Emilio won the European Elvis Championships in Birmingham UK in 2022 and is going back this year as a past champion to headline the festival.
Emilio Santoro has been an Elvis Presley fan since the age of four. “This is because of my mum listening to Elvis music constantly around the house. I would go see the local Elvis tribute acts from a young age and remember thinking that I wanted to do that one day.” said Emilio. He’s been an Elvis tribute artist since the age of 13, and now at 22, he has been lucky enough to have travelled the world singing the best music ever made.
“I have been to Australia a few times within the last year. Every time I come to Australia, I absolutely love it. The first time I heard about The Parkes Elvis Festival must’ve been when I was around 15 years old. Ever since then it has been a dream to headline the festival, so I am so fortunate that my dreams are coming true. I personally believe that other than Memphis, this is the biggest and craziest Elvis festival you will find” said Charlie.
The Parkes Ultimate Tribute Artist competition is a great stepping stone for any ETA who wants to get into the Ultimate in Memphis. Australia has so many great ETA who I have met along the way and each of them deserve their chance at a shot in the Ultimate, and that’s what Emilio did, winning the Elvis Presley Enterprises Ultimate Tribute Artist in August 2024 “It has changed my life completely so I would highly recommend it to any Elvis tribute”.
“The best way to describe winning the Ultimate is it being the Super Bowl of the Elvis tribute world. The thing that makes it so special to me, is I personally believe that this is the closest thing any Elvis tribute can get to a thumbs up from the man upstairs.”