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ELVIS IMPERSONATORS KEEP THE KING ALIVE AT O. C. MARKET PLACE
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8/7/2008 : Costa Mesa, CA---Elvis impersonator Kirk Wall has been singing and performing like the "king of rock and roll" for nearly 30 years, which is nearly as long as Elvis Presley has been gone. He died August 16, 1977.
Wall will return as the host for the ninth year as the host of all other Elvis impersonators during the 9th Annual Elvis Fest on Sunday, August 24 at the Orange County Market Place, the weekend swap meet at the O. C. Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa.
A jack-of-many-personas, Wall is a regular as a prosthetic teeth wearing fiddle player of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at Disneyland, and has also performed in professional musical theater productions, led bands ranging from rockabilly to swing ensembles and entertained as a comic-tinged singer and in singing telegrams.
His Elvis spirit rose from a role he played in Grease when he decided to "Elvis" him up a little bit. After that he received inquiries about doing Elvis-only gigs, which was 30 some years ago. "Since then I've done Elvis more times than I can count," Wall said.
He has appeared as Elvis in nightclubs, including a regular gig at Fullerton’s Continental Room, music halls, corporate engagements, private parties and special events of all kinds. He even guest starred in an episode of the television show The Fall Guy as an ex-convict who skipped out on bail in order to attend an Elvis look-alike festival.
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ADD1-1-1 Elvis Fest at the Orange County Market Place
His most memorable appearance as Elvis was when he picked up his wife and newborn daughter from the hospital on the way to a singing telegram gig. He didn’t have time to change so was donning his Elvis jumpsuit. It ended up creating a lot of laughter amongst the hospital staff and other patients.
Generating laughter is one of his main reasons for continuing his Elvis impersonations. "Every Elvis impersonator has his own niche, " said Wall. "There are young Elvises, movie Elvises, leather- jacket Elvises, Hispanic Elvises, Las Vegas Elvises. I've tried to make it a more funny Elvis with a lot of ad-libbing and playing with the crowd. Over the years, I think I've become more of a tribute to Elvis impersonators."
During Elvis Fest, Wall, a Fullerton resident, will take on a myriad of tasks as host including directing traffic into the swap meet, greeting customers, handing out stickers that say "I Saw Elvis at the Orange County Market Place", and performing several medleys on stage at 10 a.m. , noon at 2 p.m.
He will also hand out awards to finalists in the Crème de la King Elvis Singing Competition presented by Karaoke Scene Magazine. Here Elvis wannabes will sing karaoke style while vying for a finalist position to compete for cash awards and the "king" title at Karaoke Fest 2008, which will be held during the Los Angeles County Fair in September. Four finalists will be selected from the field of contestants at Elvis Fest who will begin singing at 11 a.m.
Elsewhere on the Tribute Artist Stage will be a series of performers aside from Wall. They include the father-son act of Don and Ryan Rose of Las Vegas, NV. (Don is 49 and Ryan is 8). They perform together at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. the elder Rose does a solo act at 1:30 p.m. and son Ryan is on his own at 2:30 p.m. Also Travis Allen of Temecula at10:30 a.m., James King.
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ADD2-2-2 Elvis Fest at the Orange County Market Place
of Long Beach, who won Karaoke Fest last year at 11:30 a.m., Paul Monroe of Spring Valley, the second place finisher last year, at 1:00 p.m. and Jesse Ortega of Montebello at 11:00 a.m.
Strutting a tall version of the king is a 9 ‘ 6" stilt walking Elvis who will be strolling throughout the Market Place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Joe Uncool, a shorter Elvis character and comic vaudevillian, moving about the grounds from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Likely to be everyone’s best friend is Brutus, a four-and-a-half-year-old bull mastiff, owned by Nancy Stevens of Yorba Linda , that dresses as Elvis with wig, glasses and cape, a costume he is mostly seen wearing during his therapy dog visits to local hospitals and senior centers. Brutus will be at Elvis Fest from 10 a.m. to noon.
The Jailhouse Rockers of California, an official Elvis Presley Fan Club and nonprofit organization raising funds for the Elvis Presley Trauma Center in Memphis, TN and other charities, will have a booth about membership as well as souvenirs and memorabilia for sale. They will also be selling ice cream at Bob's Old Fashioned Ice Cream at the swap meet to raise funds for the Gary Center of La Habra.
Elvis Fest is held in conjunction with the weekend swap meet at the Orange County Fairgrounds, which features nearly 1,000 merchants selling a variety of products and services. Since 1969 the Orange County Market Place has been held every Saturday and Sunday. Hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. All events at Elvis Fest are included in the price of admission to the swap meet, which is $2 for general, and free for children 12 and under.
For more information on the Orange County Market Place visit www.ocmarketplace.com or call (949)723-6660.
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