GERMANY: SINGER HELMUT LOTTI PERFORMS AT THE EUROPEAN ELVIS FESTIVAL IN FRIEDBERG.

Record ID: 549009

  • Title: GERMANY: SINGER HELMUT LOTTI PERFORMS AT THE EUROPEAN ELVIS FESTIVAL IN FRIEDBERG.
  • Date: 16th August 2002
  • Summary: SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) HELMUT LOTTI IS SAYING "Elvis has had a big influence on me as a performer, because we didn't have a radio at home, so when I was a kid, I was always listening to Elvis Presley records, we had lots of records at home. But after the first time I heard Elvis, I didn't want to listen to anything else anymore. So he basically taught me how to sing, and he taught me lots of English too." SHOT OF THE RAY BARRACKS IN FRIEDBERG WHERE ELVIS WAS STATIONED AS A SOLDIER BETWEEN 1958 AND1960 VARIOUS/PAN: FROM SIGN TO ENTRANCE TO THE RAY BARRACKS IN FRIEDBERG GV/ZOOM IN: OF SECURITY CHECK AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE BARRACKS VARIOUS: ASSORTED SHOTS OF ELVIS MEMORABILIA IN A SHOP WINDOW IN FRIEDBERG TOWN CENTRE.
  • Embargoed: 31st August 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: FRIEDBERG, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA4KR34XNPER6VPATVE5HQ5NZLD
  • Story Text: As thousands of Elvis fans descended on the small German town of Friedberg to remember the King through the first ever European Elvis Festival, one man took centre stage.
    Belgium's most successful artist ever, the multi-platinum crooner Helmut Lotti, was on hand to treat his fans to songs from his new album 'My Tribute To The King'.
    An estimated seven thousand fans sat down to listen to the diminutive singer in the town where Elvis served his national service between 1958 and 1960 and where many of his closest friends say he was at his happiest.
    In a concert that formed the highlight of the first ever European Elvis Presley Festival, Lotti performed songs from his new album 'My Tribute To The King'. Currently nestling at number three in the German album charts, the album looks sure to be a huge international success, perhaps adding to the tally of fifty-two golden and seventy-two platinum records that Lotti has received in the last ten years. But whilst some commentators have seen this as a transparent effort by the best-selling singer to cash in on Elvis, Lotti is adamant that it is, as the title suggests, a tribute to the man who taught him everything.
    "Elvis has had a big influence on me as a performer, because we didn't have a radio at home, so when I was a kid, I was always listening to Elvis Presley records, we had lots of records at home. But after the first time I heard Elvis, I didn't want to listen to anything else anymore. So he basically taught me how to sing, and he taught me lots of English too."
    Growing up in Gent in Flemish Belgium, Lotti was too young to really remember Elvis the man, indeed he was only eight years old when he learned in school that his idol had died, but as he explains, it doesn't seem to have changed his feelings for the great singer.
    "So on the first school day, I went to school and I had this black leather thing on, black leather pants, black leather jacket and a white T-shirt, I got that from my dad, I was very fond of leather, I thought it was very stylish. And I went to school and the teacher asked me, 'are you going to replace Elvis?' And the first thing that I thought was, 'how does he know that I am singing along to Elvis at home?' That is what I thought and I said 'how do you mean?' And he said, 'well you know Elvis died? And he always wore black leather', so I said 'oh' and I thought Elvis died, but I didn't really understand what 'died' meant, I could still listen to his records, so to me he hadn't really died."
    These days Helmut Lotti is never to be seen in black leather, in fact it is rare to see him not wearing one of his trademark tailored suits; at just thirty-two years old, it is hard to think of a singer more unlike Elvis, indeed the 'boy next door' persona that has made him a huge star in Germany reminds most people of a young Cliff Richard. On this topic Lotti is refreshingly honest, acknowledging that he and Elvis have very little in common.
    "I don't think there are many parallels between us, maybe the only thing is that Elvis was able to sing anything, you know, he sang everything, and whatever he sang he always sounded like Elvis, he always sounded like himself and that is what I try to do with my music. I do different kinds of music, Latin American, African, classical, Elvis, Queen, but I always try and sound like myself, but in a different way."
    Well, that is not exactly true, like most of us Lotti admits that it is hard to sing Elvis songs without trying to sound like Elvis himself! "I am interpreting his songs, but now and then I am not afraid to just impersonate him, but I don't do it in every song, but sometimes I really want to get into it, you know, like every foolish Elvis impersonator, sometimes I am too."
    Already a big star in Germany and much of continental Europe, the man who many have dubbed 'the housewife's favourite', has recently enjoyed mini-tours of Canada and the US and is slowly gaining a fan base stateside. Obviously fans and critics alike, will be waiting to see whether America's favourite rock and roll star will be the key that helps Helmut Lotti unlock the lucrative US market.
    --
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