US Air Guitar Championships Announce 2011 Regional Competitions

Air guitaring is serious business for some people. The US Air Guitar Championships have just announced the dates and locations of their 2011 regional competitions. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 8th. The events begin on May 12th and run through July 15th. Contestants may sign up now by clicking here.

If you are confident in your air guitar skills, here are some more details on the competition itself. Each US Regional, as well as the National Finals, consist of two rounds. In Round 1, each competitor performs to a song of their own choosing. In Round 2, the top competitors from Round 1 perform to a surprise compulsory song. In each round, contestants perform for one minute of a song and are judged on a combination of technical merit, stage presence, and "airness." All guitars must be invisible, which is the whole point of air guitar. In each city, the jury is a panel of independent judges who are hand picked by US Air Guitar. The decision of the jury cannot be contested.

One winner from each city will be flown to a currently undisclosed location to compete in the US Air Guitar Finals for the crown of US Air Guitar Champion. The 2011 US Champ will then be sent to Oulu, Finland on August 26th to represent the USA in the World Championships, where he or she will compete against national air guitar champions from all around the world.