Top of the Pops has turned to the star of Elvis Presley musical Jailhouse Rock after the late rock legend scooped the UK's 1,000th number one single.
Mario Kombou, who plays the Presley role on stage, will sing One Night on Friday's BBC One show as producers are unable to use Presley video footage.

It is his second number one in a row. The show used Presley photos last week.

Presley will feature in the charts for several more months as all 18 of his original UK chart-toppers are reissued.

Tribute

A Top of the Pops spokesperson said: "It's a very special number one as it's the UK's 1,000th.

"We wanted to pay tribute to Elvis in the best way we knew how, so we thought getting a professional would be the best way for Top of the Pops to do that."

Kombou is likely to appear on the show again next week as the next Presley re-release, A Fool Such As I, is on course to give him his third number one in three weeks.

Kombou plays Vince Everett in Jailhouse Rock - the same role Presley played in the 1957 film of the same name.

Source: BBC / updated: January 20, 2005        

[] []patrikw wrote on January 21, 2005:        report abuse         
this is just appalling. One Night is one of Elvis' finest vocal performances and to have it parodied by some impersonator is just a criminal act. Can EPE not have some influence here and ban these perfomances also? EPE have a lot to answer for. For the sake of letting the BBC use footage from the 68 tv show for probably 3 minutes showing Elvis in his prime - they are letting an impersonator take over. A valuable opportunity of promoting Elvis is lost here. Instead of that we have to be subjected to the usual drivel of some clown in a wig curling his lip.William S. Burroughs wrote on January 21, 2005:        report abuse         

What a load of shit! better if they just don´t show anything, I mean, Im 24 years old, Im an Elvis Fan since I was seven, I have almost every C.D. released by RCA/BMG and a few F.T.D. (I would like to have them all to, but you know Im not a rich guy) But you see Im a music fan, before an Elvis Fan, though it is because of Elvis that I learned to appreciate all kinds of music, from classic blues artist as Robert Johnson, to country singers as Cash or Willie Nelson, from Ma Rainey and Billie to Holiday John Coltrane and Miles Davis, from Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Dylan to Radiohead or Björk or... no, not Lisa Marie haha, but I will not insult her as other people. From Elvis to even classical.

My love toward music is so big that I rather chose to be blind or to be In a wheel chair than to be deaf. But Im very very in debt with Elvis cause I learned and discover what wonderfull treasure music is at the same time I discover the wonderfull artist Elvis was; I just can´t understand people saying that they only buy Elvis rescords, I respect that, but for me is the other way, Elvis gave me the key to discover what a deep expression art is, and my life is richer because of that.

So for me, well I want to puke when its cames about Elvis impersonactors and Britney Spear dressed like Elvis, and Elvis himself in those lousy soundtracks (well not really himself).