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(Rich Vickers of Salem, Mo., will be one of 22 competitors at Saturday night's preliminary round competition of the 2007
Ultimate Elvis Tribute Competition at Rickman Auditorium in Arnold.)
'Tribute to king has enough 'Elvi' to go around'
Graceland sponsoring competition at Rickman
By Kevin Carbery
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 3:23 PM CDT
For several weeks after it was announced in January that the 2007 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest would
kick off at Rickman Auditorium, registration was slow.
But, have no fear, there will be more than enough "Elvi" to go around during the competition's preliminary
round event scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Rickman on the Fox High School campus in Arnold.
"We have 22 Elvises," Gina Sokolich, Arnold's special events coordinator, said. "Probably about a month
into it, the ball started rolling. People started seeing it on the Internet.
"We're set. We have enough Elvises."
The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest is unique in that Elvis Presley Enterprises sponsors it, the first time the
Graceland-based organization has sponsored such a competition. And, the Rickman event is the first
contest preliminary round to take place anywhere.
Contestants in the preliminary will vie for a chance to appear in qualifying and final rounds at Graceland
against other winners from other parts of the country and the world. Finals will be conducted during the
30th Anniversary Elvis Week, Aug. 11-19. The person judged to be the best performer overall at
Graceland will be named the 2007 Elvis Tribute Artist of the Year.
Sokolich said competitors are coming from far and wide to appear in the preliminary round at Rickman.
"There are a couple of Elvises from Florida," she said. "There are three from Tennessee. There's one from
Iowa.
"We had a guy sending us e-mails from Germany, but he never registered."
Each contestant had to post a $100 entry fee. Every Elvis will perform the King's songs in front of a group
of judges, who will determine a winner.
The Arnold Tourism Commission, sponsor of the Rickman contest round, is offering a $1,000 prize to the
winner.
Atomic Fireworks is a major local sponsor of the event and Cornbread of WIL radio will emcee. Eddie
Falco, a local Elvis impersonator, is scheduled to perform during intermission.
The criteria for choosing a winner include talent, appearance, performance, stage presence and each
performer's overall tribute to Elvis.
"It's going to be really fun," Sokolich said. "Tourism is excited because we've done a lot better than we
thought. There are still tickets available, but we have over 1,000 tickets sold."
The cost to attend the event is $10. Tickets are available through Arnold City Hall or through
ticketmaster.com.
For ticket or other information, call 636-296-2100.
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