Russian
LONG LIVE THE KING!
Poster - 2,71 mb
Elvis Wedding Show
Rubi d`ELVIS - "the
first impersonator of Elvis Presley in Moscow"
My story is this: I have been working at weedings (organizing and
conducting) for the last 5 years. This is a family business. Russian
wedding differ greatly from european ones. Old traditions and
prefferences of guests define the direction of the wedding and the
character of the show. The most favorite entertainement for the majority
of guests is drinking alcohol. But it's a different story. I'm trying to
change a usual way of celebrating and propose something more interesting
and special. For all those years I have been transforming a booze into a
spectacular show. During the show I sing a lot. But each year I had to
change my repertoire. And each year it turned out to be more difficult
than in the previous one because I have a low voice. But most of popular
songs are written for tenors. Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were the
only ones who suited my vocal range. Different people receive Elvis differently. For many guests it's
difficult to understand that they are watching not a parody. For many
years the Soviet government had been persuading russian people that USA
was an enemy and everything that came from that country was vulgar,
low-minded and foolish. American culture was critisized with enthusiasm.
Today you still can hear the "echo". People know nothing about
Elvis here. But they know how he looks like. So when I apper fully
dressed they all start yelling "Elvis lives! Elvis forever!"
After that people don't know what to do with what they see. Many of them
ask "Can we dance during the show?". The second part of the
show they usually just sit and watch as a concert. Many of they like to
take pictures with Elvis after the show.
"Rolling stone", sep. 2005
That
year it became popular among hosts (a person who controls, conducts the
wedding) to dress like any very famous Russian celebrity to parody. The
quality of parody was not important. The fact itself made people laugh
and leave their drinks aside. As to me I don't resemble any celebrity,
so I have no one to dress like. At the end of one wedding party I told
the groom about it. Then I added that I would have dressed like Elvis
Presley but I was affraid that the guests wouldn't get it. He looked at
me and said: "You are deffinetely wrong!". That was the way it
started. Then two things happened which impressed and motivated me: I
watched "Aloha from Hawaii" and read Peter Guralnick's
"Last train to Memphi s\Careless
love" - a birthday gift from
my family.
I tried singing songs of Elvis Presley such as Blue Suede Shoes, And I
love you so, Heartbreak Hotel, Love me at wedding parties. These were
the only phonograms I could find in the Internet for free. The audience
welcomed these songs and danced with pleasure. Then I shaved my
moustache grew sideburns.
A few
months later I already had my first jumpsuit - red Fringe - and a huge
collection of good phonograms "Velvet Elvis" by Music Maestro
which I bought with a lot of difficulties. I make jumpsuits myself. The
second one was a violet Owl, then Aloha and now white Comet. For the
latter ones I used templates, but the first one I made completely
myself. By that time I had some experience in sewing. But making a
jumpsuit was a big risk for me. But next month I was already
impersonating Elvis in a completed jumpsuit - the red Fringe. Today a
wedding party with Elvis - is the main part of my show. After the
ceremony of the official registration of the relationships (which is not
romantic at all) the newlyweds go sightseeing with Elvis (people visit
parks and monuments), say romantic vows to the King of Rock-n-roll and
get two Elvis' concerts during the wedding party.
There
were no official Elvis fan clubs in Russia, no impersonators, until now.
Russian publishing of "Rolling Stone" magazine (sep. 2005)
wrote an article "Elvis with you!" about me and my show. They
titled me as "the first impersonator of Elvis Presley in Moscow".
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