Elvis Presley 75th Birthday Bronze Medallion

Here is the perfect way to commemorate the 75th Birthday Year of Elvis. In addition to the date, this unique medallion includes an illustration of some of the most memorable moments of Elvis' life and career. The reverse side has a beautiful rendering of Elvis' home in Memphis, Graceland with the January 8th, 2010 75th Birthday noted. The medallion comes in a beautiful blue box with blue suede flocking inside. Also included is a certificate of authenticity and a routed walnut wood base for displaying this magnificent collectible.

Source: elvisnews.com

New Web Site Celebrates Elvis on Tour

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                                 Click here and Sing With The King

Elvis on Chinese TV

Here's Elvis Presley on Chinese TV. The King is affectionately remembered in China, making the news because of a new album to mark his 75th birthday. He would have been 75 on January 8 next year.

Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight, released by RCA/Legacy, features 13 classics:

That's All Right: Recorded in 1954 in Memphis
Baby, Let's Play House: 1955, Memphis
Hound Dog: 1956, New York
Don't Be Cruel: 1956, New York
One Night: 1957, Hollywood
Blue Christmas: 1957, Hollywood
How Great Thou Art: 1966, Nashville
If I Can Dream: 1968, Hollywood
Suspicious Minds: 1969, Memphis
Stranger In My Home Town: 1969, Memphis
An American Trilogy: 1972, Las Vegas
Burning Love: 1972, Hollywood
Always On My Mind: 1972, Hollywood
My favourite here? One Night. Check the Los Angeles Times review.

And here's how China's CCTV.com reported the release of the new album. It's an affectionate tribute to the King. Born in 1935, he was only 42 when he died on August 16 in 1977.

The rock-a-billy style of Elvis Presley came out of his own roots in the southern United States.

Now, his fans are set to get 'All Shook Up' over a new 4-CD compilation detailing the entire recording career of 'The King of Rock-n-Roll.' The collection is being released to coincide with what would have been the King's 75th birthday, next month.

Elvis may have left the building, but he never left the hearts of his legions of fans.

To mark the King of Rock's 75th birthday next month, RCA/Legacy is releasing a 4-CD compilation, 'Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight.' The collection includes 100 digitally restored tracks including hit singles, rare cuts, live performances, and all 30 number-one songs such as 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Hound Dog', 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'Suspicious Minds'. The set also features a 7-thousand word essay by music critic and historian Billy Altman, along with many rarely seen photographs.

Altman says unlike previous 'Best Of' compilations, this one contains the rock legend's entire career.

Presley died on August 16th, 1977 at the age of 42, yet he remains one of the most recognizable faces of American music and popular culture. He starred in 33 films and received gold, platinum, or multi-platinum awards for 150 different albums and singles.

The release of 'Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight' coincides with a 4-day celebration of his 75th birthday from January 8th, 2010. Altman says that if Presley was still alive today, the music icon would probably have returned to his earlier roots.

Billy Altman, music critic and historian, said, "I think that he would have turned into something different. I think at the time that he passed away he had gotten so much back in touch with his country and his gospel roots and I think if he was alive today he would have been 75 this January, I think he would have been kind of an elder statesman, probably more of country music than anything else which was really his first love."

'Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight' is now available, with a 26-track 'Elvis 75' single CD hitting store shelves on January 5th, 2010.






Source: pressrun.net

Cirque Du Soleil - Viva Elvis
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At ARIA Resort, Las Vegas: Move over Celine Dion and Donny and Marie, Elvis is in the house

December 19, 2009 -- Elvis Presley is in the house -- at the new CityCenter (City Center) Las Vegas starting today (December 19). Previews for the Cirque du Soleil tribute show called, appropriately, Viva ELVIS, are a big treat for fans of The King.
The venue?
The custom-built, spanking new, aptly dubbed Elvis Theater.
This new, high octane entertainment complex is inside CityCenter's ARIA Resort & Casino in the city The King called his second home. The dazzling show, put on as only Cirque du Soileil knows how, is a fusion of dance, acrobatics, and, of course music.
Priscilla Presley showed up on Tuesday to launch her late husband's show during a sneak preview.
According to Presley, "This is [Elvis'] rightful place....Elvis was the first rock n' roll star to come to Vegas and break all of the boundaries. Now, with the help of the wonderful people of Cirque du Soleil, he's doing it again."
Take a look at Elvis's comeback as only The King knows how to pull off, Las Vegas style!.


Source: examiner.com

2010 Birthday Event Tickets Going Fast - elvis.com

Hear What the Media is Saying About Viva Elvis

Read more: elvis.com


Viva Elvis Cirque du Soleil


Fireworks Fly at CityCenter in Las Vegas as Home of Viva Elvis Theater Opens

Viva Elvis Footage & News

Cirque Du Soleil posted a clip with 'Viva Elvis' footage on their YouTube channel. The performance for the press last Tuesday was not the full show, since the cast is still rehearsing. The press has seen a preview with just a few acts that will be part of the complete show. Elvis fans will be more interested to listen to this clip than to see the footage, since this is the first time we can hear samples of what they have done with Elvis' voice and the new musical backings.


The Review-Journal has learned that Cirque du Soleil has moved the “Viva Elvis” gala opening to February 19 for a combination of reasons.






Source: elvisnews.com

Cirque du Soleil unveils Viva ELVIS

Press conference preview presentation at ARIA Resort & Casino at CityCenter


Cirque du Soleil, in partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises, a CKX, Inc company, was thrilled to unveil today its latest show Viva ELVIS™, at ARIA Resort & Casino™ at CityCenter in Las Vegas. Preview performances for Viva ELVIS will start on December 18, 2009.


Read more: elvis.com

Elvis International 75th Birthday Magazine - elvis.com 


Interview with Priscilla Presley on set of the Cirque du Soleil show - elvis.com.au

Cirque du Soleil's 'Viva Elvis' serves the king
The show has a VIP opening tonight. 'It's not a show about Elvis, it's a show with Elvis,' the producer says.

A performer rehearses beside an Elvis statue for Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis," which has a VIP opening performance Tuesday night. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / December 14, 2009)





"Really, overall that's all he wanted," Ste-Croix said. "He was a great performer and he wanted to entertain the crowd. And that's what he did at the Hilton, that's what he did in the movies and that's what he did all his life."


Today, Cirque du Soleil, which already has six Las Vegas-based shows including "O," "Zumanity" and the Beatles homage "Love," is a brand name that defines Las Vegas much as Presley did in his day.


The Montreal-based company is partnered in its latest enterprise with CKX Inc., a mega-manager-owner of entertainment-related content and intellectual properties, and its subsidiary Elvis Presley Enterprises, the corporate entity created by Presley's trust to manage its assets.


Return of the king


Among those attending tonight's VIP performance will be the best-known guardian of that trust, the king's ex-wife Priscilla Presley. Speaking by phone, Priscilla Presley acknowledged she was feeling a bit, uh, all shook up about the opening, albeit in a positive way.


"I feel like it's the first time that Elvis went on stage," she said. "It's just nerve-racking."


In that regard, Presley could be channeling her ex, who when he performed in Las Vegas grew antsier by the minute as an opening-night audience that included Pat Boone, Cary Grant and Fats Domino filed into the Showroom Internationale. "He didn't want to know who was out there in the crowd," Priscilla Presley said.


Yet his show was an immediate success, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to the gambling mecca. According to Ste-Croix, at one point during Presley's appearances, one out of every two Las Vegas tourists was coming to town specifically to attend his concerts.


"I think he put Vegas on the map in a way that it hadn't been," Priscilla Presley said. Las Vegas returned the favor, she added, by giving her ex-husband a way to relaunch his career as a live performer after a 10-year absence from big stages.


"It brought him back to the forefront and it brought him back to what he loved most. It brought him back in contact with the audience and with his fans," she said.


Given its show's unabashedly celebratory spirit, it's not surprising that Cirque isn't touching those aspects of Elvis' life that have kept conspiracy theorists, tabloid journalists, assistant professors of American studies and schadenfreude mongers in clover for 32 years.


Priscilla Presley said that no preconditions or restrictions were set on what could, or could not, be included in "Viva Elvis." But she clearly seems pleased with Cirque's artistic focus, and suggests that a show about Elvis is better off without scholarly footnotes.


"I think he's been over-analyzed," she said. "I think if he ever heard the stuff, he'd be shaking in his boots. It was all about entertaining, it was all about rapport with your audience and giving them their money's worth."


Her hope, she said, is that "Viva Elvis" could do for Las Vegas today what Elvis' appearances did in a previous era beset by economic hard times.


"I'm hoping this'll renew Vegas again and get people back to work," Priscilla Presley said, adding that in the '70s everyone from waiters to blackjack dealers and limousine drivers felt the impact of the king's return to his court.


"Everybody was happy when Elvis Presley came to town."



Source: latimes.com

New Book Elvis: My Best Man by George Klein To Be Released January 5

On January 8, fans will celebrate Elvis' 75th birthday. While millions of fans around the world will surely remember Elvis on this important milestone day, there is one man who has memories of Elvis that no one else can claim—George Klein.


Read more: elvis.com

'Viva Elvis' aims to restore king to his Vegas throne

Jackson colleague tackles Presley legend



It was in Memphis, of all places, that Vincent Paterson found out Michael Jackson had died.


That coincidence on June 25 narrowed any remaining separation between Jackson -- the superstar to whom Paterson owed much of his career -- and Elvis Presley, the superstar Paterson has been catching up with for Cirque du Soleil's latest spectacle.


Cirque du Soleil hired Paterson to direct "Viva Elvis" in part because of his stage and video choreography for Jackson and Madonna. The show opens with previews Friday at Aria, the city's newest megaresort.


"I spent so many years with people like Michael, that you see the tragedy of people who the spotlight of the world shines on," he says.


"You know that in a way they don't really have a choice. They're absorbed by this and taken by it. Some mystical hand kind of controls their fate, or so it seems to me. What they sacrifice for us is monumental."


Presley died in 1977, six years before Paterson played a dancing gang leader in Jackson's "Beat It" video. "I was a Beatles guy," he says. "Elvis was kind of my mom's and my aunt's generation."

Likewise, the young Cirque cast visited Graceland and Beale Street as part of an inspirational and educational field trip. "They had no connection to Elvis at all," Paterson notes. "They're up to 30 years old. They weren't even born when he died."


But on June 25, their work took on deeper resonance.


"All of a sudden with Michael's death -- which they could relate to so intensely -- for the first time they connected to Elvis in a whole other way," Paterson says. "They understood Elvis in a whole new way. It was kind of revelatory."


And, speaking of it six months later, Paterson still gets choked up. "I really sensed it, and it carried over for a couple of days. ... It was a very hard time after Michael's death."


Paterson and Jackson co-choreographed such MTV videos as "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Smooth Criminal," and Paterson staged both Jackson's "Bad" and Madonna's "Blonde Ambition" tours.


But it was his 1950s reimagining of "Manon" for the Los Angeles Opera in 2006 that showed his theatrical side and led to the invitation from Cirque officials.


Just as "Love" branded Cirque with the Beatles in 2006, "Viva" hopes to restore the King to his Las Vegas throne in a new 1,800-seat theater at Aria.


Cirque is partnering with Robert Sillerman's CKX Inc. for the show, which begins its first ticketed previews Friday. Paterson stresses it's a work in progress until a Feb. 19 grand opening. "The whole thing about Cirque is they give you time to explore," he says.


Paterson brings "a bit of an American edge" and perhaps the most outside perspective yet to the Montreal-based Cirque. "Viva Elvis" is the company's seventh show on the Strip, and each new entry brings greater need to make its titles separate and distinct.


"There's more dance and music in this than there is in 'Love,' " Paterson says of "Viva." Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, Presley will not be personified onstage, but heard in tracked vocals backed by a live band. A narrator will address the audience in English.


Even before public previews, creators moved away from a concept of having actors play such characters as Presley's mother and "Colonel" Tom Parker.


"At one point it was much more heavily biographical," Paterson says. "As we put it up, we found that it felt a little bit too Broadway-esque, so we stepped away from that and more towards spectacle."


Paterson hopes die-hard Presley fans respond well to contemporary arrangements of his classic hits. "We didn't want it to be a walk down memory lane," he explains. "In this discovery of what he did to music, our approach was more, 'If he was here now with that voice, why couldn't he still be No. 1 on the charts?'"


But Elvis has, as they say, left the building. And beyond the sheer size of the spectacle, Paterson says "Viva Elvis" quickly detours from his work with living superstars. "It's a lot trickier when you've got a star that doesn't exist onstage," he says. But in both cases, "you try to bring out the best of what you feel about that person."


This being upbeat Las Vegas entertainment, the show won't dwell on Presley's early death at age 42, eight years younger than Jackson was when he died.


"We look back at them and go: 'They've got everything. They've got money, they've got power, they've got fame.' Having spent a lot of time with many, many superstars, I see that it's not what it's cut out to be.


"It's a very difficult life."


Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.


Source: lvrj.com

Celebrate Elvis' 75th Birthday at the Harley-Davidson Museum

Elvis Presley's red and white 1956 Model KH Harley-Davidson motorcycle is the centerpiece of a special limited engagement exhibit at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, WI.


Read more: elvis.com

Viva Elvis Sign

This is the sign that will be up near the Cirque showroom at the Aria in LAs Vegas for the "Viva Elvis" show.

Source: elvisnews.com

                             Elvis On TCM


Here is the January Schedule for Turner Classic Movie Channel. Don't forget Priscilla Presley and Jerry Schilling will also appear on TCM!


1. Program Title: Blue Hawaii


A Hawaiian playboy defies his possessive mother to take a job with a tourist agency.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury 
DIR: Norman Taurog.
Musical. 101 mins.


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 04:30:00 PM 


2. Program Title: Elvis on Tour


Extensive concert footage highlights this documentary about the King's touring in the early '70s.
CAST: Elvis Presley, James Burton, Glenn D. Hardin. 
DIR: Robert Abel, Pierre Aldridge.
Documentary. 93 mins.




PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 08:00:00 PM 


3. Program Title: Girl Happy


A rock singer is hired to chaperone a gangster's daughter in Fort Lauderdale.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Gary Crosby. 
DIR: Boris Sagal.
Musical. 95 mins.


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 01:00:00 PM


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/19/2010 04:30:00 PM 


4. Program Title: Harum Scarum


An American film star is kidnapped in the Middle East.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Mary Ann Mobley, Fran Jeffries. 
DIR: Gene Nelson.
Musical. 85 mins.


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 06:00:00 AM 


5. Program Title: Jailhouse Rock


After learning to play the guitar in prison, a young man becomes a rock 'n roll sensation.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy. 
DIR: Richard Thorpe.
Musical. BW 96 mins.


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 12:00:00 AM 


6. Program Title: Kissin' Cousins


A singing military officer gets mixed up with his look-alike hillbilly cousin.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Yvonne Craig. 
DIR: Gene Nelson.
Musical. 96 mins.




PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 07:45:00 AM 


7. Program Title: Roustabout


A female carnival owner hires a hot-blooded young singer to save her touring show.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Freeman. 
DIR: John Rich.
Musical. 101 mins.


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 11:15:00 AM 


8. Program Title: Speedway


A race car driver tries to outrun the beautiful tax auditor out to settle his account.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Bill Bixby. 
DIR: Norman Taurog.
Musical. 94 mins.


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 02:45:00 PM 


9. Program Title: Spinout


A singing race-car driver has to choose among three amorous females.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Diane McBain. 
DIR: Norman Taurog.
Musical. 93 mins.


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 09:30:00 AM


PLAYING ON TCM: 01/19/2010 02:45:00 PM 


10. Program Title: Viva Las Vegas

A race-car driver falls for a pretty swimming instructor who wants him to slow down his career.
CAST: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova. 
DIR: George Sidney.
Musical. 85 mins.




PLAYING ON TCM: 01/08/2010 06:15:00 PM


Source: elvisnews.com

The National Portrait Gallery Presents Two Exhibitions on Elvis Presley in 2010


"Elvis Presley" by Mark Stutzman. Acrylic on illustration board, 1993. Image: (16.7 x 20.8 cm), 6 9/16 x 8 3/16 inches. Board: (25.1 x 31.1 cm), 9 7/8 x 12 1/4 inches. U.S. Postal Service-Stamp Services, Rossyln, VA. ©U.S. Postal Service EXH.EP.02


WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will recognize the influence of the “King of Rock n’ Roll,” Elvis Presley (1935–1977), on American life, history and culture with two exhibitions in 2010. “One Life: Echoes of Elvis” opens on Presley’s 75th birth anniversary and is a one-room exhibition devoted to the evolution and influence of Presley’s image after his death. The traveling exhibition, “Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer,” shows a young musician just about to rise to fame. 


“One Life: Echoes of Elvis” Opens Jan. 8, 2010 
“One Life: Echoes of Elvis” explores the image and story of Presley since his death. The world remains enamored with Presley’s music and image even though he died more than 30 years ago. His records continue to sell by the millions, his home is the second-most-visited private residence in the United States (second only to the White House) and public interest in his music, career and life has yet to subside. 


“The life of Elvis Presley continues to fascinate us,” said Martin Sullivan, director of the museum. “‘One Life: Echoes of Elvis’ explores how Presley continues to generate intrigue through portraits created after his death; ‘Elvis at 21’ captures that moment just before his catapult to superstardom.” 


“Echoes of Elvis” includes works by Robert Arneson, Ralph Wolfe Cowan, William Eggleston and Red Grooms. Howard Finster’s folk-art portraits of Presley as a baby and a soldier are both human and tributary moments in Finster’s glorified ideal of the singer. Also included is the U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp created by Mark Stutzman. Released in 1993, the Presley stamp is the most popular stamp of all time, with a printing of 500 million. 


“Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer” Opens Oct. 30 
The museum opens the second exhibition about Presley, “Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer,” Oct. 30. Wertheimer was hired by RCA Victor in 1956 to shoot promotional images of a recently signed 21-year-old recording artist. Wertheimer had unparalleled access to Presley and documented him on the road, backstage, in concert, in the recording studio and at home in Memphis, Tenn. “Colonel” Tom Parker, Presley’s manager, restricted contact just a short time later. The photographs document a remarkable time when Elvis could sit alone at a drugstore lunch counter.


Source: artdaily.org

The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artists Tour Kicks Off in January
12/11/2009

In celebration of the King of Rock 'n' Roll’s 75th birthday in 2010, On Stage Touring, LLC in association with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., today announced the launch of the first-ever Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artists Tour. The nationwide tour will kick off in Ames, Iowa on January 15 and continue to 25 additional cities.


Read more: elvis.com