What is this guy thinking!!??

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

I can fall either way with tribute artists, If your good you are sort of like an ambassador, if your bad you characterise all that 'is' bad about Elvis in a snap shot leaving a lasting impression for years.

What is this guy thinking?



I'm sorry, this guy might be very nice but if he is a fan he needs to be told to come on stage in a plain black suit and stop degrading the Image of Elvis

[Elvis and Johnny]

He has a Front A**. LOL

[Wild_In_The_Country]

He has a Front A**. LOL

or massive balls

[john carpenter]

This just goes to show that certain people should not put on a jumpsuit & impersonate Elvis. Elvis wasn't that heavy anywayHow ignorant

[Albert]

The painful thing about this situation is (believe it or not) that this is a really nice guy and is a real Elvisfan. He really think that he's paying tribute to the King.

Everytime I see a picture of this guy, I'd like to smack this guy up really good. Guys like this are mocking Elvis. ANd I don't care if it's intentional or not, with a tiny piece of brain you'd know that this isn't the way to honor Elvis.

And we all know that there may be people attending his shows every night who have fun, and the guy isn't a criminal, but come on.... lose the jumpsuit and then sing Elvis songs as 'you', instead of hiding behind ELvis' success.

[Sonny]

We should not even be paying attention to people like this!!!

This should be forbidden by law!

This person is not only mocking Elvis, but also himself, by looking completely ridiculous!

[kathy parkinson]

The painful thing about this situation is (believe it or not) that this is a really nice guy and is a real Elvisfan. He really think that he's paying tribute to the King.

Everytime I see a picture of this guy, I'd like to smack this guy up really good. Guys like this are mocking Elvis. ANd I don't care if it's intentional or not, with a tiny piece of brain you'd know that this isn't the way to honor Elvis.

And we all know that there may be people attending his shows every night who have fun, and the guy isn't a criminal, but come on.... lose the jumpsuit and then sing Elvis songs as 'you', instead of hiding behind ELvis' success.

[debtdbruno]

They must believe their voice doesn't sound enough like Elvis', so they have to wear the jumpsuit to clarify it.
If they are confident in their vocals, and they are good, then no matter what they wear you would be able to tell who it is they are 'copying'.........

[Tommy]

I feel sorry for people like this. Maybe he can't help being so over-weight, he probably loves Elvis as much as we do.

[debtdbruno]

I agree Tommy, but if he's a fan, he will know how much flack Elvis gets with the caricature image of the jumpsuit.
So, why couldn't he wear mormal clothes?

[annie1000]

I can fall either way with tribute artists, If your good you are sort of like an ambassador, if your bad you characterise all that 'is' bad about Elvis in a snap shot leaving a lasting impression for years.

What is this guy thinking?



I'm sorry, this guy might be very nice but if he is a fan he needs to be told to come on stage in a plain black suit and stop degrading the Image of Elvis

[Diane]

I feel sorry for people like this. Maybe he can't help being so over-weight, he probably loves Elvis as much as we do.

He may be a sincere fan but without common sense or a sense of even personal pride. Surely he can't believe this is good for Elvis or himself.

Diane

[Tommy]

He may be a sincere fan but without common sense or a sense of even personal pride. Surely he can't believe this is good for Elvis or himself.

Diane

If this is what he wants to do, how else could he do it. Suppose he comes on this web site, how would he feel about what has been written about him.

I think we should leave the poor guy alone. Why make fun of him. I know you are not Diane.

This not a good subject, it is bringing out the worst in some of our members, I'm sorry to have to say.

People should be more kind in this world.

[Merry]

If this is what he wants to do, how else could he do it. Suppose he comes on this web site, how would he feel about what has been written about him.

I think we should leave the poor guy alone. Why make fun of him. I know you are not Diane.

This not a good subject, it is bringing out the worst in some of our members, I'm sorry to have to say.

People should be more kind in this world.

Wise words, Tommy.

[Tommy]

Wise words, Tommy.

Thank you very much, so nice of you.

[Lonniebealestreet]

As Albert informed us, this is a really nice guy apparently and he seems to be well intentioned. I don't know that firsthand but I'll accept it since Albert is apparently someone to respect around here.

So that being the case, and most people here being civil and kind-hearted, I don't believe they are going to pass this individual on the street and start throwing tomatoes at him.

But here is where we tend to become more vocal perhaps. First of all, he appears to be performing in public. As such, you know you are up for scrutiny/criticism. Secondly, he is well within his rights to do so but he is presenting himself as someone else -- not in a deceitful way but he is essentially saying that as an Elvis impersonator/ETA, the message I am conveying is that the things I say and do and the way I look and sound are similar to Elvis Presley. Maybe he sings great, I couldn't say, but the appearance is obviously way off.

Another factor here is that as fans, we know our guy had a weight problem and we can be sensitive about the way that has been exaggerated and/or overemphasized by many people over the years. It isn't that we are embarrassed by the facts or dislike Elvis the man when he was heavy; we just want a fair and accurate representation of that reality.

So I don't think it is an issue with weight specifically that makes some of us not feel great about seeing people like this acting like Elvis. I think that when the person is nowhere close to looking or sounding like him, it is not unfair or unkind to wish they were doing something else. In other words, it's not so much about the type of difference but the degree of it.

Well the other thing is the presentation...This may be assumed on the part of some of us here in this case: it is not uncommon for some ETAs to distastefully play up the weight issue -- "Awww, man, lemme have another one o' them jelly doughnuts," and obviously that's not a good thing.

I find it difficult to enjoy ETAs, even those that are thought to be pretty good, because they will never be good enough, you know? Being so familiar with Elvis' music and having seen some concert footage dozens or hundreds of times, I find it impossible to not watch an ETA while having the Elvis version playing along in my head, my mind recognizing and focusing on every discrepancy.

I feel sorry for the guy too, Tommy. And as critical as I tend to be here for the above reasons, it is hard to totally fault him if he has figured out that he can make more money doing this than job X, or that he needs the income to help pay his medical costs or whatever. It may also have been a personal feat to have gotten up the courage to get on a stage and perform as his idol Elvis.

At the same time we don't have to like it and I think it's hard to fault us if we feel like he is doing a disservice to Elvis' memory. (I think that about all of them too because even if they are great, people just have this way of processing that in their minds as "this is how good Elvis was; this sums him up" when words/photos/even videos will never do the man justice.)

I hope that makes sense to you, Tommy, and perhaps makes you feel a little better about some of the things that have been said here.

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

If this is what he wants to do, how else could he do it. Suppose he comes on this web site, how would he feel about what has been written about him.

I think we should leave the poor guy alone. Why make fun of him. I know you are not Diane.

This not a good subject, it is bringing out the worst in some of our members, I'm sorry to have to say.

People should be more kind in this world.

Tommy, I have no personal issue with the guys weight what so ever, I'm sure there are plenty of us here on this site who are a few pound here and there overweight. The weight is not the issue! My personal issue is with the way the man is presenting himself and representing Elvis.

The guy might have a voice of an angel but it is all about the presentation. We are looking at a picture and instantly you are presented with an Image than people associate with Elvis in a negative way, hence it's use out of context and presented as Elvis!!!!

I take issue with this Image being used as Elvis and perhaps if this gentleman had used a more suitable attire he would perhaps present a more positive Image of Elvis.

The guy below will not be used to vilify Elvis, however the press wouldn't focus on him!

[elvislady]

I think this guy has some guts to do what he has done...i am sure he is aware that he has not got the figure for a jumpsuite, i dont see what the problem is how the guy is presenting himself.. look at elvis in the last year on stage people called him all sorts of horrible names about his weight.. yes i know he was not as big as this guy but if he is a true elvis fan who loves singing elvis and he sure looks like good for him.

elvislady

[beckelvis]

[Albert]

I once saw an interview with him and he's a very friendly, nice guy.

But what irritates me to death is that he doesn't see (or doesn't want to see) that his way of tribute Elvis (aka making a buck) is hurting Elvis' image. We (all fans) know that the look/image of Elvis'final two years has been used by tabloids to ridicule Elvis.

Knowing this, why on earth, as an Elvisfan (assuming that Fat Elvis -that's his stagename- is an Elvisfan) would he dress himself up as an Elvis caricature?

Let's say I know a way to make lots of money coming up with a story Elvis having had sex with a man. And I'd write a book about it, come to talkshows and have this book being filmed. Eventhough this would make big money, there's no chance in hell that it would cross my mind to do this. Why? Because you're an Elvisfan and integrity and respect are more important than money.

This is obviously not the case with fat Elvis. And that's why I dislike him.