I was born In Colombo (Ceylon), now called Sri Lanka. I am a Burgher by race (which is called Euro Asian), of Portuguese descent, and a foreigner in that country. My mother tongue is English. My parents spoke Portuguese, since both were Burghers by race. I am the only boy in the family, with three sisters. My brother died at birth, and Mom gave me his same names. Sadly Mom and Dad have passed on. I am single and never married. I live with my big sister, who is also single. We choose to remain single, and are happy this way. I call my sister my “manager” as she is my greatest supporter in this Elvis journey. She comes to all my shows, and takes videos to help me to learn from my mistakes, and improve.
My mom, Audrey, was an ardent fan of Elvis Presley, and I remember as a kid Mom taking me to see the movie That’s The Way It Is, and later, Fun in Acapulco. I was fascinated with Elvis instantly--his vocals, his charisma, he had it all, and I loved listening to him from then on. Mom supported me as I grew to love Elvis, and with music in general. She enrolled me in guitar lessons at a leading music school, and also in key board lessons at the Yamaha Music School. I learned both, but loved playing the guitar and singing. I joined the college choir and also the Youth Choir in church, and started singing and entering competitions. I won the school singing competition and an all island competition in my country. I sang on TV and radio, playing the guitar and singing Elvis songs. I have also performed with several live bands in my country.
I love Elvis very much, but I can also sing the Beatles, Michael Buble, Cliff Richards, Englebert, Ricky Nelson, and Frank Sinatra; however, it is for Elvis that I have the passion. I just cannot think of doing a tribute for any other singer but Elvis. He is the King, in my mind--no disrespect to other singers, but for me Elvis is number one. That’s why I do a tribute to him, in spite of challenges I face. Elvis has music that I love, for any mood. I love Elvis gospel music, Christmas Music… I love it all.
I came to Canada In 1989, and since then I have been very busy with my day job as the manager of a financial institution. I did my singing at home and at church as a member of a choir in Canada. I used to go to many Elvis shows, and once a year to Collingwood for the Elvis Festival. I visited Graceland; you can check out my pictures on my site www.lorenszfrancke.com. However, as time went on, and I saw other ETAs perform, I used to find myself excitedly wanting to get on stage and do it myself. I knew the drive and passion were there. The first competition I entered was in 2012, performing at the Toronto Elvis Festival at the Stage West Hotel, Mississauga Ontario. I sang Puppet on a String, and Loving You, and on Sunday, Your Time Has Not Come Yet Baby, and Blue Hawaii. I got a lot of good reviews from the judges; and from that time, I launched my ETA journey. One judge came up to my car and said, “You have been doing this for many years.” He was very impressed with my performance. I am very critical of my performance always, and as I told you before, Elvis had it all--vocals, charisma, looks--you name it! What I feel I am blessed with, is charisma on stage. I am not nervous to sing to thousands of people. I have that entertainer’s skill; God has blessed me with that part of talent. I am working daily to improve on vocals, and Elvis mannerism, which I am confident will come with time.
I feel so happy, and not nervous at all to go on stage, since that is second nature to me. Sometimes I worry whether I will remember the lyrics of a new song I am launching for the first time; but I forget about the worry when I am on stage, and I hear the music. I just enjoy every moment of it, entertaining the people present. After I perform, I feel satisfied. If I do a good job, I know it myself, since I am not new to performing; but we all have our days, and sometimes, things don’t work out the way I want. But we need to move on, and prepare for the next show.
I have won several competitions overseas, in school and in my country. In Canada as an ETA, in a short time, I have been awarded two Spirit of Elvis awards, one at the Ajax Rock N Rock Elvis Festival, and the other at Kings Trilogy Elvis Festival. I have also performed at several ETA competitions all over Canada, and have been in the finals at several of them, singing bravely always in the Professional Category, up against, very experienced ETAs from around the world. I don’t worry about it, since for me, it’s not about the win, it is the love for Elvis and his music. Win or lose, I enjoy entertaining and paying tribute to the greatest singer and entertainer of all time, Mr. Elvis Presley. For me, music is a passion; and my hobby is to pay tribute to Elvis. I have my day job to pay my bills working in the financial service industry as a business manager.
I always compete in the ELVIS category, and in most competitions, such as Collingwood and Flaming Star, I always compete as a professional. I can do all three eras of Elvis: the 50's ,60's and 70's; but of late, in competition, I prefer to do the 70's since I own over 12 jump suits! I have spent a lot of my hard earned money investing in the purchase of these jump suits, since I plan on being an ETA, as long as, God willing, I can. I have the passion and drive for it, and love to pay tribute to Elvis. I love to entertain and make others happy.
Elvis fans are so friendly, and love all ETAs. I call them friends, since I love talking to each one of them; and I always tell them, that without them, there is no show. We can sing as long as we want, and do as many Elvis songs as we like, but if we don’t have Elvis friends attending these shows, then we might as well sing at home. It is so important that we thank all these Elvis friends who come out regularly, and spend their hard earned money buying tickets to see us perform, and supporting us along the way. I sincerely appreciate all Elvis friends, and thank them always.
The best part of being an ETA is that you get the opportunity to perform Elvis songs, and entertain our Elvis friends. We keep the music alive, from generation to generation. For me this is my passion, and my hobby. Just like people who play golf to relax, performing and paying tribute to Elvis is my stress reliever. I enjoy performing; it’s natural to me--no shyness or nervousness.
The most memorable moments for me occurred when I was awarded the Spirit of Elvis award twice recently, and when, after a show, a devoted Elvis friend, as I call him, came to me and gave me an Elvis ring, which must have cost over $150 dollars. It was a really nice gesture. He said he has a large collection of rings, and he likes to gift them to the ETAs he likes.
I have already received a lot of invites to perform in the States, Germany, London, and Australia. I plan on trying to do some shows in other countries in the future, and I also will be performing in my country of birth early next year where there is a big following of people who love Elvis and his music.
I would like to thank my sister Aloma and niece Rachel, who always come to my shows, and some ETAs in Canada, the USA, and London, who have assisted me when needed.
I have a full time career as a banker, and I do music as my hobby and pastime. Music is my passion, and my stress reliever. I will continue paying tribute to Elvis the rest of my life. Please check out my web site at www.lorenszfrancke.com I am also on Facebook and Instagram.