Elvis Impersonator

Outside of Graceland, nowhere else in the world is Elvis Presley as revered as he is in Las Vegas. Where else can you see screaming female fans hurl their panties at a 300-pound Elvis squeezed into a bejeweled white jumpsuit two sizes too small for him while he sings "Heartbreak Hotel"?

It's not easy being The King. The men behind those sideburns and gold sunglasses have spent a lifetime preparing for this once-in-a-lifetime role, whether it's as the 1968 Comeback Special Elvis or the Early Vegas Jumpsuit Elvis or - if they've eaten one too many peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches - Big Elvis.

They spend hours watching such movies as "Viva Las Vegas" to master his unique gyrations and vocal stylings, days in front of the mirror trimming those beautiful 'burns, and weeks in the gym perfecting their karate kicks. They shake hands and kiss babies at the Elvis-a-Rama Museum, preside over quickie nuptials at nearby wedding chapels and jump out of airplanes as members of the Flying Elvi skydiving team. Even their girlfriends - when not perfecting their Marilyn Monroe impersonations - get into the act by sewing each rhinestone onto that spectacular white jumpsuit.

All of this in hopes of someday playing the showroom at the Las Vegas Hilton (formerly The International), where The King performed 837 sold-out concerts in the 1970s (a bronze statue has been erected there in Elvis' honor).

Everyone has their notion of the stereotypical "bad" Elvis impersonator, but the Vegas secret is this: there are many super-talented guys out there who make very nice livings, thank you, being King for a day. Or a career.

Elvis may have left the building, but he never really left Las Vegas.