TV Q&A: Real Elvis spliced into film

Q: In one of the last scenes of the new “Elvis” movie, Elvis is seated singing and playing the piano, not in good health, with a puffy face and sweating profusely. It appears to me that was the real Elvis. Or was it the same actor who portrayed him throughout?

A: Both. The climactic performance of “Unchained Melody” in the film had Austin Butler as Elvis leading into the real man’s performance. Matt Villa, an editor on the film, told Variety that “it was a huge job putting Austin into that makeup, and that was the most significant of his makeup. ... He did sing [“Unchained Melody”] in its entirety because there was a question mark towards the end as to whether we were going to get the real footage of Elvis and if we would be allowed to use it. ... Thankfully that famous footage came through and we were able to use it, and that’s the real Elvis. It’s so interesting that a lot of people don’t realize we cut to the real Elvis because it punches me in the heart every time I see that scene and you see Elvis’ face.”

And that’s not the only place the film had the real Elvis on screen. For example, editor Jonathan Redmond told Variety that “at the very beginning where Elvis comes out in the blue suit, where he’s doing karate moves, there’s a two-panel split-screen ... (with) real Elvis on one side and Austin is on the other.”

Q: On “Jeopardy!” the winner gets to keep all of their money, but the other two contestants get $1,000 or $2,000. Is that all the money they get to take home?

A: Yes. The long-running game show used to let all the contestants keep their winnings. But it appeared that some contestants were overly cautious in Final Jeopardy so they could keep the money they had won rather than risk losing it on a final bet. It’s thought that setting a fixed amount for second and third place makes it more likely that players will take risks at the end.

Q: I’m a big fan of “The Voice” on NBC. It used to have two sessions every year, spring and fall, but there’s been nothing since last fall. What’s the deal?

A: The show, which begins a new season on Sept. 19, is doing just one session a year now. “‘The Voice’ remains one of the most popular shows on television and we want to keep it that way,” a top NBC executive told Deadline.com. “We want to event-ize this iconic series. We think ‘The Voice’ will be on NBC for a very long time to come and we believe the best way to protect the brand, while also super-serving fans is to produce one amazing cycle this year.”