Long Live The King! Greetings hound dogs and teddy bears, and welcome once again to beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada, where today the beans have made it over to the Westward Ho Resort and Casino, where they had the great fortune to attend this year's Elvis Extravaganza! As you know, the beans are HUGE Elvis fans, and since they've already been to Graceland, they thought it was time that they hung out with some other aficionados of the King.

The Elvis shindig is sponsored by a group that bills itself as the world's largest Elvis Presley Fan Club, and around his birthday each year they throw a 3-day celebration honoring The King, with special guests (like Elvis' cousin?), souvenirs, and the highlight...the national Elvis Impersonator Contest. Regional contests are held all across the country all year long, and the winners of these shows are invited to come here to compete in the finals. $4,000 in cash and prizes are up for grabs, so get your rhinestones and sideburns ready! Since they were already in town, the beans were able to convince the judges to let them into the contest, where they belted out a stunning rendition of "Burnin' Love". But unfortunately, burnt beans aren't that popular, so they were quickly disqualified. However, they did stick around to check out some of the genuine stars...

It's estimated that there are upwards of 5,000 Elvis impersonators out there - male, female, young, old, and every color of the rainbow. Some do it for money, some do it for fun, but somehow the beans suspect they all do it for love. As you can tell, the contestants go all out with their appearances. Just check out the detail work on this suit. (Somehow I doubt this was bought off-the-rack...) So here's a hint to all of you out there: Before trying to enter the world of Elvis, make sure you make really good friends with a tailor. Holding the beans is Ed Harris, who earned bonus points from the beans for being dressed in black.

Most of the impersonators take their hobby very seriously, and you won't find any cheap jokes at their expense here. (Beans in metal cans shouldn't throw stones...) Besides, the beans find it pretty cool that these brave souls have kept the spirit of the man alive for so long. I promise you won't see anyone doing this for Mr. Timberlake in 25 years... Here the beans hang out with three more Elvises (Elvi?), and although they're not certain if it's really him or not, the beans have a sneaking suspicion that the guy on the right is actually Neil Young...could it be?

There is actually a certain amount of etiquette to the Elvis impersonator legacy. You shouldn't dress like Elvis in your everyday life (it just adds to those 7-11 store sighting rumors...), make sure you are historically accurate in your songs (let's face it - Elvis would never sing "Mmmm Bop"...), you shouldn't wear your sunglasses the entire time you're on stage, and you should never, ever visit Roswell, New Mexico (just in case the aliens get mixed up...) But above all else, you should have fun and not take yourself too seriously. A good sense of humor helps, because even if you don't look like the King, you can still have a good time. Right? The beans think so.

We have one question, though -- how come you only see Elvis impersonators wearing his late 60's/early 70's Vegas-era costume? Is the "Jailhouse Rock" era Elvis just too ordinary to impersonate? The beans will never understand, especially since they just blew $100 on a Hawaiian shirt and ukelele for their "Clambake" costume... Anyway, the beans did have an incredible time with the Elvis gang, and wish them all the best of luck in the competition. And if any of them would like to add a side dish of black beans to their peanut butter and banana sandwich lunch, just give the beans a call... Special thanks again to all of the Elvises out there for posing with the beans! And if you'd like to see more of The King and the Beans, check out our photos of "Elvis' Lil Sister!