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