By AILEEN QUINONES
Moapa Valley Progress
The 10th annual Elvis Rocks Mesquite competition was hosted by the CasaBlanca Resort last weekend, June 20-22. The winner, Elvis impersonator par excellence, Justin Shandor, walked away with $3,000 in prize money and a winners trophy.
The event began on Thursday night with a meet and greet for the 22 contestants who were to participate in the Elvis Presley tribute artist competition. Guests were encouraged to go out and meet the Elvis impersonators before the big competition that was to begin the following day.
The event also featured screenings of old Elvis movies that took place poolside at the Casablanca.
In the afternoon the competition began with the contestants performing from Elvis’ 1950’s recordings. Later that night the crowd was electric as the contestants belted out the best of Elvis’ 60s-era hits and recordings.
Each Elvis impersonator made sure to keep the crowd excited as they sang song after song. After the concert, attendees were invited to join the contestants in freestyle karaoke in the CasaBlanca Skydome Lounge.
On Saturday night the contestants performed some of Elvis’ 1970s-era recordings. From there the event closed out with narrowing down the contestants so that only a dozen finalists remained.
The final 12 contestants then competed for the grand prize by singing with a live band.
Shandor, the overall winner, was crowned as the king of all the kings. As with the other nights, the event ended with a signature karaoke party.
Elvis Rocks Mesquite is an annual event that attracts hundreds of Elvis enthusiasts from all over the U.S. This year the event was judged by Las Vegas Headline Entertainer Clint Holmes and winner of season five of Tv program, America’s Got Talent, Michael Grimm.
The lead celebrity judge was “The Man of a Thousand Voices” Rich Little.
