Kjell Henning Bjørnestad (born 12 March 1968), known as Kjell Elvis (or K. Elvis), is a Norwegian professional

Elvis impersonator An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and rock singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the wor ...

– a who had plastic surgery to look more like American rock 'n' roll musician

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. He is also a

sound-alike A sound-alike is a sound recording, recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings. In the voice ...

and has released a couple of albums with Elvis songs.

Biography

Kjell Elvis was born in

Farsund is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Lister Region, Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Farsund (town ...

, raised in Vanse, and currently resides in

Lyngdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Lister Region, Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Alleen ...

. While he was in the military in 1988, he started doing some Elvis impersonating. He has had plastic surgery a number of times, to look more like his idol,

, the first one in 1994.Lever som Elvis
( Norwegian),

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

, 15 August 2003 In 1997, a media company of Norway, the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

, showed the documentary ''Kjell Elvis'', about his life as an impersonator. The documentary was also shown in Sweden, Germany and Denmark. He arranged an Elvis Festival in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

in Norway in 2001, but it was not an economic success. He arranged a new festival in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

in 2002. He is (per August 2003) the only full-time professional Elvis impersonator in Scandinavia. He broke the world record for singing Elvis hits, in August 2003, when he sang nonstop for 26 hours, four minutes and 40 seconds. The

also set a record for themselves, by streaming the whole 26-hour concert on their website. Kjell Elvis is known for his support of his friend Vidar Kleppe, a former MP for the Progress Party, and in 2001 stated that "if Elvis were alive, he would have voted for the Progress Party". He went on to support Kleppe in the Southern Norway List in the 2001 election, and subsequently Kleppe's Democrats party. For the 2013 parliamentary election he however campaigned for the new The Christians party, citing his support for socially conservative Christian policies.

Awards and nominations

In 1997, he came in sixth place in an Elvis competition in the United States. In 1999 he came second in an unofficial European Championships of Elvis impersonators, that took place in Germany. He won the Nordic Championships in 2001. He was named Europe's best Elvis-impersonator in 2006, and he came in third place at the World Championship for Elvis impersonators in 2006. In 2007, he was a finalist in ''The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest'', arranged by Elvis Presley Enterprises.Elvis Presley Enterprises Announces Public Opportunity to Vote in Association with the First-Ever Official Elvis Tribute Artist Contest
Elvis.com, USAToday.com, 15 August 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elvis, Kjell 1968 births Living people Elvis impersonators Norwegian male singers People from Farsund People from Lyngdal