Q: Recently, I saw a Canadian teenager sing a perfect rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Hawaii.” Is that young man making money from signing Presley’s songs?
—William McKee Jr., Flowery Branch
A: David Thibault, 16, who is from Quebec, is a professional Elvis impersonator. He released his rendition of "Blue Christmas" on iTunes (for $1.29 per download) and last week performed "Happy Birthday" at Presley's birthday party at Graceland. Thibault was relatively unknown until he won Montreal's "In the Shoes of Elvis" impersonator competition last year and performed "Blue Christmas" live during a radio show in December. A video of that performance received more than 8.9 million hits on YouTube through Jan. 14. Thibault has since performed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "Today."
Q: Drew Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, looks shorter than most NFL quarterbacks. Is he shorter than the average NFL quarterback?
—Eddie Webster, Douglasville
A: Brees' official height is listed at 6 feet, about 3 inches shorter than the average height for NFL quarterbacks in the 2013 season. Brees, who has been selected to eight NFL Pro Bowls, was a second-round pick out of Purdue in the 2001 NFL Draft, and in 2010 became the shortest quarterback to start a Super Bowl since Washington's Joe Theismann (also 6 feet) in 1985. Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick also is 6 feet and Seattle's Russell Wilson is 5-11. By comparison, current Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is 6-4, and Baltimore's Joe Flacco and San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick — last year's two Super Bowl quarterbacks – are 6-6 and 6-5.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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