LONDON: Twenty-five years after his death, fans the world over are still All Shook Up by Elvis Presley — from the weeping statue of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Netherlands to a portrait made of toast in New Zealand.
Elvis impersonators from Manila to Manchester crooned “Love Me Tender” to commemorate the sad day when their idol passed away at the age of 42 in his Graceland mansion in Memphis.
In the German spa town of Bad Nauheim you can sleep in the bed occupied by Elvis when he served there in the late 1950s as the US Army’s most famous GI.
British gamblers are still placing bets at odds of 1,000-1 that Elvis is still alive — and the news from the Netherlands could encourage them to hold on to their betting slips.
Dutch Elvis impersonator Toon Nieuwenhuisen said a ghost of Elvis appeared in his house last week.
And now, on the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis, he said a plaster statue of Presley is shedding tears of joy.
Across the world in New Zealand, supermarket owner Maurice Bennett spent two months fashioning a portrait of Elvis out of 4,000 small slices of toast.
“I’m totally into Elvis. I just fell in love with the man,” he said of his unique tribute to the hip-swivelling, pelvis-thrusting icon. Britain must rank as one of the most devoted Presley shrines in the world.
He scored a number one hit this summer with a dance remix of “A Little Less Conversation”, giving him more chart toppers than the Beatles.—Reuters