Saginaw's Temple Theatre

Saginaw's Temple Theatre to host a battle of the Elvis Presley impersonators



by Janet I. Martineau | The Saginaw News
Thursday September 11, 2008, 3:35 AM

Elvis may have left the building -- Saginaw's TheDowEvent Center way back in 1977 -- but he's headed back to the nearby Temple Theatre early next year.
The Temple, 203 N. Washington, has announced a two-day, three-concert extravaganza titled "The KING Returns to Saginaw," slated for Friday and Saturday, Jan. 16-17.

"It's everything you could possibly imagine," quips Barb Ashley, the director of marketing for the Temple.

The Temple, she said, has partnered with Richard Rosenthal, who is the man behind the annual Windsor Elvis Fest in Canada.

"Upwards of 20 Elvis tribute artists will come to Saginaw to complete," says Ashley, "from all over the United States and Canada."

And also on the bill are performances by the two winners of the 2008 Windsor Elvis Fest.

Here is how it goes, says Ashley.

* At 7 p.m. Friday, all the contestants perform to recorded instrumental tracks. The categories are The Early Years from Elvis Presley's career dating back to the 1950s and The Vegas Years from later in his life.

* At 1 p.m. Saturday, five semi-finalists in each of the two categories compete, with a winner announced in each of those two categories.

* And at 8 p.m. Saturday, the two winners perform with the EAS Band, ranked by Elvis Presley Enterprises as the No. 1 Elvis tribute band in the world, says Ashley.

Also performing with the EAS Band at the Saturday night show are Jay Zanier of Guelph, Ont., and Chris Ayotte of Canton. Ayotte won in the early years category and Zanier in the Vegas years category this year in Windsor.

Ayotte has performed Elvis tributes since his high school years, for corporate, community and church events, and also does impersonations of a variety of other singers, presidents and sportscasters.

While a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor he sang with its Men's Glee Club and with both a mixed ensemble and men's quartet.

He works as a marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company.

Zanier was also the people's choice winner at the 2008 Windsor Elvis Fest, and has won at similar Elvis events in Collingwood, Ont.; Hamilton, Ont., Memphis, Tenn., and Orillia, Ont.

Ashley said Rosenthal will provide a couple of judges for the show and the Temple will provide some from the Saginaw area.

Tickets are $5 for each of the two competition events and $30 and $20 for the Saturday night tribute show. Call 754-SHOW.

Presley performed two show at TheDow, just months too long before his untimely death on Aug. 16, 1977

Source: http://www.mlive.com/saginawnews/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/09/saginaws_temple_theatre_to_hos.html