Elvis lives, and he’s from Baton Rouge – Jay Dupuis has always been a fan of Elvis Presley.

Jay Dupuis has always been a fan of Elvis Presley. But it wasn’t until four years ago that he started professionally impersonating the legendary singer.

“It was an easy transition,” Dupuis says. “I’ve been unknowingly studying my whole life because I was a fan. I had his moves down. I was always worried about my voice, but I naturally have the tone of Elvis, so that made it pretty easy, too, for me.”

In his short tenure, Dupuis has won a few contests. He’s even been hired right on the spot by Legends in Concert and toured around the country. He owns 28 jumpsuits made by the same company that made Elvis’. In case you were wondering, he has also spoken with friends of Elvis, and yes, the king is dead.

With a strong Southern twang, Dupuis is a ringer for the late great, and audiences agree.

Over the weekend, the Baton Rouge native took first place at the preliminary round at the Tupelo Elvis Festival in Mississippi and will compete to become an Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist during Elvis Week, August 10-17, in Memphis, Tenn..
There, Dupuis says he’ll be against the best of the best.

“They hold preliminaries all over the world, then the championships are in Memphis,” he says. “Representing Tupelo, there’s a mystique around it because he was born there, but also there have been the most ‘ultimates’ that come from the Tupelo contest.”

To garner a spot at the Memphis competition, Dupuis performed a range of material in Tupelo: “Mean Woman Blues” as the 1950s Elvis in the first round, “Never Been to Spain” and “Polk Salad Annie” as the 1970s Elvis in the second round, and “Suspicious Minds” for the final round.

“It was very odd that [‘Suspicious Minds’] was still there, considered I drew number eight and performed late in the round,” Dupuis says. “It’s what I consider to be a very good competition song.”

After impressing judges in Tupelo, Dupuis is hoping to do well later this summer. However, the performance is tricky.

“It’s a matter of what three people think of you,” he says. “I may go out there and perform as a 1970s Elvis in a jumpsuit, and they might want a 1950s Elvis.”

The pros outweigh the cons. If Dupuis were to become an Ultimate Elvis, he would get more gigs around the country and appearances at bigger venues. The contest will be nerve-wracking, but he’s prepared to put his best foot forward. In his time, he’s learned to deal with the nerves.

“I used to get stage fright quite a bit,” he says. “I’ve actually walked up on the stage with the judges right in front of me, and this male judge told me how beautiful I was. It threw me off my game. But, now, I don’t like to wait. I want to hurry up and get on stage. I hate that feeling you get when they’re announcing the winner. You’re going to lose a lot more than you’re going to win. I have won eight contests and finished second in 10. I hate that feeling.”

To check out more of Dupuis, click here.

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