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Suburban mum Jacqueline Feilich has turned her Elvis obsession into a successful full-time career.
At first, you don’t know whether to call her Elvis or Lisa Marie. Either way, Jacqueline looks as though she has sprung from the Presley gene pool.
The resemblance is uncanny. It’s no wonder this Elvis-mad mum-of-two from the Sydney suburbs says with confidence that her stage name She Is The King is spot-on.
In the ultra-competitive world of the “Elvis tribute artist” — they hate to be called impersonators — she is rising to the top, too.
Last year, Jacqueline came second in the invitation-only Elvis Tribute Competition in Las Vegas. It was a major achievement, given some overzealous male Elvis nuts stole her costumes and she was forced to perform in just a pair of jeans and an Elvis T-shirt.
“It was a real turning point for me,” Jacqueline tells Woman’s Day. “All those years living and breathing Elvis paid off. I could take my vision of She Is The King and make it work in Elvis’s heartland.
“This has been me since I was three,” adds the 36-year-old. “Elvis, the voice, his movies, listening to him on eight-track cassettes as I sat in the back seat of my father’s 1970s Thunderbird. Elvis really is my world.”
“I used to think my dad was like Elvis,” Jacqueline continues. “And when Elvis died at 42, I’d pray that my dad would make it past that age. I didn’t want to lose Elvis and my dad. Even in my teens, I could be cranking Midnight Oil, but Elvis was never far from the turntable.”
Naturally, she had an extreme reaction on that sad day in 1977, when she heard Elvis had died.
“I can’t believe it’s coming up to 30 years … and it still hurts,” Jacqueline says. “Every year, I’m beside myself. I can’t speak.
“The day he died, I was only seven, but I remember I had to have three days off school. I was locked in my bedroom, hysterical.
“This anniversary [on August 16], I’ll be in Memphis yet again. I wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world. I want to be as close to him as possible.”
With her star on the rise, Jacqueline is soon to release her first Elvis tribute album. She is currently promoting the first single, the all-time classic Viva Las Vegas.
She is also on a high with news that she’s been accepted to perform in a tribute competition in Elvis’s home town of Tupelo, Mississippi, in June. The contest is endorsed by Elvis Presley Enterprises and the winner will be regarded as the ultimate Elvis impersonator.
“It’s going to be amazing,” says Jacqueline, who sings in the same key as Elvis. “And this time I’ll make sure nobody steals my costumes!”
She is an open book about her Elvis obsession, but keeps her private life under wraps. Does she live “In The Ghetto” or have a “Suspicious Mind”? Jacqueline isn’t saying.
Yes, she is a mum. Yes, she has a special room she escapes to which is filled with The King’s memorabilia (“It’s where I feel my most peaceful”), but that’s all.
“I’ve got to keep some things a mystery,” she says.
With that, those trademark shades come down, then … Elvis has left the building again.
The most used cat — and sometimes puppy — toys in our house are the laundry lint balls … with the added bonus of picking up the pet hair from the floorboards and carpet as they play!
— Leanne
This is our 12 week old Great Dane pup Oliver on graduation night at puppy pre-school. He passed with flying colours and all the girl puppies were very impressed with his tie.
— Denise
Here’s our gorgeous Bichon/Poodle Freddie wearing a tea cosy that a friend knitted for us!
— The Dickson family
These are my two lovely boys. They just love showing off. Deni (the bigger fluppy dog) and Sparky the spunk!!
— Gina
My young spunk Toby sporting his new winter outfit.
— Caroline
This is my beautiful purebred Pomeranian, Simba. He is such a poser!!
— Shannon
“When I grow up I want to get a pair of thongs just like Mum’s. Actually I think I will just have Mum’s and wear them now.”
— Zac the cat
Tiger loves to dress up in disguise!
— Erin
Our Maltese x Shih Tzu Gizmo is such an important part of our family that we just had to have him take part in our wedding day. We think he looks adorable in his little tux. As you can see he’s definitely not camera shy.
— Melina and Mathew
Here is a pic of my little Missie, whom we adore. She is 7 years old, a cute Maltese!
— Doris
Up for adoption
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On-Sale Monday April 16, 2007
Brad Pitt has walked out on Angelina Jolie, leaving insiders fearing their dreams for a happy family may be all but over. Fed-up Brad stormed out of the couple’s home last week and headed for their LA Los Feliz estate with baby Shiloh following a blazing row.
The massive argument erupted after Ange broke her vow to be a stay-at-home mum and returned to work soon after adopting Vietnamese orphan Pax Thien, 3.
Now, with Brad and Shiloh away, Ange has had to put her other children into daycare while she shoots a commercial for fashion label St. John and rehearses for her next film, Wanted.
Those close to the couple say tension has been brewing between them for weeks, with Ange’s distant behaviour towards Shiloh causing the biggest rift.
“Angie doesn’t change Shiloh’s diapers or hold her when she cries,” a friend tells. “She never rocks Shiloh to sleep or feeds her, and Brad’s the one that gets up in the middle of the night with her … It’s like Shiloh barely exists to her. Brad’s starting to think Ange can only feel empathy for children who have been abandoned.”
For the full story, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on sale April 16)
Courteney Cox’s already strained marriage to David Arquette is a step closer to divorce after he was caught flirting with a group of twenty-something girls while on a cross-country promotional tour for his new movie.
Following a screening of The Tripper in Washington DC, David, 36, headed to the Black Cat club, where he partied with 26-year-old Svetlana Legetic and her friends.
“The movie ended around midnight and we saw David at the bar with another guy,” Svetlana says. “Our friend was bartending, and we insisted on buying David Arquette a drink.”
The actor spent the night talking to them and posing for pictures.
“It was really funny because we were like, ‘We want pictures!’ and he said, ‘These are the kind of photos that get me into trouble!'” Svetlana says. “But you could tell he didn’t mind the attention — he enjoyed flirting with us.”
After learning of the photos, furious Courteney, 42, flew to Philadelphia to confront her husband. Despite still seething over David’s wild night, the couple put on a united front days later when they turned up at a Christina Aguilera concert.
But Courteney became further enraged when David continued his flirty antics by jumping up on stage where he was whipped in front of the 20,000-strong audience.
“Courteney used to marvel at how uninhibited David can be, but I think the act is wearing a little thin,” says a friend. “If they don’t get things sorted out soon, they could be headed for divorce.”
For the full story, plus exclusive pics of David’s wild night, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on-sale April 16).
Kate Middleton has told Prince William she will not marry him, after he was caught flirting with two women during a boozy night out in Dorset in the south of England.
While the couple have yet to announce a formal engagement, insiders say Kate and Wills had secretly been planning to wed in a traditional ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral next summer.
“She’s embarrassed and angry over all this,” says her friend. “Kate’s basically tossed their wedding plans out the window.”
While Kate accepts that women will always throw themselves at the handsome 24-year-old heir to the throne, friends say she was devastated to learn about William’s drunken antics.
During the boozy boys’ night out, William groped 18-year-old Ana Ferreira before inviting pretty blonde university student Lisa Agar, 19, back to his army barracks.
“Kate knows that Wills loves her, but she’s worried he can never be completely faithful,” says the friend.
“She might have forgiven him for the groping — but she hit the roof when she was confronted with evidence of Lisa’s 3am visit back at his barracks.
While Kate has stopped short of actually dumping Wills this time around, insiders say he is devastated with her decision to call off their wedding.
“William is floundering in a sea of remorse, and I’m told that he has even asked his grandmother Queen Elizabeth to speak to Kate,” an insider says.
For the full story, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on-sale April 16).
Princess Mary and Prince Frederik have been shocked by claims their 18-month-old son Prince Christian could be the target of a terrorism plot.
Concern over the tiny tot’s safety is so great the Danish Police Intelligence Unit has insisted a bodyguard accompany the young prince at all times, and provided extra security at his daycare.
“Mary has been a mess over this,” a source says. “She has full faith in the officers assigned to look after her son, but like any mother, she’s worried sick about him.”
For the full story, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on-sale April 16).
Heavily pregnant, her clothes soaked in blood and a knife in her hand, Sarah Brady stood screaming for help by the roadside.
Sarah, then 26, had just fought off a vicious attack from a deranged woman who had lunged repeatedly at her with a hunting knife, trying to gouge Sarah’s unborn baby from her belly.
“Help me,” Sarah cried out to an approaching vehicle. But its startled driver, an elderly woman, drove on, leaving the bleeding and desperate mother-to-be weeping hysterically on the roadside.
Minutes passed. Her strength ebbing away, Sarah lay by the road sobbing- until, finally, a woman driving a mini-van slowed down.
“To this day I don’t know who the lady was,” Sarah, now 28, recalls. “But I know how much I scared her. I looked horrible. I had blood all over me, I was crying. I screamed, ‘I’ve been attacked! She wanted my baby!'”
Police and ambulance officers were quickly on the scene. Although Sarah’s heartbeat was fading, she was able to blurt out the address of the apartment where a mad, seemingly pregnant woman had attacked her. “She came after me and I stabbed her. She’s pregnant. She’s bleeding,” Sarah gasped, before being whisked to hospital.
Police were soon at Katie Smith’s apartment. Finding the young woman’s unconscious body on the living room floor, they rushed her to the same hospital.
As Sarah lay in bed experiencing the early stages of labour, with her shocked boyfriend Scott at her side, police began firing questions at her. How did she know Katie Smith? Why had Sarah thought Katie was pregnant?
Sobbing, Sarah told them how the 22-year-old woman had telephoned her a few days earlier, claiming her name was Sarah Brody. She said she’d received some packages from a baby store that were really meant for her, Sarah Brady, not Brody.
Sarah, who was only weeks from her due date at that time, happily agreed to go around to the caller’s house that afternoon to collect her parcels. When she arrived at the apartment, the door was opened by an overweight woman who said she was about to give birth, too.
Smith, posing as “Sarah”, gave the real Sarah some of the baby gear she’d been expecting. She also said she was to be induced for delivery later that week.
The next day, Smith called again, saying she had more stuff that had been wrongly sent to her. So, on Thursday, February 10, 2005, Sarah returned to the apartment. But this time there was something about her new friend that made her feel uneasy. After just a few minutes Sarah told the young woman that she had to go.
“You’ve been so nice,” was Smith’s reply. “Can I give you a hug?” As she embraced Sarah, Smith reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife…
For the full story, see this week’s issue of Woman’s Day (on-sale April 16).
Taken from Saving Grace: The True Story Of A Mother-To-Be, A Deranged Attacker And An Unborn Child by Sarah Brady, Patrick Crowley and Eric Deters.
Available online at www.newhorizonpressbooks.com
