Air Guitar World Championships

Air Guitar World Championships (AGWC) is an annual event taking place in Oulu, Finland. AGWC was arranged for the first time in 1996.[1] Today, national championships are held all around the world.

Playing air guitar is based on mimicking guitar playing. Music genres may vary, but the most common ones are heavy metal and rock.

Nanami "Seven Seas" Nagura, Japan. Air Guitar World Championships final in Oulu, Finland. Photo: Juuso Haarala
Crowd and media at the AGWC final. Photo: Juuso Haarala

The idea of having Air Guitar World Championships was generated by musician Jukka Takalo. The first competition was arranged in 1996 as part of Oulu Music Video Festival. Over the years, the contest has grown into its own event. Since 2011 it has been produced by Airnest Productions Ltd, which also takes care of the brand.

In the Air Guitar World Championships, participants from all over the world compete who can play the air guitar the best. The judges represent professionals of performing arts and culture, the guitarist Juha Torvinen among others. The winner gets a custom-made guitar, ‘Flying Finn’, by Matti and Saara Nevalainen.[2] One year, Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen, donated a VOX BM Special amplifier for the winner.

The Licensed national championships are held annually around the world in over 10 countries. In 2021, the countries in the official AGWC network are USA, Iceland, UK, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Thailand, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Chile and Taiwan.[3]

The AGWC motto is "Make Air Not War". The purpose of the contest is to promote world peace. According to the competition ideology, wars will end, climate change will stop, and all bad things will vanish when all the people in the world play the air guitar. If you are holding an air guitar, you can't be holding a gun.[4]

Winners
Year[5] Performer Country
1996 Oikku Ylinen Finland
1997 Ville Paakkari Finland
1998 Juha Hippi Finland
1999 Johanna Ala-Siurua Finland
2000 Markus "Black Raven" Vainionpää Finland
2001 Zac Monro United Kingdom
2002 Zac Monro United Kingdom
2003 David "C-Diddy" Jung United States
2004 MiRi "Sonyk-Rok" Park and Tarquin "The Tarkness" Keys United States and New Zealand
2005 Michael "The Destroyer" Heffels Netherlands
2006 Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke Japan
2007 Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke Japan
2008 Craig "Hot Lixx Hulahan" Billmeier United States
2009 Sylvain "Günther Love" Quimene France
2010 Sylvain "Günther Love" Quimene France
2011 Aline "The Devil's Niece" Westphal Germany
2012 Justin "Nordic Thunder" Howard United States
2013 Eric "Mean Melin" Melin United States
2014 Nanami "Seven Seas" Nagura Japan
2015 Kirill "Your Daddy" Blumenkrants Russia
2016 Matt "Airistotle" Burns United States
2017 Matt "Airistotle" Burns United States
2018 Nanami "Seven Seas" Nagura Japan
2019 Rob "The Marquis" Messel United States
2020 No competition was held due to pandemic [-]
2021 Justin "Nordic Thunder" Howard: Champion of Champions United States
2022 Kirill "Guitarantula" Blumenkrants France
2023 Nanami “Seven Seas” Nagura Japan

References
  1. "Ilmakitaransoiton MM-kisat Oulussa". Air Guitar World Championships. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  2. "Matti Nevalainen - Käsintehtyjä kitaroita". www.flyingfinnguitars.fi. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  3. "National Championships". Air Guitar World Championships. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  4. "Story". Air Guitar World Championships. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  5. "Story". Air Guitar World Championships. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
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