Collinqwood Elvis Festival-insult or homage?

Collingwood Elvis Festival - insult or homage?: A bastion of beach revelling to many, Collingwood is a four-letter word to Pat Di Simine. Di Simine doesn't have anything against skylarking along the shoreline of Georgian Bay. He didn't do damage to any limbs while bombing down a ski hill there, either.

Di Simine's disdain for Collingwood has more to do with the town's annual display of white jumpsuits, rhinestones, pompadour coifs, aviator glasses and fake Memphis drawls. As an Elvis Presley devotee since the age of five, drawn to the entertainer's voice, hip swivel and genteel persona, Di Simine finds Collingwood's festival in honour of the King more insult than homage.

"Elvis would never have been seen in public like that," Di Simine said about some of the sparkly get-ups he's seen on stage at Collingwood. "Go put some money into your suit and take some vocal lessons. "Elvis wasn't about being a bad singer. He was the King of Rock 'n' Roll."

If it sounds harsh, it's meant to be. Not to be confused with an impersonator -- those kings of kitsch who pretend to be Elvis -- Di Simine dis tinguishes himself as an Elvis tribute artist. He'll sport a white one-piece outfit -- Vegas Elvis is the version of the King Di Simine honours on stage -- and sing a few songs as Elvis Little. But that's where the similarities stop. He doesn't paste paper sideburns to his temples or don a cartoonish jet-black wig. He doesn't mumble thank you and he's more likely to crack a smile than put on Presley's patented lip curl. Though a die-hard fan, Di Simine has never even graced Graceland with his presence, nor does he plan to.

"Unless I can shake hands with Elvis, why do I want to go see his grave and his suits?" he said.

Still, Di Simine has devoted most his life to singing and performing Presley's music -- a career path he chose as a child watching his nine-year-old brother, Joe, perform Presley's hits for the family. Di Simine knew he could do Elvis better. At that point, Di Simine traded in his childhood idol, Tom Jones, for the man credited with influencing the Welsh heart throb. "I sat in my room day and night practising," he said. "If you were sad, (Elvis) made you happy. If you were happy, he made you twice as happy. That's what he did for me and he paved the way for tribute artists to make a living." His career plans didn't fly with his pragmatic construction worker father. His teachers would send letters home warning Di Simine's parents that their son needed to realize there's more to life than Elvis.

It didn't deter Di Simine. At 16, he dropped out of school to take his act on tour. By 18, he said he had crossed Canada seven times.

Until five years ago, when a health scare forced him to hang up his jumpsuit, Di Simine was doing 200 shows a year throughout North America. When he performs, it doesn't look like watching Di Simine do Elvis Presley, said longtime friend and singer Marina Ross. Di Simine hops on tables, "schmoozes with the girls" in the audience and makes their boyfriends cringe.

"Pat thinks he's Elvis," Ross said. "Pat uses the mannerisms of Elvis Presley. Even if he doesn't look like Elvis, his mannerisms make you forget that. You think you're watching the King. The people that come in to watch Pat, they get so emotionally moved. They get right into it."

A career as an Elvis tribute artist enabled Di Simine to raise three children and earned him recognition as one of the best Elvis acts in North America. His merits were touted in the books I am Elvis and The Ultimate Elvis, published by Simon & Schuster.

"I feel amazing when I get on stage. Years ago, I was empowered. I was a power on stage," Di Simine said. "Now, it doesn't matter as much if I'm there. I live to perform but I can't do it very much so I try not to think about it very much. I try to keep myself busy with other things."

Instead of being the main attraction, Di Simine has been spending his time making others the star of the show. In addition to helping launch Ross's singing career, Di Simine has been trying to steal some of Collingwood's burning love and bring it to Niagara.

In 2006, he organized his first Elvis tribute show in Thorold, inviting only those who didn't make a mockery of the King. In 2008, he took his "clash of the champions" to Niagara Falls.

Next month, it will be St. Catharines' turn to host 20 of the best tribute artists Di Simine knows at a marathon show and competition at the CAW Hall. It promises to include The Stamps quartet, Presley's back-up singers, and, Di Simine hopes, DJ Fontana, the King's former drummer. His hope is to create a tradition that will rival -- even shame -- Collingwood.

"They're there for the money. I'm for the passion. I'm for the love of Elvis," Di Simine said.

It's also to keep Elvis alive musically, three decades after his death. A bit of a conspiracy theorist, Di Simine is certain Presley isn't dead musically or physically. He's just left the building -- giving up fame, fortune and celebrity to live in anonymity -- and one rumour has it he's doing so in Tweed, Ont. So what is the real Elvis, who would be 75 this year, doing with his time these days? Living life as perhaps one of the worst Elvis impersonators out there, Di Simine said.

"Maybe not the worst, but he's probably still in the limelight."

What:Valentine's with the King Clash of Champions Competition

When:Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. Doors at 1 p.m., show at 2

Where:CAW Hall, 124 Bunting Rd., St. Catharines
Cost:Tickets $45. Includes buff et dinner. Donations of non-perishable food items are also being accepted for Community Care of St. Catharines-Thorold. (Almost Elvis, Source: Tiffany Mayer, St. Catherine's Standard)