Kjell Henning Bjørnestad (born 12 March 1968), known as Kjell Elvis (or K. Elvis), is a Norwegian professional Elvis impersonator – a who had plastic surgery to look more like American rock 'n' roll musician Elvis Presley. He is also a sound-alike and has released a couple of albums with Elvis songs.
Biography Kjell Elvis was born in Farsund, raised in Vanse, and currently resides in Lyngdal. 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, Elvis Presley, the first one in 1994.NRK: Bedre liv med plastikk-kirurgi? (Norwegian), NRKLever som Elvis (Norwegian), NRK, 15 August 2003 In 1997, a media company of Norway, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, 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 in Norway in 2001, but it was not an economic success. He arranged a new festival in Oslo 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.Elvis fan breaks singing record, BBC News, 21 August 2003 The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation also set a record for themselves, by streaming the whole 26-hour concert on their website.Kjell Elvis-rekord fikk internasjonal oppmerksomhet (Norwegian), NA24, 27 August 2003
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."Kjell Elvis til kamp for De Kristne", Vårt Land, 9 August 2013
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.Kjell Elvis på tredjeplass i verdensmesterskapet for Elvis-imitatorer (Norwegian), Kristelig pressekontor In 2007, he was a finalist in The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest, arranged by Elvis Presley Enterprises.Kjell Elvis til finalen (Norwegian), Aftenposten, 16 August 2007Elvis 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
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