May 27, 2011 3.31 pm This story is over 154 months old

Local Elvis competition heats up

Hound dogs: Elvis impersonators put on their blue suede shoes for a competition at Jailhouse Rock bar in Lincoln.

A local bar is holding a So you think you are Elvis? competition, and the second heat took place on Thursday, May 26.

The winner of the entire competition, which takes place at the Jailhouse Rock bar on Lower Butchery Court, will get a chance to visit Las Vegas and stay in the Hilton International Hotel on the strip for a week.

Terry Malson runs the hosting bar in Lincoln and describes the other perks that come with winning the competition, such as “a five-year contract with a local entertainment industry plus a two-year contract with the Elvis Presley fan club”.

Steve Whyte, who also runs the bar and organising the competition, explains that money raised by the event is going towards the forces charity Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA).

Both Malson and Whyte are ex-forces so it is a charity close to their heart, and Whyte commends the charity for helping anybody who has “been in the forces whether you have been in for one day or for four decades”.

Mixtures of amateurs and professionals have taken part so far in the competition. Malson explains that despite a difference in experience this does not intimidate the amateurs: “Once you put a microphone in front of them they are in a different world.

“It is hard to explain whether adrenaline kicks in or what, but they are totally in a different world and some of the guys […] are totally different and they put all their heart into it.

“We’ve had amateur singers and they have beaten some of the semi-professionals.”

There are four more heats to take place before the final in December, and Malson reveals that in the June heat there is a rare occasion taking place — a female Elvis impersonator.

“I only know of two more in the country, one comes from Leeds and the other one I think it is Birmingham/Wolverhampton way. So this girl is going to have to be good.”

Photo: Kelly Moore for The Lincolnite