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Elvis' Estate is Mum, But Fans Will Install a Las Vegas Star
Jun. 29, 2008 Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal NORM: Elvis fan club will have star its way A local Elvis fan club isn't feeling a whole lot of love from the Elvis Presley Estate. The cold shoulder includes efforts to obtain a donation for Elvis' celebrity star on Las Vegas Boulevard and silence as far as offering input on where to install the star. Letters were sent to everyone from Robert Sillerman, who purchased 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises in 2004 for $114 million, to Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley. "We have heard nothing in response," said Sue Laurenz, head of the Viva Las Vegas Club, the fundraising force behind getting Elvis a star. The club has about $13,000 of the required $15,000. "We're moving on. The fans have made it happen, and it's all fan money," said Laurenz, adding that she's seen donations as small as $2 and $5. The Las Vegas Walk of Stars announced last week that Elvis' star will go in front of the Riviera on Sept. 26, the 27th star on the Strip. Laurenz said Pete "Big Elvis" Vallee has been a saint in the effort, frequently promoting the fundraising drive during his show at Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon. All the proceeds have been raised since Feb. 28, a good share from foreign countries through the Internet. The Web site is www.astarforelvis.com. E-mail astar4elvis@yahoo.com for more information. As for the oft-asked question: Why the Riviera? The Riviera, Laurenz noted, is the closest casino property to the Hilton (then The International), where Elvis was a sensation from 1969 to 1977. She added that the county gave authorization to the Walk of Stars only along Las Vegas Boulevard. "For what it's worth, Elvis was with Liberace in November 1956 at the Riv when those famous photographs were taken of the switched jackets and instruments," Laurenz said. Stars for Sammy Davis Jr. and Liberace are in front of the Riv, "and I do believe Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin will be there, too. Elvis will be among his friends, and that is pretty special." | ||
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here is the link: http://www.lvweekly.com/blogs/debriefing/2008/jun/29/fleshing-out-presley-riv-co nnection/ here is the article: Fleshing out the photogenic Presley-Riviera connection By John Katsilometes The photos and accompanying video tell the story of the "who" ? Liberace and Elvis Presley, cavorting and mugging in each other's attire (or at least jackets), even switching out their chosen instruments. The shots are part of the lore for each entertainer, who might have been more alike than different, given their gift of showmanship. But the "where" in those photos is often lost ? the Riviera, which is where the King, who never sang a single note onstage at the hotel, will be honored Sept. 26 by the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. The Riviera, along with the Tropicana, is one of the few vintage Vegas-styled hotel-casinos still standing on the Strip and is also home to Sammy Davis Jr.'s star ? another entertainer who never performed there. A more businesslike Elvis-Riv connection is Robert F.X. Sillerman, chairman and chief executive officer of FX Real Estate and Entertainment Inc. Conveniently, the company is the majority partner in Elvis Presley Enterprises, and is also an investor in Riviera Holdings Corporation ? which owns the Riv. The company, which also owns licensing rights to Muhammad Ali's name and image, is seeking to develop about 18 acres of land on the southeast corner of the Strip and Harmon Avenue, where it has been reported it hopes to build an Elvis-themed hotel-casino. That hotel would be an ideal spot for the Elvis star, but the project is a mere concept today, and the Vegas-based Viva Las Vegas Elvis Presley Fan Club wants a star in place this fall. It helps that the famed photos and video of Liberace and Elvis, a publicity stunt for the ages, took place at the hotel on Nov. 14, 1956. Elvis was months removed from his first stage appearances in Vegas, which were a largely derided week's worth of performances at the Frontier (the hotel lopped his scheduled two-week run because the older Vegas fans ? and older Vegas show reviewers ? found the young entertainer a "bore" and "uncouth," as the Sun reported at the time). Elvis took in a Liberace performance at the Clover Room, later renamed the Versailles Theatre, and in a piece of Vegas legend, afterward Liberace encouraged the young Presley to glitz up his stage act and the two switched jackets. The next year, at Liberace's urging, Presley slipped into a gold-lame suit similar to Liberace's for the cover photo for the album 50,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong. (Go here for a look at Presley's measurements for that suit.) Three other hotels would have been logical sites for Presley's Vegas star. The Aladdin, where he and Priscilla Presley were married in 1967, has morphed into Planet Hollywood; the Frontier has been imploded; and the Las Vegas Hilton is not actually on the Strip, and the Clark County Commission has authorized that these stars to be place only on Las Vegas Boulevard. As they say in real estate, the key is location, location, location. |
Sep. 27, 2008 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal NORM: LV all shook up about Elvis star Elvis Presley is once again a star on Las Vegas Boulevard. In a ceremony Friday that featured three of his old pals, the Las Vegas Walk of Stars honored The King with a celebrity star that will go in front of the Riviera near those of fellow icons Liberace and Sammy Davis Jr. "Elvis has come home to stay," Elvis fan club president Sue Laurenz told a cheering crowd. Her group, the Viva Las Vegas Club, raised all of the $15,000 needed for the star, the 27th to go on The Strip. With that mission accomplished, the next step should be getting a street named after Elvis, said Joe Esposito, one of the three members of Elvis' Memphis Mafia who attended the ceremony in the Riviera's Le Bistro Lounge. "I don't understand why there isn't a street named after Elvis," said Esposito, Elvis' road manager and best man at Presley's wedding to Priscilla. That brought down the house, too. It's become a sore point to Elvis fans, after seeing a half dozen other entertainers get streets named in their honor. Elvis, said Riviera president Bob Vannucci, didn't just fill the showroom, "he filled the city." Also attending was Sammy Shore, Elvis' opening act for years during his long run at The International (now the Las Vegas Hilton), and Sonny West, Presley's bodyguard and close friend, and Pete "Big Elvis" Valle, who played a big part in getting Elvis his star. (To learn about Elvis Presley's street name, [click here] ) | |
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