The Air Guitar expands over four Continents
The World Championships now open for entries

The Air Guitar World Championships held at the Oulu Music Video Festival, Finland, expand and are once again open for entries. The art of pl aying without a guitar reaches its climax in the final held at Kuusisaari, Oulu, on Friday 27 August. The winner will receive not only worldwide fame and glory but also a Flying Finn electric guitar worth 2,500 euros.

Bienvenue, Wilkommen, Welcome, Ahlan Wa Sahlan!

Winners of national competitions from as many as twelve countries will arrive to compete in the World Championship final. The Air Guitar World Championships have granted new licences for national competition organ isers, and in addition to previously included countries the championship battle now attracts competitors also from France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates, whose participation broadens the official competition network to cover four continents. Previous members of the Air Guitar Network are Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, Norway, Austria, and Finland. Air Guitar playing represents borderless joy!

A qualifying competition for Air Guitarists from other countries will take place at Rock Club 45 Special on Thursday 26 August. Six best competitors will qualify for the final on Friday. Nine most convincing air guitarists from the first final round with a free song selection will proceed to the next round, where they get to show their skills also with a compulsory song selected by the organisers. An independent jury will give points for the performances with a scoring system familiar from figure skating. As a matter o f course, the Chairman of the jury is the left-handed Eppu Normaali guitarist Juha Torvinen.

Free the doves, light the torches!

In the spirit of the Olympic year, the Air Guitarists, wannabe Air Guitarists and their service troops are offered the opportunity to hone their skills in a high-altitude camp. The camp provides mental and physical preparation for the competition, teaches how to deal with the publicity brought by a potential championship, and gives the means for cop ing with stage fright. The teachers include previous World Champions and various other experts. The camp will be arranged at Virpiniemi Sports College on 25 - 26 August. This is a unique experience that guarantees a world-saving Air Guitar atmosphere! The course fee, 140 euros, includes not only training but also transport from Oulu, accommodation, meals, sauna and the registration fee for the Air Guitar World Championships.

More information and the registration form can be fo und at: www.omvf.net
Inquiries:
Air Guitar Producer Marika Lamberg, +358 50 3598444 / +44 7787 3409 27 (until 27 May), marika@omvf.net
Communications Coordinator Katri Dahlstrøm, +358 400 492649, katri@omvf.net

According to the ideology of Air Guitar, all wars would end and every bad thing would disappear if all the people in the world played the Air Guitar. For this reason everybody is invited to play the Air Guitar at the end of the World Championships: the final and the universal Air Guitar playing is streamed live over the Internet.