WAVERLY - When Alan Stuva sang "Don't Cry My Daddy" during the Heritage Days parade, many people thought he was lip-syncing the performance. Until the event stopped.

Stuva continued singing "In the Ghetto" without benefit of a background sound track. And it was apparent: Elvis lives.

"I would have guessed it was a recording," said Nicole Masters, 16.

She was watching the parade with her parents, Mike and Laurie, and grandmother, Shirley Masters. Mike and Laurie said Stuva sounds just like the King. Masters agrees.

"He has the voice," she said.

Until two years ago, Stuva only sang for family. Now, he has an Elvis tribute CD, performing under his stage name, Alan Dale. Last year, Stuva won fourth place in a talent competition at the Electric Park Ballroom in Waterloo.

"It was my first experience in front of a lot of people," he said.

Singing before an audience is something Stuva is still getting get used to. Last week, it was a performance in the 4-H building at the Bremer County Fairgrounds. On Aug. 6, he will take the stage during the 11th annual Independent Music Awards at Lincoln Center in New York. The event falls 10 days before the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in 1977.

His singing career began during a community celebration in Osceola. He was in the audience, watching karaoke performers. When event coordinator Juneal Marsh called him on stage, Stuva sang what he loves: Elvis.

"I didn't want to let him let go of the microphone," Marsh said.

As it turned out, neither one would let go. The couple married May 2, 2003, and brought a family of seven together.

Stuva's son, Alan Elvis, is serving in the army in Baghdad. Others at home - Jaimie, Amber and Tony - help out as stage hands and bodyguards.

"I am into the older Elvis. More heartfelt. I can almost hear his agony," Stuva said.

But he intends on maintaining his own identity.

"I don't want to be exactly like him," he said.

And he isn't.

In Stuva's tribute performances, there aren't any of Elvis' rockabilly moves. He does wear the high-collar costume, black hair, square sideburns and flashy jewelry. He has the look and the voice. He sings with eyes closed, holding the microphone close to his chest.

"I just want to do it right," Stuva said.

On his day job, Stuva is a welder at North East Iowa Machine and Tool in Janesville.

"Sometimes I sing under my hood," Stuva said.

As a performer, he knows the show must go on. Four days before his Heritage Days performance, Stuva had emergency surgery to remove his appendix.

He made the hourlong show, announcing, "I am going to sing some of my favorites tonight."

Moving away from the stage, he mingled with teenagers and seniors singing, "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear." He surprised Caroline McNamar of Waverly by giving her a stuffed animal.

"I am going to put this bear in my bedroom with my picture of Elvis," McNamar said.

McNamar is a serious Elvis fan. She went to Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., in 1989 and has a room full of memorabilia.

"He does sound like Elvis," McNamar said. "But I wish he would stick to the ballads."

Others see the potential as well.

"Alan is beyond good," said Nat Flores, a talent scout and president of Rose Records based in New York. "I have my eye on him. He has a nice voice and now needs stage presence to sing to females."

Representatives from the music industry will be in the audience when Stuva sings at the Lincoln Center. That suggests possibilities.

"It's exciting to think about what might happen," Stuva said.

But he's keeping the experience in perspective.

"If I don't make it this time, at least I tried."

Contact Gloria Aleff at SBLGram@aol.com.

Go & do:

To book Alan Stuva's Elvis tribute, call Riverside Musik at (319) 939-4093.