Lincoln's Elvis wows 'America's Got Talent'

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By JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star

Joseph Hall could hear the buzzers from the waiting room.

It made him more nervous.

“I didn’t know whether they would love me or hate me,” Hall said by phone about his recent “America’s Got Talent” experience.

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Elvis impersonator Joseph Hall of Nebraska performs in a contest in Memphis, Tenn., in August 2007. (Courtesy photo)

Elvis impersonator Joseph Hall of Nebraska performs in a contest in Memphis, Tenn., in August 2007. (Courtesy photo)

“I had seen so many acts before get buzzed,” he added. “That buzzer is loud. It’s like being in the middle of the Civil War or something.”

There were no buzzers for this Elvis Presley tribute artist from Lincoln — only praise from judges David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan.

“You’ve got the looks and the moves,” Hasselhoff told him after his Chicago audition, which aired Tuesday night on the NBC summer reality show.

Osbourne was more generous with her words.

“I just want to keep staring at him,” she said of Hall, who performed Presley’s “Hound Dog” in a black leather outfit.

Hall, 23, did what many tribute artists were unable to do before him: advance to the next round in Las Vegas. He’s already filmed his Vegas experience but can’t reveal how he did.

His Tuesday night performance came at the end of the two-hour episode. It was preceded with a clip featuring the judges’ disdain for tribute artists. They buzzed performers impersonating Ozzy Osbourne (Sharon’s husband), Elton John, Rod Stewart and several other Elvises.

Hall, however, won them over, including the tough-to-please Morgan, who said he hates Elvis impersonators.

“They come out and they are fat and bald and impersonate him just before he died,” he told Hall. “I thought, if you sing how you look, we’re going to have a great act here. And you did.”

The best line came from Osbourne, who told the young entertainer she had shoes older than him.

“I would like to try you on,” she said, smiling.

The key to the performance was the studio audience, which went wild when he hit the stage.

“As soon as I heard the crowd, I knew I had this,” Hall said. “It built my confidence up. A crowd can make you or break you. I was very fortunate.”

His father and manager, Kyle Hall, said he could tell his son was feeling it when he watched Tuesday night.

“He was totally in control,” Kyle Hall said. “The way he handled it … he came out like the stage was his stage.”    

As of late Wednesday morning, Hall had not yet seen the entire clip. He was on stage at Legends in Concert in Myrtle Beach, S.C., when it aired. He’ll be at Myrtle Beach until Aug. 2.

He said his bosses saw it.

“They want me in leather tonight,” he said.

His friends and family watched it as well. Their response was tremendous.

“I’ve been getting calls from family members I didn’t know I had,” Hall joked. “All my ex-girlfriends are calling me.”

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.