HOLY ELVIS!
Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2007 3:23 PM
Filed Under: Tel Aviv, Israel By Martin Savidge, NBC News Correspondent
I found Elvis Presley alive and well and living in Israel.
He's not hard to find; just take the highway out of Jerusalem toward Tel Aviv, follow the exit for Abu Gosh, drive up the hill and there he is.
He's taller than I remember, 16 feet and bronzed, which explains his longevity. And when you see his statue you know you've just found theElvis American Diner. More than 1,700 photos and pieces of memorabilia cover the walls of this 50's-looking eatery and Elvis songs usually blare from the sound system.
But because this was the 30th anniversary of the day he died, Elvis was there in person. (This is the land of miracles you know.)
There was a young Elvis, an old Elvis, a couple of middle-aged Elvis’s – even two female Elvis's. They crooned, gyrated and had amazingly black hair. Many wore leisure suits, white mostly, unzipped to the navel, with sequins and gold piping – and sweat pouring through polyester.
They played to a packed truck stop where gas sells for around $5 a gallon. The Elvis's took turns passing the mike and performing along with the karaoke machine. Some just lip-synched, others actually sang, one guy, Eran Levron who was born on Elvis's birthday, could switch from his soft Israeli accent to a "THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!" It sounded like he'd just stepped out of Graceland.
From a 45 to a life-long love I have to say it was one of the best times I've ever had in Israel. Of course, the other times I've been here were for suicide bombings, uprisings and war. This was just a love of music and the man who made it.
I talked to Joseph Rozen who at 63 claimed to be the oldest Elvis in the building. For him it all started at the age of 13 when he was given an Elvis45 record for his bar mitzvah.
Rozen says he sweats so much when he performs because his voice doesn't come from his lips, but his heart. Plus he's singing to his wife of 46 years. She was hard to miss in the crowd as she wore a matching Elvisjumpsuit, complete with gold sunglasses.
The diner is the brainchild of Uri Yoeli who, the story goes, got into Elvisbecause he loved the music and dressing like the King was a good way to get girls.
Supposedly in 1974 when he got the girl of his dreams and married her – then she said all his Elvis stuff had to go. So Yoeli took it to his parents’ restaurant, and as they say, the rest is history.
The specialty of the house is the Elvis Burger which is a cheese burger with fries. (Yoeli seemed deeply interested to know what I thought of it. I said "It's great!" – and it was.)