President & Mrs. Bush Confirmed To Visit Graceland With Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan

 

No more rumor and speculation. Following is a statement from The White House press secretary, issued during the president's visit to Iraq:

 

 

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

(Baghdad, Iraq)

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

For Immediate Release June 13, 2006

 

 

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

 

Visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan

to Memphis, Tennessee

 

 

The President and Mrs. Bush will accompany Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan to Memphis, Tennessee on June 30, 2006, the day following the Prime Minister’s visit to the White House. The two leaders will visit Graceland Mansion, home of the Presley Family. The President and Mrs. Bush look forward to introducing the Prime Minister to the beauty and warm hospitality of the people of the Volunteer State.

 

Source: www.elvis.com

 

Priscilla and Lisa To Greet Prime Minister Koizumi and President & Mrs. Bush at Graceland 6/15/2006

June 15, 2006

 

Earlier today in an interview with the Associated Press, Elvis Presley Enterprises CEO Jack Soden confirmed that when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan and President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush visit Graceland on June 30th, Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley will be there to welcome them. The AP story is expected to hit the wire as early as tonight.

 

Source : www.elvis.com

 

 

Thanks for the info Tilly :) But aren't there a few more dignitaries missing from this meet up. Tilly, LC, BA etc..... :)

Nice one, BP Still waiting for my invitation :blink: Apparently, Prime Minister Koimuzi is a huge Elvis fan, hence the visit, but reckon he'd have a bit of competition with Martin, Lesley and myself there :cheer: Wonder what the headlines would say? :lol:

Here's a link to 'A Message To Elvis Fans From Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan'

 

http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/article_ja...nelvisfan.shtml

It's all happening tomorrow Seems that they'll all be enjoying Elvis movies on Airforce One on the flight down to Memphis :cool:

 

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13601320/site/newsweek/

 

Here's the link to the Graceland cam :D Not sure if it'll be working tomorrow, though, for security reasons ;)

 

http://www.elvis.com/graceland/vtour/gracecam.asp

Looks like they've switched the webcam off in preparation for the visit ;)

 

This is the message on the webcam page now

 

GracelandCamâ„¢

Elvis.com webcams will be offline Thursday, June 29 at 5:00 p.m. to Friday, June 30 at 5:00 p.m. central time.

This is what President Bush has said of Prime Minister Koizumi :dance:

 

"I'm looking forward to joining him tomorrow at Graceland," he said, referring to their planned visit to the Presley mansion in Memphis.

 

"Officially he is here to see the president," Mr. Bush said. "But I know the highlight of his visit will be paying his respects to the king."

 

Naturally :D Who can blame him ;) There's no one better than The King

 

 

 

Graceland's Big DayGraceland has new paint on the fences, freshly trimmed bushes and a cleaning job worthy of heads of state.

 

"Every little detail will be pristine," said Graceland chief executive officer Jack Soden. "There's the joke that you ought to have a big party at your house at least once a year, because if you've got really important guests coming you go the extra step to make sure everything is perfect."

 

For Soden, who has greeted 15 million guests in 24 years, "the fact is nobody can remember a day like this one."

 

President George Bush and first lady Laura Bush are accompanying Japan's No. 1 Elvis fan, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, on a tour of Graceland.

 

It is the first Graceland tour by a sitting U.S. president. Former president Jimmy Carter, who had left office, visited during his daughter's graduation from Memphis College of Art in 1991. That was on a winter day, a Tuesday, when the mansion was closed, said Graceland spokesman Todd Morgan.

 

Morgan said Koizumi's visit will include eight rooms in the 15-room mansion with Koizumi seeing what other Elvis fans see. The distinction is that the mansion will be closed to other guests until about 12:30 p.m. while Priscilla Presley and daughter Lisa Marie Presley conduct the tour with Soden and Morgan -- all under the scrutiny of security teams from the White House and the Japanese Embassy.

 

Morgan could not discuss security, but he said advance teams have been busy for several weeks "doing all of the things you would expect. It feels like we're living in an episode of 'The West Wing.' "

 

He said Koizumi is not fluent in English and will use a translator regularly used by the White House for meetings with the prime minister. Graceland's pre-recorded audio tour is offered in Japanese, but Morgan said, "It was determined by all parties it would be a much more enjoyable experience to be a conversational tour with no headsets."

 

Morgan said he is unsure who else might accompany Koizumi, but Soden said the prime minister's brother, Masaya Koizumi, is a likely guest. He said the brother helped organize installation of an Elvis statue in a Tokyo park.

 

One Japanese newspaper correspondent offered to coach Soden on appropriate Japanese phrases to use in greeting Koizumi, but Soden declined the offer. "With my luck, I would think I had it down, then screw it up," he said.

 

Morgan said it is traditional to offer gifts to visiting dignitaries. Graceland, one of the nation's busiest licensing agents, has hundreds of options from key chains and Teddy bears to leather jackets and a jukebox. Morgan said Graceland staff members were still debating Thursday what to present the Bushes and Koizumi. "If we told ahead of time it wouldn't be a surprise," he said, declining to be more specific about gifts being considered.

 

As for the tour itself, Morgan said it will include the living room, music room, dining room, the Vernon and Gladys Presley bedroom, the kitchen, the pool room, the TV room, and the infamous Jungle Room. It will not include the upstairs which has the Elvis bedroom, a study, a "wardrobe room" and Lisa Marie Presley's nursery.

 

Beyond the house, the tour includes trophy and racquetball buildings, Vernon Presley's office and smaller exhibit areas. Those exterior buildings include Elvis' gold records and jumpsuits.

 

Regular tourists will be delayed by the prime minister's tour with tours of Graceland resuming at 12:30 p.m. The Elvis car museum in the Graceland Plaza shopping complex is being used as a national media center with public tours resuming there at 2 p.m. All other attractions will be open all day as usual.

 

Morgan said the visit is "a very big day for us, not just professionally but personally. It's really special. Elvis has such universal appeal. These people go everywhere and meet everybody.

 

"They lead fascinating lives, but it doesn't matter where they're from or what walk of life they're from, they still appreciate Elvis."

 

 

 

By By Michael Lollar / The Commercial AppealSource: Commercial Appeal / Updated: Jun 30, 2006

Here's a couple of pics that were taken from the Gracelandcam last night :D Love the one with the pink cadillac. It's almost as if Elvis himself had driven it up the drive :cool:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/webcam.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/webcam2-1.jpg

 

Thanks to EI for the pics B)

Here's a link to a NBC 'Today' video report that was broadcast before the visit :D

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13626840/ Click on 'launch' for the video ;) Hopefully we will get one of the actual visit, later :D

Here's a couple of the first pics of Priscilla and Lisa Marie meeting the President and the Prime Minister :cool:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/30bush2_o.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/30bush3_o.jpg

I've just watched a CNN report on the visit and it looks like Koizumi was having a ball in the Jungle Room :lol: He sang a few bars of Love Me Tender and Can't Help Falling In Love and did some Elvis poses, complete with sunglasses :cool: Apparently the President was presented with a genuine Elvis belt buckle, Prime Minister Koizumi with an Elvis film poster (in Japanese, of course!) and the First Lady with a TLC necklace B)

Looks like a great time was had by all, and some fantastic publicity for Elvis! :cheer:

Here's the link to the visit, complete with Elvis poses in the Jungle Room :lol:

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13626840/ As before, click on launch for the video ;)

And yet more pics

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/30bush6_o.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/30bush5_o.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/30bush4_o.jpg

 

Thankyouverymuch!! This reporter has left the building :lol:

Well, it's been a fantastic day for Elvis and Graceland

 

Just a few final photos of this special day

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/graceland11.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/gracelandvisit10.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/gracelandvisit12.jpg

 

And here's a great one with Elvis' Pink Cadillac in the background

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/0630061455_M_063006_elvis6.jpg

The Official Elvis site has posted a couple of videos of the visit and in the second of the two, Mr Koizumi says that his dream has come true with this visit :cool: I know what he means as I felt exactly the same when I was there :D

 

Here's the link: http://www.elvis.com/graceland/special/vid...d_leaders_2.asp

Here's a transcript of the President's comments and the Prime Minister's response :D

 

PRESIDENT BUSH: First of all, the Prime Minister and I would like to thank Priscilla and Lisa for their gracious hospitality. And we thank the Graceland staff, as well, for arranging this unusual experience. First of all, my presence here shows it's never too late to come to Graceland. Laura and I are -- we've known Elvis Presley since we were growing up. He's obviously a major part of our music history. He had an international reputation. His reputation was so strong that he attracted the attention of the now Prime Minister of Japan. I was hoping the Prime Minister would want to come to Graceland. I knew he loved Elvis -- I didn't realize how much he loved Elvis. He not only knows Elvis' history, he can sing a pretty good Elvis song. This visit here shows that not only am I personally fond of the Prime Minister, but the ties between our peoples are very strong, as well. And so, again, to the Presleys, thank you all. And Mr. Prime Minister, glad you joined us. Want to say a few comments?

 

PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI: It's like a dream. I never expected President come with me to visit Graceland. There's Elvis song: To Dream Impossible. (Singing Elvis song.) (Laughter.) My dream came true. Thank you very much for -- thank you. Thank you very much for treating me nice, the Elvis song. (Singing Elvis song.) Thank you.

 

PRESIDENT BUSH: We're going to go have some barbeque, thank you. :P

 

 

Here's the link to The Commercial Appeal Coverage of Bush/Koizumi Visit To Graceland :D

 

http://www.elvis.com/news/full_story.asp?id=1050

 

Here's President Bush with Priscilla at lunch at the Rendezvous

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/r3360226800.jpg