Johnny Thompson Winner of the Best Elvis Impersonator Contest

Occasionally events in your life have a means of turning out for the best! That's what occurred to JOHNNY THOMPSON in Memphis in the 2007 ELVIS WEEK.

Johnny was in Memphis as he won in the initial Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist competition in Del Mar, California. Right before he left for Memphis, he told this correspondent that he may not win the desirable title of "2007 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist" in the first ETA competition funded by the ELVIS PRESLEY Ventures . However he revealed he would be delighted enough if he makes it to the Top 10 . Sadly he did not! But God had something better in store for him. He was crowned the "2007 Pictures of the King World Champion" 2 days later! The old chestnut that "God won't take you to where His grace won't sustain you" is right indeed!The "Images of the King" contest was troublesome.

Seventy-two ETAs from across the world competed in the 1st a couple of days of preliminaries.

Out of the seventy-two, 34 were chosen to challenge again in 2 more days of last competitions. A suspenseful moment ensued while the judges' votes were totaled. And then came the statement : Johnny Thompson from Vegas is the new World Champ ! He emailed me later that he was shocked, and very pleased. "I wish that you were here so you may have seen it!" he wrote. I missed all of the events lauding ELVIS PRESLEY on his 30th death anniversary, so I was not ready to see the "Images of the King" and "Ultimate ETA" competitions. For Elvis fans like me who did not make it to Memphis, and wish to view the statement of the winners, sign on to this internet site : www.imagesofthekingcontest.com.


Here are the top winners and their awards : JOHNNY THOMPSON of Vegas, Nevada, World champ, $1,500 money and $1,500 gift token from BK Companies ; GINO MONOPOLI of Canada, 2nd place, $600 money and $800 gift token from BK ; SCOTT NORTON of Florida, 3rd place, $400 in notes and $500 gift voucher from BK. CODY Massacre won the Peoples's Choice award, while GENE SHAW and JERRY BRIAN tied for the Meaning of Elvis award.

The finalists who competed at the Round one Finals held Fri. , Aug seventeen, ordered by performance, were : MIKE BRAVENER, WILL GANZON, CODY Massacre , ELVIS WAYNE, JUSTIN EDWARDS, RICK WADE, OLIVER STEINHOFF, TOKI, MATTHEW SPAULDING, TONY GROVA, ADAM FISHER, GEORGE ELIAS, DANNY DALE, KAVAN and SCOTT NORTON. At the Round two Finals held Sat. , Aug eighteen, the finalists, listed by performance, were : JEFF BARNES, MATT JOYCE, JOSEPH HALL, RICHARD ADKINS, LANCE DOBINSON, JOE TRITES, PAUL THORPE, JOHNNY THOMPSON, LIL'D, ANTHONY VON, JASON WHITED, TODD MARTIN, DAVID ALLEN, JESSE ARON, PETE PAQUETTE, KJELL BJORNSTED, GINO MONOPOLI, ROB LANGFORD and JAMIE McDONNEL-ROBERTS. Other ETAs who joined the "Images of the King" competition were : JACK HOWARD, GENE LANE, PAUL Servant , CURT LECHNER, VAL PANGILINAN, LARRY TSCHEHALI, FRED ALBERT, KEN YUVIENCO, LOU JORDAN, MARCUS BERE, MARIO RAMOS, SHELBY DANIEL, TONY FRIETAS, TERRY McGILLIVRAY, JIM HOLMES, NASAR SFIAN MORDEN, TYLER JAMES BARLING, TORI, BRAD McCRADY, Priest PELLY, TIM DUDLEY, JAMES CARDWELL, CHRIS MARTIN, STEVE BOTELLO, SAMMY STONE, PAUL Wake , BILL BROOKS, MICHAEL RATCLIFFE, ALVIN SMITH, MIKE BOZZO, GARY ABBOTT, BUD SANDERS, JEFF "JELVIS" LAJESS, JIM BISHOP, TRACY ALAN MOORE, JOHNNY LOOS, DAVID MUGGERIDGE and RICHARD COOK. Previous "Images of the King" World champs were guest performers, among them : MICHAEL HOOVER, 1988 ; DAVID LEE, 2004 ; MARIO, 2005 ; and ELVIS, JR, 2006. The day following the Grand Finals, Johnny attended and performed at the Breakfast of Champs along with DAVID LEE, GINO MONOPOLI, and GARY ELVIS BRITT. "Images of the King" is the first ETA competition in Memphis, started in 1986 ( twenty-one years back ) by DOC FRANKLIN. It has developed thru the years into a family reunion, expo and entertainment showcase. Around two thousand folk from all over the world attended this year's competition. What's new with Johnny after winning the "Images of the King" this year? He's off to Europe for another string of performances. Along with LEO DAYS from Michigan, who will be performing as the 50's Elvis, and KRAIG PARKER from Dallas, Texas, who will be performing as the 70's Elvis, the 3 of them will be in Paris, France for a month ( October three to Nov three, 2007 ). Johnny will do the "Comeback Special" segment. Then the 3 of them will perform in nineteen to twenty more towns in France, Finland, Denmark and Norway. Way to go, Johnny, Leo and Kraig! Johnny has performed in other nations before, like China, Cancun, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic. Zena Sultana.


Source: http://johnthompson14.articlealley.com/johnny-thompson-winner-of-the-best-elvis-impersonator-contest-2395175.html

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Learn How to Sing and Deal with Performance Anxiety

So, you're a fabulous singer or at least on your way to becoming one, right? However, even though your dreams are big and your determination to achieve them are even bigger, there is one thing which may be creating doubt in your mind as to whether you really want to move forward - performance!

Being nervous about getting up in front of an audience of a couple of hundred people - or for some of us, even one person other than the one that looks back at us from inside the mirror - is surprisingly common. In fact I reckon it's safe to say that no-one who has ever performed can say they've never felt nervous about it!
Believe me, you are so not alone when it comes to nerves. I still get nervous every time I perform - no kidding!
Nerves are a good thing though...Sure, they don't feel all that good if you don't see the benefits they provide but...Nerves actually add spark to your performance by supplying you with extra energy and more quick wit and clearer thinking. The ability to 'think on your feet' increases when you are feeling nervous. This means that if something were to go wrong - and most of the time nothing does - you would be able to quickly think of a way to cover it up, fake it or use the situation to your advantage. However, an 'attack of the butterflies' can sometimes feel more like an attack on your heart and can leave you feeling incredibly tense and unable to perform.

Here are a few tips that I give everyone while they learn how to sing, when it comes to performance and nerves:
1) Know your stuff!! Be as prepared as you can be by knowing your repertoire (song/s) back to front, inside-out and have the ability to perform it whilst standing on your head if necessary :)
This way, you lessen the risk of nerves occurring as a result of thoughts like "I wish I had practiced more". Instead you can say "I have done all that I can to prepare myself for this performance and I am ready!"
2) Train yourself to begin thinking of what could go right instead of what disasters could occur. Did you know that we have around 60,000 thoughts per day? Did you know that around 86 of all negative thoughts are gross misrepresentations of reality? Kind of hits home how easy it is for our 'ego minds' to take over and feed us a patch of 'meadow muffins'!
Your thoughts occur simply out of habits of thought you have created up until now by letting your mind do what it likes without question. Try something different and you will get an entirely different result. For example, begin to monitor the content of your thoughts in general - every day. There is no need to monitor every thought; that would drive anyone crazy! Simply start by observing the content of your thoughts and assess whether they are generally negative or positive. If they're positive, keep thinking those thoughts. However, if you find yourself thinking negatively about someone or something, use your power of creativity to find something positive about that someone or something and gradually you will begin to train your mind to focus more on positive aspects of your everyday experiences. I could write a book on this...actually, I did! So, no need for me to say more right now, I think you get the gist, lol

3) Ask yourself "What's the very worst that could happen" and then ask yourself "Is it likely to happen". Notice how I used the word likely instead of possible? We all know that anything is possible but many things that are very possible are also not very likely. More often than not, you will find that your biggest fear is simply that - FEAR.
F - False
E - Evidence
A - Appearing
R - Real
Here's a simple strategy I give everyone learning how to sing for analyzing and clearing your worry:
a) Get the facts i.e. what is it that you're worries about? Is the cause of your worry probable or even logical? If so, is there anything you can do about it? If not, stop worrying. Just continue on, doing the best that you can do. Again, the focus is an what you can do, not on the possible disasters.
b) After carefully weighing all the facts, come to a decision. If the cause of your worry is something you can take action on, decide WHAT action you will take.
c) Once your decision is carefully reached, act! Get busy carrying out your decision and dismiss all anxiety about the outcome. Have you ever noticed that when you take your attention away from something that may be worrying you and place it onto something else, the feelings associated with the thing that you were previously worried about, disappear?...Hmmm...Food for thought...
4) Breathe deeply. Act calm and breathe deeply. Your mind is greatly affected by the actions of your body and the same is true for the opposite. If your body is acting out a 'confident state', your mind will take on the assumption that it is time to be confident and the brain will order a release of a specific chemical which calms the body further. It's quite a magical machine this vessel we reside in. So, the essence of this message is to 'FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT'. Act calm, be calm - calm enough to sing well at least. Remember, you want SOME nerves present to add that vibrancy & spirit to your performance.
We are creatures of habit, us Humans...So, in order to become consistent in being able to deal with your nerves in any situation, practice the above techniques in all situations in your life that have you building a butterfly Avery in your gut!
At the end of the day, my friend, you are going to be OK. I know it!
Trust yourself, be prepared, think positively and breathe deeply.
Learn how to sing with Singing Solutions. Become the next singing sensation.
HAPPY SINGING!

Source: http://raehenry.articlealley.com/learn-how-to-sing-and-deal-with-performance-anxiety-2397368.html

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