It’s now or never for this would-be King

Young Elvis impersonator Emilio Prince gets ready for a performance with the dedication of a method actor.

Emilio Prince puts the finishing touches to his ‘young Elvis’ look as he prepares to perform at this year’s Parkes Elvis Festival. Picture: John Feder

Young Elvis impersonator Emilio Prince gets ready for a performance with the dedication of a method actor.

As The King did, he puts on his jumpsuit, drinks tea with honey, does vocal exercises and finally stands in the corner of the room, closing his eyes for a few minutes and letting all his worries fade away.

“As soon as he walks out that door through the curtains and on to the stage, it is Elvis Presley,” the 22-year-old, who has watched every movie, biopic and TV special made about Elvis, says of his method.

“I like to think, all right, this is what Elvis would have done. This is how Elvis would have done it.”

Prince will undergo this transformation eight times this week at the annual Parkes Elvis Festival, which he acknowledges will involve many “sweaty Kings” in their heavy, studded leather garb.

“Last year we had the festival in April, which was amazing,” he says.

This year, the central west NSW town will be transformed into a tropical paradise, dedicated to Elvis’s 1961 musical hit Blue Hawaii.

Over the four days, attendees can see hordes of thrillseeking Elvises skydive into town, inspect a replica of the legend’s own portico from Graceland and join exercise classes set to his ballads.

Prince, who has been performing since he was 17, will be perfecting his “young Elvis” on stage, though he has a soft spot for the older, 1970s jumpsuit variety.

He wants to inspire the youth and “the future tribute artists” to don the black quiff.

The latest Elvis film starring Hollywood heart-throb Austin Butler is breathing new life into the 30th anniversary of the Parkes event, with a younger generation keen to learn more about “the Pelvis”, Prince says.

In the crowd will be his grandmother – his and Elvis’s “No.1 fan” – wearing a T-shirt with her grandson’s face on it.

She and Prince’s late grandfather raised him on Elvis’s music and he carries fond memories of seeing them dancing to Love Me Tender on vinyl in the living room.

Prince says he pulled out of competing in the high-pressure Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest – where impersonators from around the world battle it out in the preliminary round of the Elvis Presley Enterprises-sponsored title at the Parkes Leagues Club – because of a recent heart procedure.

The winner goes on to the semi-finals of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest in Memphis in August.

“My dream is to one day in the future hopefully become the world champion,” Prince says.

“But if that never happens, I wouldn’t be upset because I’ll know that I’ve done what I loved on stage.”