*Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite '73 | Part #1 | Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite is a concert starring Elvis Presley that took place at the Honolulu International Center and was broadcast live via satellite to audiences in Asia and Oceania on January 14, 1973. The show was presented with a delay in Europe. In the United States, to avoid a programming conflict with Super Bowl VII and Elvis on Tour which was playing in cinemas at the time, NBC opted to air a ninety-minute television special of the concert on April 4. Presley returned to performing tours throughout the United States in 1970. Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China inspired Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to promote a live broadcast concert featuring Presley and he arranged a deal with RCA Records and the NBC network to produce one. The show benefited the Kui Lee Cancer Fund. Marty Pasetta produced the program. A filmed rehearsal concert took place on January 12. The show earned good ratings in the countries targeted by the live broadcast. The television special presented in the United States became NBC's highest-rated program of the year, and it received a favorable reception from critics. Its soundtrack album became Presley's last chart-topper on Billboard's album chart. Background: After a seven-year hiatus from live performances to focus on his acting career, Elvis Presley returned with his 1968 NBC television special Elvis. Following the critical success of the special, by 1969, Presley returned to releasing non-soundtrack albums with From Elvis in Memphis. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, arranged for him to play a concert residency at the newly built International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. For this engagement he assembled a band, later known as the TCB Band: James Burton (guitar), John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar), Jerry Scheff (bass guitar), Ronnie Tutt (drums), Glen Hardin (piano) and Charlie Hodge (rhythm guitar, background vocals). The Sweet Inspirations, the Imperials, the Stamps and Kathy Westmoreland provided backing vocals, and the show also featured the 30-piece Joe Guercio orchestra. Presley began to tour the United States again in 1970 after a thirteen-year hiatus. Presley's early 1972 albums, Elvis Now and He Touched Me, charted at number 43 and 79 on the Billboard Hot 100. That year, Presley embarked on a 15-city tour that was filmed for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) documentary Elvis on Tour. The film earned a Golden Globe Award for best documentary. A planned soundtrack album was never released as the recording equipment failed during the fourth night of performances. Presley appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York City in June 1972; the performance was released as a live album the same month and reached number 11 on Billboard's Hot 100. Demand for Presley was strong in Europe and Asia, where Presley was eager to perform, but Parker prevented this. This has been attributed to Parker's status as an illegal immigrant; Parker concealed his origins as a Dutch national, and feared deportation if he left the United States. A month after the Madison Square Garden show, Parker mentioned to the press that arrangements were being made for Presley to play a concert via satellite to live audiences worldwide. Parker declared that "it is the intention of Elvis to please all of his fans throughout the world". Production: On September 4, the final day of Presley's 59-show engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton, Parker announced at a press conference that the live NBC television special, Aloha from Hawaii, would take place in January 1973 in Hawaii. Parker had the idea in February 1972, when he saw the live broadcast of Richard Nixon's visit to China. Parker approached NBC's president Tom Sarnoff with the proposition. They set a tentative release date for November 18, the end of Presley's tour. The date had to be moved at the request of television executive Jim Aubrey, who wanted to avoid the special overlapping with the theatrical release of Elvis On Tour, scheduled for the same month. The date for the concert was eventually set for January 14, 1973. The broadcast in the United States was postponed until April to avoid a conflict with Super Bowl VII that was to be played on the same day. Sarnoff suggested Marty Pasetta produce the special. Pasetta had produced television specials for Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Glen Campbell, and Don Ho's five specials, filmed on location in Hawaii. He had also produced broadcasts of the Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys. Presley was interested in a producer who could capture the atmosphere of a live concert. Pasetta attended Presley's concert in Long Beach on November 15. He was unimpressed by Presley's performance, feeling his presence was "staged, quiet", and expressed his doubts to the network that he would be able to produce an hour-and-a-half special. They told Pasetta to discuss his concerns with Parker.

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