Written by Scott Dunford
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| Mesquite’s own “Doc Elvis” |
The screams from the audience could be heard outside the CasaBlanca Showroom in Mesquite all the way to the front desk this past weekend. They were screams for the memory of the immortal King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Of course, I’m talking about Mr. Elvis Presley. CasaBlanca Hotel and Casino once again hosted the best of this area’s Elvis Tribute Artists (ETAs) in Elvis Rocks Mesquite, a two-day competition that culminated Saturday night, June 20, to a nearly sold-out audience. If you love Elvis, you would have loved this competition!
The competition began Friday with “Best of the ‘50s” preliminary round at 2 p.m., followed by the “Best of the ‘60s” at 7 p.m. The following day featured the “Best of the ‘70s.” It concluded with the best 12 participants that Saturday evening in front of a very hot live band! Four winners were chosen from each era based on four categories: vocals, appearance, stage presence, and overall performance, with vocals counting double. The Elvis Tribute Artists ranged in ages from the mid-20s to probably the oldest Elvis impersonator in the world: the local Mesquite resident Claude “Doc Elvis” Nielsen at 80 years young!
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| Corrie Sachs |
Each of the final 12 sang their best rendition of two songs for the judges. The evening was enhanced by a couple of wonderful performances from the host of the event, the beautiful Corrie Sachs, known in Las Vegas for her induction into the Vegas Fans Entertainment Hall of Fame. All of the participants were great at doing what Elvis was so good at doing. They were judged on what it takes to celebrate and bring out the spirit of that great talent on live stage.
However, some were definitely better than others. You could tell which ones nailed it by the noise level of the screams from the ladies in attendance. Even my 21-year-old daughter got into the upper decibel levels when she watched one of the younger entertainers shake and grind to the delight of everyone in attendance.
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| Champion Tyler James |
When all was said and done, the grand champion of Elvis Rocks Mesquite and the recipient of a check for $3,000 was Tyler James, a longtime Elvis tribute artist with his own show in Las Vegas. Second place was awarded to Dave Hoover of north Las Vegas, and third place went to Ghassan “James King” Haddad of Long Beach, California. “Doc Elvis” took 10th place and was followed by St. George resident Kevin Conley in 11th place. Only one other contestant hailed from Las Vegas, with all other contestants coming from California, Arizona, and Illinois. However, Bruce Andrew Stewart, the winner of the Marlene Peters Fan Favorite Award, traveled from Ontario, Canada.
Overall, this event was too much fun and worthy of your hard earned dollars. If you missed it this year, you won’t want to miss it when it rolls around next year. Event organizers are hoping for this Mesquite event to be a preliminary to the major Elvis Tribute Event hosted in Graceland. If that honor was granted to Elvis Rocks Mesquite, it would bring out the very best of Elvis Tribute Artists from all over the country to our little town in Mesquite.
Thanks to CasaBlanca for once again bringing our area an evening to remember at a price we can afford. You truly do what your slogan says you’re doing: “Vegas like it used to be.”
