Lee DeWyze to Turn on Christmas Lights at Graceland Tonight

It's not even Thanksgiving, but American Idol champ Lee DeWyze is getting in the Christmas spirit.  On Friday night, he'll be in Memphis, Tennessee to flip the switch that turns on the Christmas lights at Graceland, Elvis Presley's mansion.  The festive display includes hundreds of blue lights -- because of "Blue Christmas," we presume -- as well as a life-size Nativity scene, Santa and his sleigh and more.  If you can't make it there, you can watch the ceremony streaming live on Elvis.com starting at 6:00 p.m. ET.  Proceeds from the event will support the American Red Cross, which is encouraging people to donate blood during the holidays.

Lee says it's "a huge honor" to be asked to turn on the lights.  He adds, "I'm an Elvis fan...when they asked me, 'is this something you want to do?' I was like, 'Absolutely.'"  Lee will be performing a song during the event, and he says some of his fans are traveling to Graceland just to see him.  He says, "I'll put on my blue suede shoes and I'll get up there and I'll sing my song...it'll be cool."

Image courtesy of Paul Warner/Getty Images

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