Howdy, folks. I've been struggling to finish up two books (yes, I'll make sure you hear more about them when they're set to be published), so I haven't had as much time as I'd like to scope about the film scene. So here are some random notes from my files-and they both center around Elvis, who would've been 71 this past Jan. 8.

Jan. 7 saw the return of the Annual Elvis Invitationals to Seattle. It's a contest for amateur Elvi; and in the spirt of good sportsmanship, everyone who enters gets a prize. The Invitationals are now in their tenth year. They moved to the Experience Music Project a few years ago.

After years of fair-to-middling interest in E (as those close to him called him), I finally got serious after visiting Graceland-a requirement for anyone interested in pop culture-and read Peter Guralnick's excellent two-part biography on him. And it's not just E's music and life that interest me-it's the whole package, the phenomenon of "Elvis Culture," and impersonators certainly fit right into that.

The Invitationals are a bit more low-key than similar events I've attended, largely because these folks are amateurs and not competing for hefty prizes. Also, in a nice touch, live musical backing was provided by local musicians; oftentimes, the Elvi perform to recorded backing tracks.

The first half featured returning Elvi including last year's winner, Dino Macris, who also dons his jumpsuit for appearances at cancer charity events. "This is a high end event for an Elvis event," he told me. He also said his voice "caters to the '70s" Elvis era, but the songs he did were from the '60s, "Viva Las Vegas" and "Can't Help Falling in Love" (he passed also out scarves during his performance).

Another returning performer was Art Kleiner, "the Swiss Elvis," who now lives in Bellingham ("I like the water and the mountains"), and runs "KingXPress Limousine" (art@KingXPress.com). He was rather soft-spoken offstage, so I was a surprised that he turned out to have a good, deep singing voice, singing "Heartbreak Hotel," "Little Sister," and "Blue Hawaii," distributing leis to the faithful during the latter number.

The main event featured 18 different would-be-Kings. The winner was James Hunicut, who turned in a spot-on rendition of "One Night," from his favorite Elvis period; "To me, the only Elvis era is the '50s," he told me. Hunicut had sung the same song in last year's contest, and this year invested in a nice suit to wear, which he credits with making all the difference to the judges. He was not an Elvis lookalike, but a definite Elvis soundalike, and had the right "feel" as well; he was my pick as soon as he ended his number.

Interestingly, there was a three-way tie for second place, including the event's only female Elvis, Helen Anne Gately, aka Hellon Wheels, who wore a burgundy jumpsuit and got a great response for her "props," three suitably-clad beach boys, who frolicked while Gately delivered a peppy "Rock-a-Hula Baby." The other second place winners were Ronnie Porter, who warbled through "It's Now Or Never," and Enjay Santos who did "Suspicious Minds" (I think the third time the song was done that night!). Then everyone gathered on stage for a mass singalong to "That's All Right."

Next up, I got a copy of the DVD Elvis Presley at The Seattle World's Fair, a brief look behind-the-scenes of what I have to say I consider one of the King's lesser films. The Elvis movies of the '60s generally had the same storyline-Presley is an entertainer, or in a more rugged line of work (pilot, racer, diver) and an entertainer, who runs into work troubles concurrently with girlfriend troubles, finding the solution to each by the film's end. It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) follows this scenario to the letter, with Presley as a crop-duster who loses his plane due to his partner's gambling debts, visits the Seattle World Fair's where he meets a pretty nurse, and gets both the girl and a new job by the time he sings (what else?) "Happy Ending." The World's Fair provides a spectacular setting, and a young Kurt Russell pops up in a small role, but there's a noticeable lack of good songs, aside from "One Broken Heart for Sale" (a Top 20 hit). An unfortunate subplot involves a little girl who's lost her uncle-unfortunate, because the appearance of a child in an Elvis Movie invariably leads to a less than stellar musical number (undoubtedly prompting Presley's later comment, "I'm tired of singing to children, animals, and walls!").

If you're interested in Seattle history and/or the Seattle World's Fair (and I happen to collect Seattle World's Fair items), the film is of slightly more interest. But Elvis Presley at the Seattle World's Fair is really more for the hardcore fan of either subject. The DVD runs just under 30 minutes and features home movie footage shot during the filming of the Elvis film. The footage is drawn from the vaults of Albert Fisher, who was working for the fair and arranged the film's location shooting, as well as serving as the film's technical advisor (a credit later "stolen" by Colonel Parker). Fisher shot still photos as well, and you see it all, accompanied by a rather generic musical backing (as the footage is silent) and captions running underneath serving up further trivia. Both a standard DVD and a limited numbered edition DVD, with four never-before-seen color photographs of Elvis, are available through www.fairvideo.com.

Interesting to speculate on what Elvis would've thought if you'd told him while he was shooting World's Fair that 40 years hence people would imitating him at a museum built on that very site.

© 2006 Belltown Messenger