It’s not every day that you see a millennial singing along to an Elvis Presley song, let alone compete for a title! That makes 18-year-old Josuel Grech a rare breed, and a talented one at that: he's just placed third at the Harbor Lights Elvis Festival held in Bristol this weekend!

Josuel took to Facebook to announce the news, saying he was overwhelmed to have won third place over all – and at 18 years of age no less! He thanked the judges, the contestants, his mum Helen, girlfriend Anthea, and his biggest fan – Grandma Lilly. What a sweetheart!

Where it all began

Speaking to Josuel, he lets me in on the deets of his journey as an Elvis impersonator. “It all started when I was about six years old. I was sitting with my grandma in the living room while watching the movie G.I. Blues, and I remember humming to the Hup, Two, Three, Four songs. I watched a couple more movies and performances and I was hooked!” And when carnival came along, Josuel says, he insisted on dressing up as the King of Rock n' Roll himself - a nice, albeit odd choice for a six year old!

“Being an Elvis tribute artist needs a lot of study and practice to get close to his movements, vocals and all his mannerisms and gestures. The goal is to be as authentic as possible to the real deal. Paying attention to details like doing your hair in a particular way as he did at a particular time, wearing authentic clothing, and even those sideburns are important for the performance,” he says.

The Harbor Lights Elvis Festival

The very first edition of this Elvis fest took place last weekend in Bristol, UK. “We were 26 contestants at the Quarter Finals on Friday, but after our first performances, only 15 got through the Semi Finals and fortunately, I happened to be one of them,” Josuel says. After the Semi Finals, eight performers went through to the Finals, who also performed live alongside the Graceland Band. “I really had a blast performing with the band while trying to get close to some of Elvis’s iconic performances from the 1950s.”

Josuel’s big moment

Before the winning announcements, all the contestants were called up on stage. “As the results were being announced, my heart was racing! And then I heard ‘In the third place... ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for… Josuel Grech!’ – I honestly couldn’t believe I made it into the top three!” 

Another smashing moment for the youngster was meeting Mindi Miller herself – Elvis’s ex-girlfriend who happened to be judging the contest. “I managed to have a chat with her and the first thing she told me was, ‘You got the Elvis 50s look and I loved the way you moved and used the stage!’ That comment made the weekend for me!”

What’s next on Josuel's radar?

Josuel will be heading to the UK for a few more contests this year and for the Harbor Lights in 2020. He will also be performing in Malta in the coming weeks and might even be flying to the UK to do some gigs there. Stay tuned!