AMERICAN IDOL - ELVIS IMPERSONATORS UNDER THREAT

More than 30,000 ELVIS PRESLEY impersonators in America may be forced to quit by a New York City businessman who has bought the rights to the late icon's name and likeness in the US. Billionaire AMERICAN IDOL owner BOB SILLERMAN paid $114 million (GBP65 million) for an 85 per cent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises - and now controls everything except the King of Rock 'N' Roll's music. Now Sillerman plans to open a new Elvis cabaret show in Las Vegas and prevent any one else from dressing up like the star. He tells The New York Times, "If we were going to do a show that was based on Elvis impersonators, then obviously it wouldn't make sense to have unauthorised Elvis impersonators." In a move likely to outrage fans even further, Sillerman also plans to demolish the legendary Heartbreak Hotel opposite Presley's Graceland home in Memphis, Tennessee, and replace it with two 400-room hotels, restaurants, shops and an amphitheatre.