AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
The King was back in Tupelo this past week. Every year, Tupelo, Mississippi, puts on Elvis Fest in the town where Elvis Presley was born. The event's crown jewel is a competition of Elvis look-alikes, and it's not just adults competing to be the champ. Kids get in on the action too. Elise Gregg of the Gulf States Newsroom checked in with the next generation of Elvises.
ELISE GREGG, BYLINE: It took Jeremiah Wilson about 6 1/2 hours to get from his home of Pineville, Louisiana, to the Elvis Presley birthplace in Tupelo.
How was the trip?
JEREMIAH WILSON: Very boring, but I had Elvis music playing, and I was bugging my mom with Elvis music and Elvis stuff, so it was great.
GREGG: Wilson is 16. He's here with 20 other kids aged 7 to 17. They don full makeup with jumpsuits and fake sideburns to bring The King to life on stage. For his performance, Wilson picked "Suspicious Minds."
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JEREMIAH: (Singing) We're caught in a trap.
Put your hands together, Tupelo.
(Singing) I can't walk out because I love you too much, baby. Oh, why can't you see...
GREGG: And it's not just singing, but copying performances to a T, including costumes, dance and mannerisms. Wilson's tribute earned him second place.
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JEREMIAH: (Singing) We can't go on together with suspicious minds.
Singing it (ph).
GREGG: Wilson's mom, Piper Wilson, says he does a lot of homework. Some of Wilson's competitors are also his friends, she says, and they prepare together by phone.
PIPER WILSON: They spend two to three hours every day studying documentaries, watching footage, film reel, helping each other out.
GREGG: One of those friends is RJ Hursey of Bloomington, Illinois. The 14-year-old has been doing tribute performances for about four years. His favorite thing about Elvis?
RJ HURSEY: How kind he really was. And, you know, he was very giving.
GREGG: He took first place and wrapped the youth competition with another Elvis classic.
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RJ: (Singing) I can't help falling in love with you. (Inaudible).
GREGG: And a lot of these young tribute artists, including Hursey, use their skills to perform at nursing homes. Wilson says he loves showing off for the folks who remember Elvis.
JEREMIAH: They're always shouting for me. They're like, come on, Elvis, you know? It's just - it's so sweet.
GREGG: For this next generation of Elvis performers, making people smile is the best way to pay tribute to The King. For NPR News, I'm Elise Gregg in Tupelo, Mississippi.
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RJ: (Singing) Falling in love... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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