It’s time to dust off the virtual battle axe, because the US Air Guitar - Austin Regionals are upon us for a one night only event of the shreddingest, most insane spectacle of supreme Air mayhem in the world!

Started in Finland as an effort to increase overall world peace through the beauty of air guitar, the World Air Guitar Championship has now become an international phenomenon with contestants from over 50 countries competing for the world title as well as regional contests in over 20 cities in the U.S.

Austin will host the touring regional championship show at the Highball on Tuesday, April 13

Further news and details on the contest can be found at the Austin Air Guitar Facebook Group.

Each competitor has 60 seconds to perform air guitar to a song they either choose before the competition or bring with them. Contestants are judged on the 4.0-6.0 figure skating scale. Costumes are highly recommended as is a little practicing in the mirror, although we have had many amazing walk-up competitors over the years.

In previous years there have been several preliminary rounds leading up to the Austin Regionals, but this year’s event at the Highball will be your only chance to grab that air axe and grind it for a chance to compete in the nationals! Sign up at US Air Guitar.com today.

OFFICIAL RULES
The Austin Air Guitar Championships obey the rules set forth by the Air Guitar World Championships.

• Each performance is played to 1 minute (60 seconds) of a song
• The 60 Seconds can start anywhere in the song.
• The instrument must be invisible and be a guitar or bass (i.e. air drums are not allowed)
• Air roadies are allowed, but must leave the stage before the performance
• Back up bands (air or real) are not allowed

US Air Guitar contests will each consist of two rounds:
Round 1 (freestyle): each competitor performs to a song of their choice
Round 2 (compulsory): top competitors from round 1 perform to a surprise song

JUDGING CRITERIA
2008 Champion Hot Lixx Hulahan will be judging the competition this year, and the judge’s opinions will be final!

All performances are scored on a scale from 4.0 to 6.0 - 6.0 being the highest possible.  Scores are given to one decimal point (e.g. 5.4 not 5.48).  A single score is given to each air guitarist based on their overall performance in that round.

The score reflects the quality of the performance based on three key criteria:

1. Technical Merit
You don’t have to know what notes you’re playing, but the more your invisible fretwork corresponds to the music that’s playing, the better the performance.

2. Stage Presence
Anyone can do it in the privacy of their bedroom.  Few have what it takes to rock a crowd of hundreds or even thousands - all without an instrument

3. Airness
The last criteria is the most difficult to define yet often the most decisive of all.  Airness is defined as the extent to which a performance transcends ]]> http://airguitar.alamoftp.com/rules/feed/ http://airguitar.alamoftp.com/photovideo/ http://airguitar.alamoftp.com/photovideo/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:52:12 +0000 andrew http://localhost:8888/WordPress/?p=3 We’ve collected a lot of photos over the years. Delve into the archives of past epic showdowns. Also, below you will find a sampling of videos from past years of the Austin Air Guitar Championships. We will be posting videos after each of the 2009 preliminary rounds to this page.

We’ve been sending champions from Austin to the try to take the U.S. title since 2005 and have so far come up short every year. This is the year Austin, now is the time. Inspired by today’s truly moving inaugural address, we at the Alamo are encouraging all Austinites to dig deep in their hearts, souls and minds to craft the greatest air guitar routine that man has ever seen. Do it for Obama. Do it for America. It’s time for Austin to taste some of that sweet, sweet Finish gold.

The first Air Guitar Austin competition is this Sunday, January 25 at 10:30 PM.

There will also be a dark horse round prior to the June 13 competition, date TBD.