The life of a former Elvis Presley tribute artist champion is a good one.
That is, it's been good for Jay Zanier and Anthony Von, two former Collingwood Elvis Festival competition champions. Von and Zanier were at Living Stone Golf Resort on Thursday, July 26 for a meet-and-greet to kick off this year's festival events.
Zanier is from Guelph and was the Collingwood champion in 2007. Von is from Milton and was the local champ in 1996.
Zanier said his journey to becoming a tribute artist went from singing by himself in a bedroom to one day singing in front of a packed arena. At eight years old, Zanier saw Presley perform in Hello From Hawaii.
"That's what grabbed me," he said. From then, Zanier loved Presley's music and would sing the tunes to himself often. One day he performed for a small crowd and it went so well, he kept on going.
After winning the Collingwood competition, Zanier went on to finish top ten in the Memphis competition and was the only Canadian to do so.
Von found the tribute life while singing in a wedding band. He would perform Presley's music at weddings and would do "the schtick" whenever an Elvis song came up on the set list. Von's sound engineer told him about this "big festival" in Collingwood and encouraged him to try the competition.
While Von and Zanier don't compete at Collingwood Elvis Festival any more, they do stay busy.
"We're kind of like mascots," said Von.
As former champions, they perform multiple times over the weekend and attend various festival events. They have become friends through their shared experiences at the Collingwood Elvis Festival as many tribute artists and fans have.
"It's a big family," said Zanier. "And everybody loves Elvis."
Von likes the authenticity of the Collingwood Elvis Festival.
"It's real," he said. "Everybody knows who were are. It's a tribute and the whole town supports it. It's one big celebration for Elvis' life."
Von and Zanier will perform later tonight (July 26) at The Bear Estate for a ticketed Homecoming Dinner and show. Tickets are $49.
They'll be at the OLG Storyteller Chat on stage at 10 a.m. on Saturday (July 28) and they'll also be performing at the Semi-Finals and Grand Champion Showcase at the Eddie Bush Arena on Saturday at 11 a.m. (ticketed event).
