Dion should have a national ordinance passed against her that keeps her from desecrating classic material. It was waaay over the top.

Another segment that bothered me was when the show started to, at least, gain some momentum, here we have cilla, with all her negative, sidetracked, self sympathy with "I didn't wanna live that life anymore" and his "prescription drugs", bla bla bla ...

She was not Elvis' widow when Elvis passed so, she can give her back her last name and get back the old one.

[txwoman4]

As a whole complete showcase, I was also disappointed. I thought there would legitimately be a show about Elvis' connection to Vegas. It was really only a sidenote. I guess only something on PBS could explore this a bit more in depth. The mainstream media show has to deal with everything.

I wish the Elvis related guest list had extended beyond EPE approved guests and included someone like Red West, who despite the book, really did love Elvis. I also wish that someone other than Elizabeth Vargas, whose journalistic gifts seem to consist of providing looks that range from approval, to disgust, to sincere sympathy.

Some of the comments about Vegas were astonishingly wrongheaded. Elvis did change the way Las Vegas worked. His was the first show to make money, he provided a forum for a new style of entertainment in the city and he raised the ante on spectacle in a live performance from a pop performer. However, it is possible to note all this without labeling people like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as "has beens" at a time when Martin was hosting a top television show and both were having hit records and selling out venues across the nation. It also would have been possible to note Elvis' slump without making an erroneous statement like "the artist who hadn't had a hit record in seven years".

HUH ???????

Did someone forget to do their homework ? As far as I can remember, Between 1963 and 1968, Elvis placed three (3) singles in the Billboard Top Ten and another nine (9) in the Top 20.

The list of performers was mostly B-list. Norah Jones did a nice "Love Me". Chris Isaak was good on "Love Me Tender, but awful on "Don't Be Cruel".

Celine Dion should have a national ordinance passed against her that keeps her from desecrating classic material. It was waaay over the top.

Another segment that bothered me was when the show started to, at least, gain some momentum, here we have cilla, with all her negative, sidetracked, self sympathy with "I didn't wanna live that life anymore" and his "prescription drugs", bla bla bla ...

She was not Elvis' widow when Elvis passed so, she can give her back her last name and get back the old one.

SAID VERY WELL!!! I irratated by Priscilla's concentration on the negative and even Jerry and Joe seemed to harp on the negative also.

[U.S. Male]

The SOS (same ole' stuff).

The same group of EPE people (Cilla, Jerry, Joe, and George) saying the same stuff they've said on numerous programs, publications, and interviews.

I mean just how many Elvis programs must we have where Cilla tells us how she couldn't take his lifestyle and that's why she filed for divorce, yada yada yada....enough!

Give us film footage we haven't seen...give us different people with different perspectives (ex: Red, Sonny, Linda, Patti etc.... )like them or not, at least we could get a different view point for a change.....geeze

[Natalie]

Hi Does anyone know if any footage of the special is online anywhere? I would really like to see it as here in Australia it was not shown

Cheers!

[KPM]

IMO- it was okay. I think it might have been nice if "one whole song performance by Elvis" was inlcuded. It jumped around alot and there was footage of him singing but am I wrong-there was a never a completed song by him included.
Also there was maybe 45 seconds of home movies and 4 or 5 seconds of 8mm of his 69 opening in Vegas "which was unseen by most"
That is why people get upset about this type thing-the hype is no where near what you get. Just level with people about what is going to be includede and its better all the way around. IMO

[keke23]

Or maybe "Sasha" didn't perform cuz she couldn't get paid enuff ???

Her speech about Elvis this and Elvis that was so contrived it was embarrassing.

I seriously doubt she even owns an Elvis Presley cd.

OMG...get over it. She wasn't paid, and she wasn't acting or readin a telepropter. She was bein sincere and showin her respect and admiration for the King as was everyone else.

If bey was actin, then so waas all the others on there.

It wasn't the first time she's spoken about Elvis and likin him.

[ksimms2]

It is only 8 hours away and I have only seen ONE commercial advertising it. There isn't even an add on Elvis.com which is EPE's official site. What is going on with them *****s? I am afraid it is going to be a flop in the ratings. You would think with all the big names like Paul McCartney, Beyonce and 50 Cent that they would promote it more.

Oh well. Another lost opportunity for the King.

I got an email from EPE about it......

[keke23]

This show was not at all what I expected! While I loved the performances by Miranda Lambert,Faith HIll, Daughtry,Toby Keith and Joe Perry...what the H**L was that thing by the 3 6 mafia? That was just a total and complete slap in Elvis' face. It made that song sound rediculous! I cant believe that they even put that on. Also some of the comments bt 50cent were rude! And the way they harped on the perscription drug thing and the "other" women. This was just not a special that painted Elvis in a good light. I thought it was more or less a documentry of his Vegas yrs. but it wasnt.

I forgot about Daughtry. He's cute. I liked his version of SM too.

But the others were throw away performances.

50 cent didn't say anything rude about Elvis. He credited him the whole show.

As for the rap....IMO, it was wonderfully done and stylish.

What Elvis was singin about in 69 is relevant today.

What hey did was take Elvis sayin 'In the ghetto" and mixed it into a drum track. i love that beat they had!

Then they laid their new rap lyrics over the beat which allowed Elvis to be heard in the mix while they were rappin.

I hope EPE lets them release.

They were sayin on the radio this mornin that song would be a monster hit for 3 Six and Elvis together.

Elvis and rap....who woulda thunk it, lol.

As for the harping on drugs....well they did that part correctly. It's somethin that was the reason for his downfall and can't be ignored.

Ignoring it or acting as if it never happened would be seen as makin him look perfect, and he wasn't nowhere near perfect.

[keke23]

Some of the comments about Vegas were astonishingly wrongheaded. Elvis did change the way Las Vegas worked. His was the first show to make money, he provided a forum for a new style of entertainment in the city and he raised the ante on spectacle in a live performance from a pop performer. However, it is possible to note all this without labeling people like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as "has beens" at a time when Martin was hosting a top television show and both were having hit records and selling out venues across the nation. It also would have been possible to note Elvis' slump without making an erroneous statement like "the artist who hadn't had a hit record in seven years".

HUH ???????

Did someone forget to do their homework ? As far as I can remember, Between 1963 and 1968, Elvis placed three (3) singles in the Billboard Top Ten and another nine (9) in the Top 20.

The list of performers was mostly B-list. Norah Jones did a nice "Love Me". Chris Isaak was good on "Love Me Tender, but awful on "Don't Be Cruel".

Celine Dion should have a national ordinance passed against her that keeps her from desecrating classic material. It was waaay over the top.

Another segment that bothered me was when the show started to, at least, gain some momentum, here we have cilla, with all her negative, sidetracked, self sympathy with "I didn't wanna live that life anymore" and his "prescription drugs", bla bla bla ...

She was not Elvis' widow when Elvis passed so, she can give her back her last name and get back the old one.

Hello....did you not watch the whole show?

The mentioned all that about how he single handily changed Vegas and reinvented it as it is today.

As for Elvis not haivn a hit record in 7 years....his last US #1 was in 62 and he came back to live performin in 69. You do the math.

Cilla deserves to have the last name Presley because she was married to him. She's not the only person to keep her married name once she got divorced. It's not too uncommon to keep it.

And exactly what negative stuff did she and the MM comment too much on? All I heard was the truth and how it was and how it affected his life and death.

All they did was tell the truth. Not sugarcoat it as if that stuff never happened, as a lot of fans love to do.

[txwoman4]

I forgot about Daughtry. He's cute. I liked his version of SM too.

But the others were throw away performances.

50 cent didn't say anything rude about Elvis. He credited him the whole show.

As for the rap....IMO, it was wonderfully done and stylish.

What Elvis was singin about in 69 is relevant today.

What hey did was take Elvis sayin 'In the ghetto" and mixed it into a drum track. i love that beat they had!

Then they laid their new rap lyrics over the beat which allowed Elvis to be heard in the mix while they were rappin.

I hope EPE lets them release.

They were sayin on the radio this mornin that song would be a monster hit for 3 Six and Elvis together.

Elvis and rap....who woulda thunk it, lol.

As for the harping on drugs....well they did that part correctly. It's somethin that was the reason for his downfall and can't be ignored.

Ignoring it or acting as if it never happened would be seen as makin him look perfect, and he wasn't nowhere near perfect.

I know the perscription drugs were a part of the the downfall BUT this special was (I THOUGHT) suppose to be about Elvis' rise in Vegas and how he helped Vegas become what it is today. Along with todyas stars siging Elvis songs. It was so far from what the hype said it would be that it was a differnat show that what I understood it to be. As for the 3 6 mafia to each their own. I find MOST rap vulgar,degrading to women and just plain annoying. Most rap takes no talent and no sort of musical skills what so ever. So thats what I felt the 3 6 mafia performance was rediculous. And 50 cent said in the car that Elvis took black music. From what I understand todays african americans most of them think that Elvis took blk music. There parents and grandparents know better. Did you hear what Mary J. Blige said....She said she sang Elvis' songs even though she knew he was a racist. I think she was suppose to be in the special but was cut out. ANd no I am not a racist or an "old lady". I am 28 yrs old and have a interracial daughter but I am someone who has a great appreciation for music and people who are talented and I just dont feel that rap takes any talent. The last rapper I thought actually had talent wa Tupac and he was a very talented rapper who rapped about things that mattered not just the generic shooting someone up for talking crap or talking bad about women. I know we all have our opinions but I think it woudl be an injustice to the beautiful song that in the ghetto is to release that awful version from the special last night!

[keke23]

I know the perscription drugs were a part of the the downfall BUT this special was (I THOUGHT) suppose to be about Elvis' rise in Vegas and how he helped Vegas become what it is today. Along with todyas stars siging Elvis songs. It was so far from what the hype said it would be that it was a differnat show that what I understood it to be. As for the 3 6 mafia to each their own. I find MOST rap vulgar,degrading to women and just plain annoying. Most rap takes no talent and no sort of musical skills what so ever. So thats what I felt the 3 6 mafia performance was rediculous. And 50 cent said in the car that Elvis took black music. From what I understand todays african americans most of them think that Elvis took blk music. There parents and grandparents know better. Did you hear what Mary J. Blige said....She said she sang Elvis' songs even though she knew he was a racist. I think she was suppose to be in the special but was cut out. ANd no I am not a racist or an "old lady". I am 28 yrs old and have a interracial daughter but I am someone who has a great appreciation for music and people who are talented and I just dont feel that rap takes any talent. The last rapper I thought actually had talent wa Tupac and he was a very talented rapper who rapped about things that mattered not just the generic shooting someone up for talking crap or talking bad about women. I know we all have our opinions but I think it woudl be an injustice to the beautiful song that in the ghetto is to release that awful version from the special last night!

50 said he took from black music and othErs and made it his own. In other words, he mixed all types to create his own sound which chanegd the world.

He never said Elvis stole or took black music. He was crediting him, not dissin him.

I am black and know first hand just how Elvis is seen by blacks. And to most, it aint pretty.

That's why havin 50, Bey, and 3 Six ont here crediting him, respecting and admiring him was a positive sign for his image in our community.

Unfortunately hip hop is the sound of today's music. More white kids listen to rap than they do rock.

So havin those rappers on an Elvis show went a long way in changin minds about Elvis.

[txwoman4]

50 said he took from black music and othErs and made it his own. In other words, he mixed all types to create his own sound which chanegd the world.

He never said Elvis stole or took black music. He was crediting him, not dissin him.

I am black and know first hand just how Elvis is seen by blacks. And to most, it aint pretty.

That's why havin 50, Bey, and 3 Six ont here crediting him, respecting and admiring him was a positive sign for his image in our community.

Unfortunately hip hop is the sound of today's music. More white kids listen to rap than they do rock.

So havin those rappers on an Elvis show went a long way in changin minds about Elvis.

Why is it that blks have a negative view of Elvis? In the 50,60,70s that wasnt the case then all the sudden after he died something happened.

[KPM]

50 said he took from black music and othErs and made it his own. In other words, he mixed all types to create his own sound which chanegd the world.

He never said Elvis stole or took black music. He was crediting him, not dissin him.

I am black and know first hand just how Elvis is seen by blacks. And to most, it aint pretty.That's why havin 50, Bey, and 3 Six ont here crediting him, respecting and admiring him was a positive sign for his image in our community.

Unfortunately hip hop is the sound of today's music. More white kids listen to rap than they do rock.

So havin those rappers on an Elvis show went a long way in changin minds about Elvis.

I debated this topic with a young black man on another forum about racism and to sum up that debate this young man his argument was simple-Elvis stole his music from black people. He did not back it up with sites to visit, nor info just that statement/ I posted tons of info and sites which showed Elvis did not steal anything. I pointed out every artist black or white has people who influence them. I pointed out all Elvis's influences and that the music he came up with was not direct taken from any one source and it was not a direct copy of any one source or influence. HIs response was "We all know he stole it and never gave credit to who he stole it from"
I produced quotes by james Brown, Jackie Wilson, BB King, Rufus Thomas to name a few which contradicted his statement. He said they were made up.
I sent him the site names- he ignored them. I gave him quotes by Elvis in which he gave credit to his black roots and all his others roots-he said they were also lies. He even claimed Leiber and Stoller did not write Hound Dog and all their other huge songwriting hits-they were stole from african americans. I asked him how he knew all this and his reply was "We know who ripped us off"
Their is no amount of convincing which will ever change his mind. I finally told him he was winning my argument for me by not providing anything other than what he has heard or felt.
Finally he quit coming back to the forum.
My point is he was presented with some facts and where they came from and he ignored them. He wanted to believe that Elvis stole.
The unpretty picture will not be made any better when someone has made up their mind. Logic is thrown out the door.

[cprimm]

ABC News has some clips of the videos shown on last night's special. Check out the site:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/VivaLasVegas/

[txwoman4]

I debated this topic with a young black man on another forum about racism and to sum up that debate this young man his argument was simple-Elvis stole his music from black people. He did not back it up with sites to visit, nor info just that statement/ I posted tons of info and sites which showed Elvis did not steal anything. I pointed out every artist black or white has people who influence them. I pointed out all Elvis's influences and that the music he came up with was not direct taken from any one source and it was not a direct copy of any one source or influence. HIs response was "We all know he stole it and never gave credit to who he stole it from"
I produced quotes by james Brown, Jackie Wilson, BB King, Rufus Thomas to name a few which contradicted his statement. He said they were made up.
I sent him the site names- he ignored them. I gave him quotes by Elvis in which he gave credit to his black roots and all his others roots-he said they were also lies. He even claimed Leiber and Stoller did not write Hound Dog and all their other huge songwriting hits-they were stole from african americans. I asked him how he knew all this and his reply was "We know who ripped us off"
Their is no amount of convincing which will ever change his mind. I finally told him he was winning my argument for me by not providing anything other than what he has heard or felt.
Finally he quit coming back to the forum.
My point is he was presented with some facts and where they came from and he ignored them. He wanted to believe that Elvis stole.
The unpretty picture will not be made any better when someone has made up their mind. Logic is thrown out the door.

How sad and you know it doesnt help that recently Little Richard has been claiming that he is the one who invented Rock and Roll and Elvis stole it form him.

[KPM]

How sad and you know it doesnt help that recently Little Richard has been claiming that he is the one who invented Rock and Roll and Elvis stole it form him.

Little Richard was a huge early rocker and talent. Elvis never heard him until 56 when Richard had his first hit. Elvis had "Thats all Right" in 54. Elvis recorded a few Little Richard songs in his career. But he stole nothing from Richard.
I know Richard was cheated out of songwriting royalties because he signed over some of those rights to people at his first record company. I've heard him complain about that- But that had nothing to do with Elvis. I have never heard or seen in print that Richard claimed Elvis stole anything from him-but if he is now saying that its sad. Richard was ripped off in the 50s but that did not involve Elvis at all.

[thehillbillycat]

Another segment that bothered me was when the show started to, at least, gain some momentum, here we have cilla, with all her negative, sidetracked, self sympathy with "I didn't wanna live that life anymore" and his "prescription drugs", bla bla bla ...

She was not Elvis' widow when Elvis passed so, she can give her back her last name and get back the old one.

According to the law, she is Elvis' widow. Why? Because Elvis marry her and didn't get marry again. Even though they wasn't marry when he passed away she is considered his widow. Look it up, I have.

So that means, how ever many times you are marry those people are considered widows but it is usually overlooked for some reason.

I didn't know that until a lawyer told me that. He been a lawyer for over 40 years.

[KPM]

The can of worms Larry King can open....
I tried to find a legal definition of widow this is as close as I found for
it in a search. It was at a frequently asked questions site.

A woman whose husband died while he was still married to her. If you get a divorce and then your ex dies, you're still a divorcee.

When you get a divorce you are asking that the union between 2 people be put aside-null and void. Unless specified in your divorce decree you give up all rights which you have in the union. They divorced unless she had that written into her divorce decree which we all know she did not. Larry King misspoke on his show calling her his widow.
Now for Social Security in US I know a divorced woman or man can get some of that persons SS in some instances if they were married 10 years but that has to do with pension laws only.
I won't comment on this again since its off topic but I was curious myself which is why I did the search.