It’s been nearly 30 years since Elvis Presley died in Memphis. 

But he’s never really left Las Vegas.

The images associated with “The King’s” power as an entertainer continue to resonate years after his death. The Rat Pack possessed a similar ability to live, if you will, beyond the lifetimes of its members, but the list of others who might arguably have been said to wield such influence in Las Vegas is a short one .   .   .  very short.

Now we have Robert Sillerman, a music mogul with an impressive resume and a specialty in pop entertainment who wants to create an updated image of Elvis, something “suited to the 21st Century.” He’s got the clout as the controlling owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises.

But let’s not forget that Sillerman is also busy on another front in Las Vegas.

He’s associated with the group that hopes to eventually own the Riviera. Whether his plans for owning a casino and reviving the Presley saga cross at some future point remains to be seen. His Elvis deal, as it was announced last week, seems to suggest that they will not cross.

The effort by he and his partners to acquire the Riv may be tied up in litigation until long after MGM Mirage’s CityCenter hotel – that’s where the Elvis show is to be staged – welcomes its first customers opens sometime around November 2009.

Last week’s formal announcement explained that Sillerman will partner with Cirque du Soleil in the creation of the, as yet, untitled Elvis extravaganza that can only benefit from the latter’s magical approach to production.

That will be, what, the sixth Cirque show on the Strip, assuming  Mystere, Love, O, Zumanity and  Ka continue  to make it through the next several years at the  Treasure Island, Mirage, Bellagio, New York-New York and MGM Grand, respectively.

Whatever the results of this collaboration, memories and images of Elvis run deep in Las Vegas. They don’t always have a lot to do with whatever the partnership eventually stages.

The Las Vegas Hilton continues to have its statue of Elvis commemorating  “The King’s” long series of sold out performances there during the 1970s.

The one constant in the nearly 20 years of Legends In Concert shows at the Imperial Palace has been an Elvis impersonator. People familiar with the Elvis industry can discuss the nuances of Elvis tribute performances as art historians might the periods of Picasso.

Dozens of Elvis impersonators have worked the showrooms and lounges of Las Vegas over the years, but the IP may be the one resort that has regularly paid  a licensing fee to Elvis Central in Memphis.

Which makes me wonder whether we’ll see another crackdown by the Elvis Police, those lawyers who have periodically fired off cease and desist letters to hotels alleged to be flaunting unlicensed images of The King.

Which brings us to another question? Why announce the partnership more than three years before the show will stage its first performance? The proposed partnership has been under study by Sillerman, Cirque and MGM officials for many months, before the announcement late last year of Sillerman’s role in the take-over effort at the Riviera.

What may have happened is there was probably a need to nail it down  before Sillerman, who definitely sounds like one of those hard-charging guys, took his rights to all those Elvis images and went somewhere else.

Yes, decades after his death, Elvis remains a force on the Las Vegas entertainment scene. And as that force gathers itself for whatever happens at the CityCenter hotel, it is perhaps the popularly labeled “little people”  .   .   .  people who lost themselves (or  perhaps even found themselves) in  a need to  imitate a dead singer who will continue to be very affected.

There’s the one-time manager of a Jack in the Box who remembers how he could feel The King’s rhythms pulsating through his own life. Those songs made him take a big plunge.

What did he do?

He abandoned   life in the drive-through lane and came to Vegas where he found a gig in a local lounge interpreting Presley songs for an audience that liked what they heard.

And he liked what he was doing, even if the money was never big because when the Elvis Police last cracked their whip several years ago, his hotel made him take down any signage that made his performances sound like  a reference to, uh  .  .  .  well, you know who.