On January 14, 1973, Elvis Presley`s concert Aloha from
Hawaii was broadcast live via satellite. 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 at over 1 billion viewers worldwide, although it
has been debated whether these figures are accurate. 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 Tom Parker, announced that there
would be a worldwide satellite broadcast from Hawaii to allow the whole world
the chance to see a Presley concert. Parker initially estimated the concert
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. 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" written 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.
Presley performed
three shows over November 17 and 18 in Honolulu, the dates originally planned
for the satellite broadcast, and gave a press conference on November 20 to
promote the satellite special. He also announced officially that it would now
be in aid of the Kui Lee Cancer
Fund.
Presley arrived in
Hawaii again on January 9, a day after his 38th birthday, to begin rehearsals. He had lost twenty-five
pounds for the show and was confident after news that his record
sales were increasing and Elvis
on Tour had been nominated for a Golden Globe. Rehearsals were held at
the Hilton Hawaiian Village while the main set was being constructed. Although there were
several technical problems, the rehearsals were an overall success.
Presley taped a
January 12 rehearsal concert as a fail-safe in case anything went wrong with the satellite
during the January 14 broadcast – however, nothing went wrong. For both shows,
Presley was dressed in a white "American Eagle" jumpsuit designed by Bill Belew. The broadcast was
directed by Marty Pasetta, who was then in charge of directing the Oscar
ceremonies.
Audience tickets for
the January 14 concert and its January 12 pre-broadcast rehearsal show carried
no price. Each audience member was asked to pay whatever he or she could
afford. The performance and concert merchandise sales raised $75,000 for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund in Hawaii.
Elvis Presley
Enterprises give the figure that between 1 billion and 1.5 billion people
watched the broadcast live, but this is a highly unlikely number. The total
population of the countries receiving the broadcast was only 1.3 billion.
According to the Guinness
Book of World Records, Michael Jackson's Super Bowl XXVII halftime holds the record
for the largest TV audience for a performance, with 133.4 million viewers.
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