{"id":2452120,"date":"2026-06-09T23:09:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T23:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2452120"},"modified":"2026-06-09T23:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T23:09:43","slug":"young-elvis-impersonators-battle-in-kings-hometown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/young-elvis-impersonators-battle-in-kings-hometown\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Elvis Impersonators Battle In King&#8217;s Hometown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div class=\"cli cli-embed cli-embed--full-width js-no-inject\">\n<div class=\"js-react-hydrator\" style=\"display:contents\" data-component-name=\"YouTube\" data-component-id=\"15\" data-component-props=\"{&quot;itemType&quot;:&quot;video&quot;,&quot;isLiveblogEmbed&quot;:false,&quot;index&quot;:0,&quot;contentIndexByType&quot;:1,&quot;contentListType&quot;:&quot;embed&quot;,&quot;code&quot;:&quot;&lt;div style=\\&quot;left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; 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id=\\&quot;ad-inline-1\\&quot; class=\\&quot;ad-entry_paragraph_1 ad-spot--gam ad-spot--gam-inline-1\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\\r\\n&lt;script type=\\&quot;text\/javascript\\&quot;&gt;\\r\\n  HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\\r\\n\\t\\treturn HPGam.render(\\&quot;inline-1\\&quot;, \\&quot;entry_paragraph_1\\&quot;, false, false);\\r\\n  });\\r\\n&lt;\/script&gt;\\r\\n&quot;,&quot;&lt;div id=\\&quot;ad-inline-2\\&quot; class=\\&quot;ad-entry_paragraph_3 ad-spot--gam ad-spot--gam-inline-2\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\\r\\n&lt;script type=\\&quot;text\/javascript\\&quot;&gt;\\r\\n  HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\\r\\n\\t\\treturn HPGam.render(\\&quot;inline-2\\&quot;, \\&quot;entry_paragraph_3\\&quot;, false, false);\\r\\n  });\\r\\n&lt;\/script&gt;\\r\\n&quot;,&quot;&lt;div id=\\&quot;ad-inline-infinite\\&quot; class=\\&quot;ad-repeating_dynamic_display ad-spot--gam ad-spot--gam-inline-infinite\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\\r\\n&lt;script type=\\&quot;text\/javascript\\&quot;&gt;\\r\\n  HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\\r\\n\\t\\treturn HPGam.render(\\&quot;inline-infinite\\&quot;, \\&quot;repeating_dynamic_display\\&quot;, false, false);\\r\\n  });\\r\\n&lt;\/script&gt;\\r\\n&quot;],&quot;adCount&quot;:0,&quot;midArticleAdPartner&quot;:null},&quot;isCollectionEmbed&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"cli-embed__embed-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tupelo hosts tribute artist competition for youth at Tupelo Elvis Festival\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rR1PBSsbu88?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>TUPELO, Miss. (AP) \u2014 Nearly 50 years after <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/elvis-presley\" role=\"link\" class=\" js-entry-link cet-external-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"Elvis Presley\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"6a2830fbe4b0d7105b0dad92\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/elvis-presley\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"url\" data-vars-type=\"web_external_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"article_body\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"0\">Elvis Presley<\/a> \u2019s death, a gaggle of exuberant young boys and teens shook up his hometown, intent on keeping <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/video\/a-new-generation-of-elvis-tribute-artists-compete-in-the-kings-hometown-d7f5f67c253f431b9993b10e1926dbc3\" role=\"link\" class=\" js-entry-link cet-external-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"the king\u2019s legacy alive\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"6a2830fbe4b0d7105b0dad92\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/video\/a-new-generation-of-elvis-tribute-artists-compete-in-the-kings-hometown-d7f5f67c253f431b9993b10e1926dbc3\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"url\" data-vars-type=\"web_external_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"article_body\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"1\">the king\u2019s legacy alive<\/a> for a new generation. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Ranging in age from seven to 17, some in jeweled jumpsuits, they took the stage at the Tupelo Elvis Festival\u2019s youth tribute artist competition last week. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>In contrast to their peers, who may never have heard of Elvis, the competitors have dedicated an enormous amount of time and energy to embodying the king\u2019s singing voice, mannerisms and style. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>They are careful to specify they are Elvis tribute artists. Unlike impersonators, who pretend to be Elvis and sometimes present a characterized version of the king, tribute artists strive for authenticity. Some wore costumes created by B&amp;K Enterprises Costume Co., a company licensed to recreate Elvis\u2019 outfits and provide costumes for Elvis movies, musicals and TV shows. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to be him,\u201d said Tucker Gladden, 17, from Madison, Mississippi. \u201cWe want to recreate the experience as much as we can for people that maybe didn\u2019t get to see Elvis in their lifetime.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>As for their fascination with a long-dead musician, several of the tribute artists credited the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/elvis-movie-review-b18e59c1b13c603e0fdd55adcea53f4d\" role=\"link\" class=\" js-entry-link cet-external-link\" data-vars-item-name=\"2022 \u201cElvis\u201d movie\" data-vars-item-type=\"text\" data-vars-unit-name=\"6a2830fbe4b0d7105b0dad92\" data-vars-unit-type=\"buzz_body\" data-vars-target-content-id=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/elvis-movie-review-b18e59c1b13c603e0fdd55adcea53f4d\" data-vars-target-content-type=\"url\" data-vars-type=\"web_external_link\" data-vars-subunit-name=\"article_body\" data-vars-subunit-type=\"component\" data-vars-position-in-subunit=\"2\">2022 \u201cElvis\u201d movie<\/a> with sparking their interest. A couple said their admiration began after discovering they were distantly related to Elvis. Others said it was Elvis\u2019 faith and charity that inspired them. Some said they had been performing Elvis songs since they were 3 years old. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>For 16-year-old Ayden Maloy from Logansport, Indiana, it was the way Elvis\u2019 music helped him during a difficult time in his life and motivated him to begin performing as an Elvis tribute artist three years ago. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>\u201cI just broke down in tears because it healed me,\u201d Maloy said. \u201cI think Elvis is the healer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>In an afternoon of dazzling outfits and daring dance moves, the performers got the audience clapping, singing and swaying along to their Elvis covers. Ultimately, RJ Hursey, a 14-year-old from Bloomington, Illinois, won the competition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>Hursey, who inherited his love of Elvis from his grandfather, said he practices his tributes every day, and when he\u2019s too sick to sing, he researches. He performs at nursing homes and assisted living facilities and hopes to someday star in a remake of an Elvis movie. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s humbling,\u201d Hursey said. \u201cIt makes you feel good because we know that he died thinking he\u2019d be forgotten, and we\u2019re just so glad he\u2019s still around.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>While in Tupelo, the tribute artists also toured the Elvis Presley Birthplace, a sprawling complex that includes the home where Elvis was born and the church where he was first exposed to Southern gospel music. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"primary-cli cli cli-text \">\n<p>\u201cIt feels so surreal to pay tribute to Elvis in his hometown,\u201d said 15-year-old Charles Session from Morrilton, Arkansas. \u201cI hope that he\u2019s looking down and smiling at all these young performers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TUPELO, Miss. (AP) \u2014 Nearly 50 years after Elvis Presley \u2019s death, a gaggle of exuberant young boys and teens shook up his hometown, intent on keeping the king\u2019s legacy alive for a new generation. Ranging in age from seven to 17, some in jeweled jumpsuits, they took the stage at the Tupelo Elvis Festival\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2452121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[481753,348022,481755,305388,481750,481752,481749,481751,481754],"class_list":["post-2452120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-bk-enterprises-costume-co","tag-bloomington","tag-hursey","tag-illinois","tag-madison-mississippi","tag-maloy","tag-rj-hursey","tag-tucker-gladden-17","tag-tupelo-elvis-festival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Young-Elvis-Impersonators-Battle-In-Kings-Hometown.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2452122,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452120\/revisions\/2452122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}