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Elvis Presley - The King of Rock and Roll (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Roger Bassik.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: And I'm Gillian Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Well, it's one for the money, two for the show,
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  Speaker 1: three to get ready. Now go cat go, but do
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  Speaker 1: not step up on my blue swede shoes.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: These are lyrics from the song Blue Suede Shoes. Carl
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Perkins wrote and recorded it. The song became popular, but
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: the version of the song most people remember was by
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  Speaker 2: another singer. This new singer helped create a style of
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  Speaker 2: music called rock and roll. Fans later this singer the
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  Speaker 2: King of rock and roll. He became one of the
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  Speaker 2: most famous entertainers of the twentieth century. He was known
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  Speaker 2: all over the world by just one name, Elvis.
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  Speaker 1: Today's Spotlight Advanced is about the singer Elvis Presley. He
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: was born in nineteen thirty five in Tupelo, Mississippi, during
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  Speaker 1: the Great Depression. The Great Depression was one of the
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  Speaker 1: worst economic downturns in modern history. Presley's family was poor
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: and lived in a small house. The family was close
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  Speaker 1: and very religious. They also loved music, Presley's parents gave
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  Speaker 1: him an instrument called a guitar when he was eleven.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: As he grew older, Presley sang and played his guitar
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  Speaker 1: and talent shows. He loved listening to gospel and rhythm
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  Speaker 1: and blues music. He visited stores and out of the
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  Speaker 1: way African American communities in search of new musk music.
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  Speaker 2: When he was nineteen, Presley paid for a recording session
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  Speaker 2: at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Sam Phillips owned Sun
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  Speaker 2: Records and liked Presley's music. He liked the way Presley
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: combined different styles of music. He signed Presley to a
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  Speaker 2: recording contract. Presley released the song That's All Right, which
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  Speaker 2: became popular on local radio stations.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: Presley released his first recordings during a time of racial
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  Speaker 1: segregation in the United States. African American communities and white
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: communities stayed away from each other. White children did not
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  Speaker 1: attend the same schools as African Americans. African Americans could
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  Speaker 1: not drink from the same water fountains or use the
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: same bathrooms as white people. While white people sat in
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  Speaker 1: the front of buses, African Americans had to sit in
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  Speaker 1: the back. But Presley's music appealed to both audiences, bind
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: African American rhythm and blues with mainstream country music. Critics
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  Speaker 1: called the style rockabilling. The music helped unite some of
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  Speaker 1: the racially mixed youth of America. The mixture of music
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  Speaker 1: also challenged racial barriers in society.
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  Speaker 2: Some critics accused Presley of stealing African American music and
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  Speaker 2: presenting it to white audiences as his own creation, but
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  Speaker 2: Presley always gave credit to his influence. Presley said, a lot.
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  Speaker 1: Of people seem to think I started this business, but
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  Speaker 1: rock and roll was here a long time before I
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  Speaker 1: came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: African Americans. Let's face it, I cannot sing like Fats Domino.
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  Speaker 1: Can I know that? At first, Presley performed on stage
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  Speaker 1: while playing a guitar, but when he appeared on the
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  Speaker 1: television program The Milton Burle Show in nineteen fifty six,
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  Speaker 1: Burle gave Presley a suggestion that changed music history. Burle
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  Speaker 1: told him to leave his guitar behind the stage. Burle
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  Speaker 1: wanted Presley to move freely on stage without carrying a guitar.
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  Speaker 1: When Presley performed that night, he danced and swung his hips.
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  Speaker 1: He moved wildly across the stage. The audience irrupted. They
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  Speaker 1: had never seen anyone perform like this. Because Presley swung
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  Speaker 1: his pelvis so much, the press later called him Elvis
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: the Pelvis.
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  Speaker 2: After the show, Milton Berle said he received hundreds of
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  Speaker 2: thousands of complaint letters from parents about Presley's dancing. Parents
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  Speaker 2: said he was acting sexually. Parents believed Presley would corrupt
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  Speaker 2: young mimes, but Presley's ann loved his rebellious and exciting performance.
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  Speaker 2: He became a hero to his young followers. Forty million
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  Speaker 2: viewers watched the show.
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  Speaker 1: The famous musician Bruce Springsteen was six years old when
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: he saw Presley's performance. He said, everything starts and ends
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  Speaker 1: with Elvis.
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  Speaker 2: Presley joined the United States military from nineteen fifty eight
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  Speaker 2: to nineteen sixty. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, thought it
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  Speaker 2: would make Presley seem more responsible to adults. If Presley
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: served his country, not as many would complain about him.
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  Speaker 2: It would win Presley more fans and he could make
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  Speaker 2: more money. But Presley secretly worried that rock and roll
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  Speaker 2: would not last. It was a new musical movement that
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  Speaker 2: he helped make popular. He feared his musical career would
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  Speaker 2: be over by the time he was done with The Mater.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: During the nineteen sixties, Presley focused on acting in films
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  Speaker 1: more than performing music. The films featured his music. He
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  Speaker 1: usually played a singer or a musician. His films were successful,
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  Speaker 1: but they did not receive critical praise. Whenever Presley tried
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  Speaker 1: to play a character who did not sing, the film
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  Speaker 1: did not make much money. Presley did not perform music
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  Speaker 1: in front of a live audience for seven years. Presley
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  Speaker 1: married Priscilla Bolliu and had a daughter named Lisa Marie.
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  Speaker 2: Presley enjoyed making films, but his passion was music. His
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  Speaker 2: lack of acting success and his desire to refocus on
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  Speaker 2: music drove him back to the stage. In nineteen sixty eight,
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  Speaker 2: Presley recorded a television show called The Comeback Special. He
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  Speaker 2: performed songs in hopes of relaunching his music career. It
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  Speaker 2: was very successful.
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  Speaker 1: Presley now refocused on his music career. He often performed
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  Speaker 1: in Las Vegas, Nevada. His shows drew large crowds. He
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  Speaker 1: was once again one of the top entertainers in the world.
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  Speaker 1: Presley remained important despite new and exciting rock and roll
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  Speaker 1: bands like The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, The Doors, and
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  Speaker 1: the Jimmy Hendricks Experience, winning many followers. Many of these
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  Speaker 1: performers admired and copied Presley. John Lennon of the Beatles said,
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  Speaker 1: nothing affected me until I heard Elvis. Without Elvis, there
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  Speaker 1: would be no Beatles.
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  Speaker 2: Bob Dylan, one of the most influential singer songwriters of
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  Speaker 2: all time and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature,
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  Speaker 2: said about Presley, when I first heard Elvis Presley's voice,
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  Speaker 2: I just knew that I was not going to work
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  Speaker 2: for anybody, and nobody was going to be my boss.
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  Speaker 2: Hearing him for the first time was like breaking out jail.
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  Speaker 1: The Grammy is the biggest award in American music. Presley
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  Speaker 1: won three Grammys. Even though he is considered the king
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  Speaker 1: of rock and roll. He won all three Grammys in
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  Speaker 1: the Gospel music category. Gospel is a type of Christian
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  Speaker 1: music that comes from African American culture. Gospel music uses
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  Speaker 1: lyrics based on themes found in the Christian Bible. Presley's
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  Speaker 1: music is so varied it is even included in a
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  Speaker 1: Christian category.
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  Speaker 2: Despite Presley's talent and fame, he still struggled with problems.
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  Speaker 2: One of his biggest problems was addiction. In nineteen sixty seven,
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  Speaker 2: Dr George Nicopolis, or Dr Nick as he was called,
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  Speaker 2: began treating Presley. Dr Nick served as Presley's personal physician
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  Speaker 2: for the last ten years of Presley's life. At first,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: first Doctor Nick treated him for minor pain, but Presley
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: became addicted to opiates. Opiates are drugs to relieve pain.
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  Speaker 2: Presley ended up taking so many kinds of drugs, such
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: as vallium, queludes, and sleeping pills, that he became constipated.
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  Speaker 2: This means he could not have regular bowel movements. He
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: soon began taking medicine called laxatives to help him go
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  Speaker 2: to the bathroom. He abused this medicine too.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Nick gave Presley any kind of medicine he wanted.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Nick later claimed that it was because he did
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  Speaker 1: not want Presley to get the drugs from unlicensed sellers
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  Speaker 1: on the street. Some accused doctor Nick of trying to
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: make money off Presley by overprescribing him medicine. Doctor Nick
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: admitted at a hearing before the Tennessee Board of Health
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  Speaker 1: that he had prescribed thousands of doses of different addictive
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  Speaker 1: pills for Presley. The jury did not convict doctor Nick
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: because they believed he was trying to protect Presley from
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  Speaker 1: getting the medicine from unlicensed cellars. However, doctor Nick continued
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: to over prescribe medicine to many other patients and eventually
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  Speaker 1: lost his medical license.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Presley's drug abuse, severe constipation, and weight gain began taking
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  Speaker 2: a toll on his health. He was tired and uncomfortable
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  Speaker 2: for much of the time. He also did not eat
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  Speaker 2: healthy foods and developed type two diabetes. Type two diabetes
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  Speaker 2: is a condition in which the body cannot use insulin
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  Speaker 2: correctly and sugar bills up in the blood. This causes
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  Speaker 2: increased tiredness.
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  Speaker 1: Despite his struggles, Presley continued to perform to large audiences
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  Speaker 1: for the last years of his life. During the first
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  Speaker 1: seven months of nineteen seventy seven, Presley performed fifty four
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: shows in forty nine cities before dying of heart failure
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  Speaker 1: in August of that year. He was forty two years old.
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  Speaker 1: In those brief forty two years, Presley unforgettably shaped the
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  Speaker 1: world of music. He influenced multiple generations of performers. Presley's
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  Speaker 1: combination of musical styles, his energetic performances, and his memorable personality,
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  Speaker 1: blazed a trail for others to follow. He helped define
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  Speaker 1: rock and roll, and he still wears its crown.
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  Speaker 2: Have you ever listened to Elvis Presley's music? Do you
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  Speaker 2: like it? Did you know that he died so young?
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  Speaker 2: You can leave a comment on our website at www
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: dot Spotlight Eenglish dot com. You can also find us
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and x You can also
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: device through our free official Spotlight English app.
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  Speaker 1: The writer of this program was Peter Anderson. The producer
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the
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  Speaker 1: United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted
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  Speaker 1: for this program and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: artificial intelligence was used in this program. Spotlight programs are written, voiced,
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  Speaker 1: and produced by real people for real people, no matter
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  Speaker 1: where in the world they live. This program is called
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  Speaker 1: Elvis Presley, The King of Rock and Roll.
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  Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
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  Speaker 2: Spotlight program. Goodbye,