2005 U.S. Air Guitar Championships Underway

Press release
Source: airguitarusa.com

The 3rd annual US Air Guitar Championships are kicking off the search for America's next air guitar hero. Regional heats will be held across the country in May and June, and the regional winners will compete for the American crown in Los Angeles on July 14.

The 2005 US Air Guitar Championships are kicking off the search for America's next air guitar hero. Regional heats will be held in New York, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Boston and Asheville, NC, with the regional winners competing in Los Angeles on July 14 for the American crown.

Entering its 3rd year, the national championship has grown quickly, reaching more regional events, more fans and more air guitarists than ever before. And this year, the USA is on the verge of making global air guitar history. In both the first two years, the US national champs won the Air Guitar World Championships, held every year in Oulu, Finland. With another win, the USA will become the first nation to "three-peat."

Last year, Brooklyn native MiRi "Sonyk-Rok" Park captured the US title and went on to defeat the world's best -- including her mentor and 2003 US champ David "C-Diddy" Jung -- in Finland. "In a time of global uncertainty, we are demonstrating that there is at least one area in which the USA can dominate without controversy -- air guitar," said event co-founder Kriston Rucker. "But now that we're on the map, all the other national champs will be determined to relieve us of the crown."

Fellow founder Cedric Devitt added, "by taking air guitarists out of the bedroom and putting them up on the national stage, it seems that air guitar is finally being accepted as a serious competition."

The US Air Guitar Championships has grown from two cities to nine. The event has been covered in numerous TV, radio and print outlets, including CNN, Newsweek, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, Rolling Stone, the BBC and many more. Champions have appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Howard Stern, ABC's Switched! and more.

A feature documentary about the US Air Guitar Championships is being produced by Magical Elves, producers of NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and HBO's "Project Greenlight"; Adirondack Pictures; and Anna Barber.

2005 Regional Competitions:
Asheville, NC (5/6); Austin, TX (5/21); Boston, MA (6/4), Chicago, IL (6/2); Denver, CO (5/27); Los Angeles, CA (7/14); Minneapolis, MN (TBD); New York, NY (5/21); San Francisco (TBD)

2005 US Finals:
Los Angeles, CA 7/14 Key Club

For the latest schedule, see www.airguitarusa.com.

The US Finals, held in Los Angeles immediately after the regional competition, will pit the regional winners against one another in another two rounds of air guitar.

For more information on venues, tickets and how to enter, visit www.airguitarusa.com.

Rules of competition:
Contestants perform for one minute to a song of their choice and are judged on a combination of technical prowess, stage presence and "airness." "What we mean by that," said Devitt, "is really that elusive quality of transcending the imitation of an art form -- ie playing guitar - and creating a new art form -- air guitar."

The winner of each regional competition will receive a free trip (airfare and two nights lodging) to the US Finals, where he or she will compete against the other regional champions for the right to defend America's honor on the world stage.

The winner of the US Air Guitar Championships receives a free trip (airfare and four nights lodging) to the Air Guitar World Championships, held in Oulu, Finland in August.

Air Guitar World Championships:
The 2005 US Air Guitar Champion will move on to the Air Guitar World Championships, held every August in Northern Finland. Currently in its tenth year, there are official national championships in the USA, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United Arab Emirates, with more countries participating every year.