Aloha from Hawaii
| Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite | |
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| Directed by | Marty Pasetta |
| Produced by | Marty Pasetta |
| Starring | Elvis Presley |
| Edited by | Stephen McKeown |
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Production
company |
Pasetta Productions
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| Distributed by | RCA |
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Release date
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.5 million |
Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite is a concert that was headlined by Elvis Presley, and was broadcast live via satellite on January 14, 1973. The concert took place at the Honolulu International Center (HIC) in Honolulu (now known as the Neal S. Blaisdell Center) and aired in over 40 countries across Asia and Europe (who received the telecast the next day, also in primetime). Despite the satellite innovation, the United States did not air the concert until April 4, 1973 (because the concert took place the same day as Super Bowl VII). Viewing figures have been estimated to be between 1 and 1.5 billion viewers worldwide. The show was the most expensive entertainment special at the time, costing $2.5 million.
On July 8, 1972, inspired by a recent visit made by U.S. President Richard Nixon to China a few months earlier, Presley's manager, Colonel Thomas Parker, announced that there would be a worldwide satellite broadcast from Hawaii to allow the whole world the chance to see a Presley concert "since it is impossible for us to play in every major city." Parker initially stated that it would take place in either October or November 1972, but this date was changed to early 1973 after MGM showed concern about it clashing with the release of their documentary film Elvis on Tour. As the show had already been planned prior to this upset, the original shows, now set for November, would still go ahead but without being filmed.
Parker held another press conference on September 4, 1972, in Las Vegas to confirm that the concert, now titled Aloha From Hawaii, would be broadcast on January 14, 1973. The press were told that an audience of 1 billion was expected to tune in to see the "first entertainment special to be broadcast live around the world," even though Parker had not taken into account the fact that many countries, including parts of Europe and America, would not see the concert live due to the time of the broadcast. Although the Our World broadcast was the first live, international, satellite television production, which was broadcast worldwide on June 25, 1967, which included entertainment artists such as Maria Callas and headlined by The Beatles) – Aloha From Hawaii was the first live satellite concert to be with a single performer. Two weeks after the Las Vegas press conference Parker received a letter from Honolulu Advertiser columnist Eddie Sherman. Sherman had read in news accounts that there was to be no charge for admittance to the concerts, instead a donation for charity was required. He suggested to Parker that, as Presley had recorded, and was still performing, the song "I'll Remember You," which had been written and composed by Kui Lee, the donations could go to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund that had been set up following the death of the songwriter in 1966. Seeing the chance to publicize Presley's charitable nature once again, Parker eagerly agreed.
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