2019 Competitors
Keep checking this page for updates. As the Competitors register, we will post their participation in the Festival.
Simon Patrick was born in Northampton England. He started out as an ETA at the age of 22 and has loved everything about Elvis from an early age. His only regret is not seeing his idol perform live. Simon's favourite Era is the '68 Comeback. Simon is excited to be participating in his first Flaming Star Festival.
William Young, 20 years old from Belleville, Ontario, has loved Elvis since the age of 5 and began his tribute to the King seven years ago. William enjoyed his first visit to Flaming Star in 2017 and won First Place Non Pro Championship. His other awards include 1st Place, Sr. Youth Division in Tweed, 3rd Place, NonPro 2015 Tweed Festival, 3rd Place NonPro 2016 Collingwood Elvis Festival and 3rd Place NonPro Tweed Elvis Festival. William is thrilled to be returning this year.
Anthony Joseph, 25, is from Hamilton, Ontario. He is currently enrolled in university working towards his music degree. Although he performs all eras of Elvis' career, he specializes in the authentic recreation of Elvis' concert years. He looks forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. His favourite Elvis song is Unchained Melody.
Michael Paul Callahan, from United States, has been an Elvis Tribute Artist for three years and loves to highlight the 1968-1973 years. Michael Paul owns A Time for Legends™, an East Coast version of the Vegas hit show Legends in Concert. He has performed at two world class Elvis Festivals, including the “Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest”. Michael Paul's career includes many years as a Christian contemporary recording artist as well as being an actor in many movies, commercials, etc. Michael Paul is excited to be at his first Flaming Star Festival.
Jaedyn Pilon is from Edmonton, Alberta and caught the Elvis bug in August 2015 while performing at the Blue Suede Music Festival in Busby Alberta. Since then he has become an award winning international performer. Jaedyn enjoys paying tributes to Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, the Beatles and of course Elvis. Jaedyn is excited to return to The Flaming Star Elvis Festival and to join his fellow ETA’s in paying tribute to Elvis Presley, the world’s greatest entertainer.
Mark Shelton from Vermont has being paying tribute to Elvis for more than 10 years. New to the Elvis Tribute Artist competition world, Mark Shelton was awarded the “People’s Choice” award at the 2017 “Reflections of the King”; runner up in the 2018 “28th Annual People’s Choice in Montreal” (his first appearance at each event); and has been receiving accolades and invites to perform all over the world. He continues to gain global attention due to his humanitarian work, service to his country (Military Police Officer in the United States Army), the quality of his performances and vocals, as well as his long history (since 1978) of his Elvis Tribute performances, and the positive reflection Mark brings to the memory of the King of Rock and Roll.
Lorensz Francke is an Elvis Tribute Artist,from Scarborough,Ontario , apart from specializing in doing Tribute to Elvis, he can also perform songs of other Artists.
Offering a great crowd pleasing style, Lorensz engages his audience performing a Tribute to Elvis and is capable of performing in all three Eras of Elvis's Musical Career namely 50's, 60's and 70's. New, fresh, and alive with energy.
Lorensz has performed at several Elvis Festivals and Competition throughout Canada. Lorensz has been Awarded two Spirit of Elvis Awards in Canada. Lorensz is excited to return to Flaming Star Festival.
Ed Butski hails from St. Catharines, Ontario. He has been performing his tribute to Elvis for 13 years. In 2018 Ed was honoured with The Spirit of Elvis Award at the Barrie Rock & Roll Festival for his gentle and generous way of always willing to help everyone. Ed's pride and joy came from his first place win at the Tweed Elvis Festival in the NonProfessional Division. Ed is looking to seeing everyone again this year at the Festival.
Michael Cullipher, from Massachusetts, will be making his second trip to Flaming Star Festival to compete. He has been an Elvis Tribute Artist for nine years. Michael knew early on that he wanted to be an Elvis Tribute Artist when at the age of four he saw his first Elvis Tribute Artist. Michael is excited to return to Canada to be part of the Flaming Star family.
Aaron Gallant is from Angus, Ontario. Following in his father's footsteps, Aron has been an Elvis Tribute Artist for thirteen years. He placed second in the 2018 Youth Division of the Collingwood Elvis Festival. Aaron is looking forward to his second Flaming Star Festival competition.
Bill Gallant has been an Elvis Tribute Artist for twenty -two years. From Angus, Ontario Bill has won numerous awards as an ETA including the 2013 Paco Danesi Award at the Collingwood Elvis Festival. Bill is looking forward to seeing all his ETA family and friends.
Dave Elvis Collinson is excited to be coming back again to keep Elvis' memory alive. He has competed in a lot of Festivals, Collingwood,Tweed,Flaming Star to name a few. Dave has won the Spirit of Elvis awards at Tweed (2), and the Paco Danesi Award at Collingwood for Charity (Diabetes) work. Dave hopes to see all his Elvis friends to rock the house. Welcome back Dave!
Dan Barrella, ( DB KING ) from Staten Island, New York is a dedicated tribute artist, performing throughout the United States and Canada. Whether DB is performing alone, or with his backing band "The Disciples of Sound " he strives to bring his audience a heartfelt and accurate portrayal of his boyhood idol "Elvis Presley". Dan placed 2nd in the 2015 Flaming Star Pro Division and is excited to return to Canada to see all his friends and Festival family.
Nathan Pittorf from Buffalo, New York is a singer/guitarist and model. Nathan has visited Graceland every year of his life, 13 years! Award winning Elvis Tribute Artist winning 2018 Lackawanna, NY Got Talent Competition; Finalist in Lake George Elvis Festival Youth Division 2017-18; Finalist in Images of the King Memphis Youth Division 2017. Nathan has performed during Elvis Week Memphis at the Graceland Tent, Beale St. & Dad's Place. He has also appeared in TIME Magazine in the August 2017 edition, with his family’s tribute display on Elvis Presley BLVD, during the Elvis vigil 40th anniversary. Nathan enjoys early rock & roll, classic rock, country music & classic cars!
Steve Benden has been an Elvis fan since he was 5 years old when he heard his dad performing Elvis songs on the guitar, watching Elvis movies with him mom, and playing their Elvis 45’s. He immediately began singing Elvis’ songs and performing his dance moves. His ‘That’s The Way It Was’ show is electrifying. Steve has the ability to cover all three decades of Elvis Presley’s career. Steve performs stage shows from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s as well as the movies. While Steve has just started competing at Elvis Festival, he’s performed Elvis Tribute Shows for a number years with his band. Steve is also a multi-instrumentalist and an independent song writer and recording artist. He’s won several song writing awards, releases several CD’s, attained international airplay on internet radio, and recently had a #1 song with Berkshire Media Group, Don’t Break My Heart, on internet radio. He’s a veteran with multiple deployments and recently retired as a Colonel from the Air Force, after serving 32 years.
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Eric Evangelista lives in Bolton, Ontario and has been a tribute artist for ten years. Eric's favourite years to tribute are the Vegas/Concert years. Just a few of his accolades include 3rd Place 2018 Flaming Star Festival, 2017 Flaming Star Festival 2nd Place NonPro Division, 2015 NonPro Champion Collingwood Elvis Festival and Grand Champion Kings and Classics Festival 2015. Eric is excited to return to Flaming Star Festival to see all his friends and Elvis family.
Jeff Marsh has been performing his tribute to Elvis since 2001 and is having the time of his life doing it. His favourite era is the Vegas, or Jumpsuit era. He also performs tributes to Garth Brooks and The Blues Brothers. Jeff competed in the 2014 Flaming Star Festival and is pleased to be returning.
John Carpenter's love for Elvis goes back to his childhood. Listening to his Mom's Elvis records, he knew all of Elvis' hits from the age of 4. John was 8 years when he won his first variety contest and by late teens, he'd won a contest in Quebec called the "Dans La Peau d'Elvis". Touring with his 8 piece band, John delights audiences of all ages. John looks forward to participating in the 2019 Flaming Star Festival.
Dustin Bricker from Shelbourne Ontario, in his 4th year as a tribute artist, is considered a relatively newcomer to the competition world. In this short time he has won 2017 Champion NonPro Early Years Collingwood Elvis Festival; Champion Kings and Classics Festival; Champion Orillia Festival; 2018 Flaming Star Festival NonPro Champion and placed in the top 10 at the 2019 Niagara Falls Elvis Festival. Dustin is excited to be back at the Flaming Star Festival competing in the Professional Division.
Don Boudreau from Sidney, Maine has been performing as an Elvis Tribute Artist since 2010.
As a lifelong musician he has taught guitar and directed many praise and worship groups in
various churches. There’s a variety of music he enjoys and loves jazz guitar standards, The
Beatles, Gospel and Elvis. Over the years he has competed and placed in several festival
competitions and took first place at Lake George in Non-Pro 50’s in 2017. Throughout New
England as far as NY and Canada, Don has entertained people doing over 90 events a year.
Most of all he loves meeting a lot of wonderful people and being part of making their special
events a time to reminisce about their memories of growing up on Elvis music with their
families and friends. The greatest satisfaction of performing as an ETA is not in the accolades
of contests but watching how the lives of people are touched by what you do. “For without a
song, the day would never end , without a song, a man ain’t got a friend….”
Marnie Mackintosh also known as Miss Elvis Lee is a one of a kind tribute artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, who captures her audiences with an alluring, authentic appearance, vocals and characteristics of "The King". Her dynamic portrayal delivers a fascinating, high energy performance showcasing all the legendary era's of this iconic performer. Miss Elvis Lee participated in the 2017 and 2018 Flaming Star Festivals and placed in the top 5 NonPro Divisions! Her performance is one that will leave you all shook up!
Bryson Fuller is from Espanola, Ontario and began performing at the Collingwood Elvis Festival at the age of 10. He has performed in many festivals and is excited to be back to see all his friends and family at the 2019 Flaming Star Festival.
Gord McNeil is no stranger to the Elvis Tribute Artist world. You may have seen Gord at many of the Elvis Festivals and shows throughout Ontario as well as the 2018 Flaming Star Festival. Gord tributes the ballads of Elvis with all his heart and soul. He is excited to be returning to the Flaming Star Festival to see all his ETA family and friends.
Jonathan Rader, from Lexington, Kentucky, has a very unique story - he was born August 28, 2005 with a club foot on his left side. After several surgeries, many cast changes, and intense therapy, he took his first steps at 17 months old. By age 2 he was singing bluegrass music with Driving Rain. By age 6 he recorded his first bluegrass CD and was a guest of the Moron Brothers at many festivals in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. His greatest moment in bluegrass came in June 2014 when he was a guest on the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Show. Later that month he saw John Beardsley's show "A Tribute To The King" at the Texas Troubadour Theater. From that moment on, from bluegrass to rock-n-roll became a reality. Jonathan recently won the 2018 Images Of The King Youth Championship.
Cote Deonath's interest in Elvis started at the age of two when his grandmother sat with him to watch the Elvis movie, "Follow That Dream." His first live performance was at the age of five and in 2014 Cote competed in the Georgia Elvis Festival, winning his first contest in the Non-Pro Division. He competed many times in the Youth Division at the "I'll Remember You" competition in Live Oak, FL, and there in 2015 won his first Professional Division competition. Cote wrapped up Elvis Week 2015 by winning Fan Favorite and champion of the Semi-Pro Division at the Images of the King competition. In 2016 Cote won his first Ultimate qualifier contest at the Tampa Bay Elvis Festival and placed in the top 10 in Memphis. Cote qualified for the Ultimate in 2017 by winning the Tupelo Elvis Festival. Cote was the 2018 Champion of the Niagara Falls Elvis Festival. Cote will be going back to Memphis in August 2019 to represent the Tweed Elvis Festival at the Ultimate competition.
Frank "D" is a familiar face to the Flaming Star Festival. He loves to entertain and is excited to be returning to the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport Hotel to compete. Frank looks forward to seeing all his friends and fans again.
Matthew Boyce is a 19 year-old Elvis Tribute Artist who has performed at countless events since the age of seven. Matthew has competed at Elvis Festivals in the USA and Canada, winning all three era categories at Elvis Rocks Mesquite in Nevada as well as Shadows of a King in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This past year, he starred in the touring show "On Tour: A Tribute to the King," as well as “Memories of Elvis” with casts including Bill Cherry, Dean Z, Sylvain Leduc Elvis, Chance Tinder, Gordon Hendricks and Patrick Johnson. In addition to paying tribute to Elvis, Matthew has performed in over 45 musical theater productions throughout New York. Matthew plays guitar, piano, bass and drums and enjoys performing as a solo acoustic artist, singing all types of music, including his own originals.
Spencer Bristow is from Durham Ontario and this is his third year competing at The Flaming Star Festival. His love of music at a very young age, particularly Elvis songs, is what started his interest in being an ETA. He is looking forward to once again putting on his 'Blue Suede Shoes', getting 'All Shook Up' with Elvis fans in Toronto, and sharing the stage with a "Viva Las Vegas" line-up of fellow tribute artists. Thank you, thank you very much to all the organizers for hosting a great event!