- John Branston
- Cody Slaughter
He had the crowd, the look, the moves, the smile and so much showmanship that Cody Slaughter made the 2011 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist contest no contest.
Slaughter came out as rock-and-roll Elvis in a pink suit jacket, followed by a crimson jacket and, for the finale, a white jacket. He defeated nine other finalists at The Orpheum Friday night — eight of them wearing white jumpsuits. It was a good night for rock-and-roll Elvi. The runner-up, Ben Klein, wore a gold jacket and also had some nice moves, but his comedy routine went on too long and fell flat. The jumpsuit ETAs were hard to tell one from another, and their preference for covers of “My Way” and “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” couldn’t compete with good old rock ‘n roll.
Slaughter, from Harrison, Arkansas, looked like a dead ringer for the Elvis ads on the billboards for Graceland. He looked more like Elvis than the other contestants and easily had the best dance moves. He won $20,000 in the contest, which started with 350 tribute artists.
