In Japan, anticipation of the show was so intense, the broadcast showed the Hawaii audience filing into the auditorium for more than an hour before the concert began, Elise Pasetta recalled. They got a kiss, a scarf or a perspiration-filled hankie in return, keeping the crowd in a frenzy for the full hour.Ībove the stage, “Elvis” was spelled out in different alphabets, and there were flashing lights that presented an image of him swiveling with a guitar.

Pasetta sold Presley on a set design that included a lower stage and a long runway that allowed the star to get closer to female fans, who put leis around Elvis’ neck during the performance. A new one had to be made and shipped in time for the show. Presley also caused a slight panic with his wardrobe handlers as he gave away the ruby-encrusted belt of his costume to the wife of “Hawaii Five-0” star Jack Lord, whom he met at a rehearsal. By the date of the show, he looked tan, rested and ready, a sleek figure in his bejeweled white jumpsuit and cape, although Nash noted he still needed an amphetamine-infused B-12 injection before going on. Presley went on a crash diet, aided by injections of urine from a pregnant woman, in which he was limited to 500 calories a day of dried food. He threw them off and he came over and hugged Marty and said, ‘You’re the first person that ever told me the truth.’”

“Marty told him, ‘You’ve got to lose weight - you’ve got to move more,’” Pasetta’s widow, Elise, recalled in a recent phone interview.

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