The King reigns supreme at Elvis Festival
Real estate agent Sylvain Leduc travelled to Niagara over the weekend but it wasn’t to check out the region’s hot real estate market.
The Quebec resident was a competitor in the Niagara Falls Elvis Festival at Greg Frewin Theatre.
Leduc began entertaining family and friends with his Elvis Presley skills when he was just 15.
“I grew up with his music,” he said Saturday as he prepared to take to the stage for the second round of the competition. “It’s almost the only music I’ve listened to all my life.”
While he has performed as an Elvis tribute artist — referred to as an ETA — for decades, he didn’t enter the competition circuit until a few years ago.
“I never really wanted to be in competitions but, after my first one, I realized it isn’t about competing,” he said. “It’s about meeting so many beautiful people. It’s meeting all the other ETAs who share the same passion and meeting all the fans and seeing the joy that we bring back in memories for them that means so much to us.”
Leduc’s performances recreate Presley during the 1970s.
“I don’t know why. I think it’s the jump suits that really got to me,” the 55-year-old joked.
Leduc was among 14 people from across Canada and as far away as Brazil and Australia who attended the three-day festival to compete in the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest.
Participants included a middle school French teacher, a defence attorney and an 11-year-old boy from Caledon.
The local festival was sanctioned by Elvis Presley Enterprises, the corporate entity which manages the rock legend’s assets, music and copyright.
That meant the winner of the tribute contest qualified to compete in August at the Ultimate Tribute Artist Championship in Graceland.
Festival producer Tony Busseri, of Oakville-based ARB Productions, said he hopes the local festival will become an annual event.
“The feedback so far has been very positive,” he said. “I think this can grow to be not just in this venue.”
Busseri said Presley’s popularity has never waned.
“It’s mind-boggling that he’s actually bigger now than when he was alive,” he said.
“The interest in Elvis … I never realized the degree of it until I got involved. The fans are like a big community.”
In addition to the competition, there were several headline concerts featuring some of the top ETAs in the world as well as a Gospel Hour performance on Sunday morning.
There was also an Elvis-inspired menu including grilled bacon, peanut butter and banana sandwiches and skillet sausage and pepper saute.
After competing in Niagara Falls, Leduc will have a few weeks to rest before heading to New York to perform at the Lake George Elvis Festival in June.
He’s also currently performing in 40 Years Unforgotten, a year-long tour of Canada and U.S.