Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii
In 2023 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this first worldwide satellite concert by ONE MAN.
Some interesting tidbits surrounding this historical broadcast:
- There
were other satellite concerts before and after Elvis.
- The
satellite that would transmit the concert signal belonged to NBC and
was very costly to hire. NBC was asked to host the Special and in
return received the highest TV ratings for the year.
- The stage was
made in L.A. and shipped to Hawaii.
- When
the wife of Kui Lee heard that about Elvis' concert for her
charity foundation, she had to go straight to the doctor for tranquilizers.
- You cannot
charge money for a TV audience, so donations were asked for
each ticket.
- Aloha From
Hawaii was the most expensive TV concert of its time at $2,5 million.
- The
rehearsal concert was set to be recorded at 20:30 on 12 January 1973 but by 19:00
six thousand fans had already stormed the venue and crammed
into the available 5,300 seats.
- Elvis
wanted a suit that said America. Initial ideas included the outline
of a map or the star-spangled banner, but they eventually decided on the
national bird.
- The live
broadcast had to be just shy of an hour, after which the satellite
feed would be cut off, so Elvis organised for Joe Esposito to be at the side of
the stage with a flashlight to indicate when there were 10 minutes left.
- The sound equipment
of NBC and RCA combined overloaded the power. Two hours before the rehearsal
concert the lights flickered on and off and the sound engineers went to borrow
extra equipment from the Navy. A few minutes before the start of the show,
there was a hum in the sound system, caused by the stage lights, and lead
plates were obtained, again from the Navy, to counteract this.
There are many more fun facts, especially the 1.5 billion people having watched the broadcast, amongst others South Africa. (NOT!) At this point in time? Sure! The Parker marketing machine did the trick, though, and it's all now part of Elvis lore.
