Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 8:26 a.m.
It was a karaoke night to beat all karaoke nights.
Some 300 fans crammed into Tequila Joe's bar on Nov. 13 to cheer on 26 entrants competing in Imperial Palace's first Amateur Celebrity Impersonator Karaoke Contest.
For the past 20 years the IP has been home to "Legends in Concert," a show featuring celebrity impersonators.
The casino recently began using dealers who are celebrity look-alikes.
And now, there is celebrity impersonator karaoke.
IP spokesman Jackie Brett says the evening was so successful there may be a monthly contest.
The winner receives $500 and an audition for "Legends in Concert."
Competitors in the first event came from as far away as Great Britain (Martin Hunt as Elvis), but most of them were from either Las Vegas or Henderson.
There were three Elvises and two each of Andrea Bocelli, Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison.
Also represented were Charlie Daniels (Doug Price), Lionel Richie (Guy Ellington), Uncle Kracker (Sam Stoeckinger), Pat Benatar (Jody Deats), Joe Cocker (Mike Tullis), Jennifer Lopez (Pamela Salvador), Louis Armstrong (Thurston Watts), Aretha Franklin (Delia Renee), Engelbert Humperdinck (Nestor Salgado) and Marvin Gaye (Ronnie Merrick).
Not just anyone was allowed to enter. One hopeful wanted to do a Howard Hughes impression, but as far as anyone knows the late reclusive tycoon never sang -- karaoke or otherwise.
Mike Lee, 50, was one of the two Buddy Holly impersonators.
"Buddy was one of my big influences," said Lee, a disabled, former tree trimmer who started singing and playing guitar when he was 9.
Lee used to perform part time in bars in his native Bartlesville, Okla., singing country music, blues and rock 'n' roll in the '50s and '60s.
The other Buddy Holly was Las Vegan Jim Mann.
"People tell me, 'You put the glasses on and you look like him,' " Mann said.
Bob Dylan doesn't have a lot of impersonators in Vegas. Lee St. Gervais is one of them.
The native of San Francisco, now a Las Vegas resident, has been doing Dylan at karaoke sessions for the past 10 years.
"People have said I have the ability," St. Gervais said.
Johnathan Garcia drove all the way up from Sherman Oaks, Calif., to take a shot at stardom, impersonating Orbison.
"I got into karaoke about a year ago and got addicted to it," Garcia said. "I heard about this contest through a local newspaper and came up here for a chance to work in the industry."
Deborah Watkins, a travel agent from Perrysburg, Ohio, once won $750 impersonating Janis Joplin, and so she thought she might have a chance at winning the Imperial Palace contest.
Melvin Cole moved to Las Vegas from San Bernardino, Calif., eight months ago to pursue his dream of performing professionally as Al Green.
He sang Green's "Sha La La (Make Me Happy)."
"I have a gift that God gave me," Cole said. "I use it to inspire folks like Al Green did."
Apparently, though, Cole didn't inspire the judges, which included Jeff Victor, president of On Stage Entertainment and producer of "Legends in Concert," Judy Robinson, vice president of sales for Highway Radio, and Dean Martin impersonator Rick Michel.
The five finalists included Romeo Warren Martin (Lenny Kravitz), Las Vegas; Sly Rupert (Rick James), Detroit; Michael Carson II (Garth Brooks), Yucaipa, Calif.; Artano Aidini (Bocelli), Las Vegas, and Lois Martin (Whitney Houston), Santa Barbara, Calif.
Martin and Rupert won fourth and fifth place, respectively, and for their efforts received free passes to see "Legends in Concert."
Carson came in third and was awarded a karaoke jukebox. And he was surprised to learn that even though he didn't win the contest, On Stage Entertainment was impressed enough with his Garth Brooks impression to ask him to audition anyway.
Aidini, a native of Albania, placed second.
Since losing his job as a singing gondolier at The Venetian following 9-11, he has been working for a collection agency and pursuing a career singing as Bocelli, the blind pop-opera star.
"This is the first time I ever impersonated him in public," said Aidini, who received $250 for his efforts. "He is my idol. Everything I have done with music came about because I love Bocelli so much. I was so inspired by him."
Houston impersonator Lois Martin was the winner.
"I'm so excited," Martin said. "I had a great time."
She said she doesn't try to impersonate Houston, she just naturally sounds like her.
Martin, 28, has been singing Houston songs for 10 years. She says she has been singing since age 4.
"My whole family always did music," Martin said.
She heard about the contest through her father, who lives in Vegas.
"I think he's singing the next time they have a contest," Martin said. "He does Nat King Cole."
Lounging around
Claude Trenier, 84, died Monday following a battle with cancer, a year after the legendary showman stepped out of the spotlight for the last time.
In 2001 Trenier celebrated his 82nd birthday performing a gig at the Castaways' Windjammer Lounge, packing the room with fans who adored the entertainer. Some say he created the lounge scene in Las Vegas in the late '40s -- and was instrumental in the birth of rock 'n' roll in the '50s.
His last public appearance in Las Vegas was at a show in his honor at The Orleans in November 2002.
The Treniers were formed by Claude and his twin brother, Cliff, who died in 1983. The group was then known as The Twin Treniers. The name was shortened when their brother, Buddy, joined them in 1948. Buddy died in 1999.
Claude Trenier began his career in 1941 when he and Cliff dropped out of Alabama State University in Mobile to fill in for a band whose leader had been killed in a traffic accident. Saxophonist Don Hill, 82, a Las Vegas resident, was with the Treniers from the beginning. Skip Trenier, Claude's 67-year-old nephew, joined the group in 1959.
He once described a Treniers performance to the Sun: "It was like a three-ring circus onstage. People didn't know who to watch. No one had ever seen that before. Everyone onstage was doing something."
Two free big-band dances are scheduled for the upcoming holidays at the Cannery. The Gene White Orchestra, featuring "Swing Patrol," will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 28 and Nov. 29, and The Steve Beyer Orchestra will perform at 8 p.m. Dec. 27 and Dec. 28.
For an excellent, high-energy show that is a reminder of old Las Vegas, drop by Bally's Indigo Lounge between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Art Vargas, who used to be a Bobby Darin tribute artist, is a fabulous entertainer who shouldn't be missed.
Doo-Wopp.com, one of the area's most popular dance bands, performs at Fiesta Rancho's Cabo Lounge from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
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