万花筒 kaleidoscope2007-08-19&08-20, 最像猫王的人

As true believers everywhere already know tomorrow marks the anniversary of the death of the king ,Elvis Presly. We should quickly point out those folks who believe he is still with call it the anniversary of his disappearance¹. Either way his home ,in Memphis ,Graceland gets crowded every year at this time and this year they are looking to crown a new kind of king, the guy who does Elvis the best. This assignment went to NBC’s Mike Boettcher.
Impersonating the king is a serious offence. In this kingdom, however, protocol² permits it. Like no other figures at the 20th century, Elvis has endured into the 21st 30 years after his death. The king still is because they still are, well, doing what they do; Brandon Bennett from Ponchatoula, Louisiana is one of the best, a finalist in the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest, the first such competition sanctioned by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The winner will be the first ever official Elvis impersonator.

It brings people back to a time that had a lot of happy memories for them, you know…

Never mind the memories, the present is very happy for Brandon, we met him five years ago, as he was beginning his career. Now it is his lucrative³ full time job.

And it’s a beautiful thing to fall into.

For the performers and their fans, impersonating Elvis is no joke. The king is not to be mocked.

You have to be very careful when you are portraying⁴ someone who was an idol⁵ or icon⁶ or somebody that meant so much to so many people.

And because it means so much to so many, Brandon and the other impersonators see themselves on a mission.

I think it's very important, that anybody who doesn’t know who Elvis Presley was, should know who Elvis Presley is.

Long live the king, Mike Boettcher, NBC news, Graceland.

That's our broadcast, thank you, thank you very much for being with us. I'm Brian Williams; we will look for you right back here tomorrow night.

1 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

2 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

3 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

4 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

5 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

6 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。