If you think that air guitars are just expressions of personal Imma-bad-ass-rocker attitude, then you are dead wrong. There actually are people so obsessed with air guitars that they birthed an entire event just to indulge it.
Playing air guitar is considered a great act. But what exactly is it? Simple—it is a set of movements that you make when you pretend to play an electric guitar in a way that approximates the actions of a member of a rock or heavy metal band. Playing air guitar usually consists of exaggerated strumming and picking motions complemented with loud singing or lip-synching, considered a form of dance and movement. It can also mimic riffs and solos, among others.
Due to the popularity of playing air guitars among the general public, the Air Guitar World Championships was organized in the early 1980s in Sweden and the United States, and had been held every year since in various countries all over the world. The Air Guitar World Championships has been a part of the Oulu Music Video Festival in Finland since 1996, where the Air Guitar World Championships Network is located.
This event was originally considered a joke, a side attraction in music video festivals. However, its popularity grew over the years, and its has become an event of its own. Today, the Air Guitar World Championships Network consists of twenty countries, among them Finland, US, New Zealand, Canada, The Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Norway, United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Japan, Australia, Germany, Taiwan, Thailand, Russia, Romania, and Brazil.
The Air Guitar World Championship uses the 6.0 score system, with competition rules much like the ones used for figure skating. The first round in the event is usually for the selection of participants, when each aspirant plays air guitar to an edited medley. The next round is usually played using the organizer or competitor's selection, usually announced on the spot, to help judges test participants’ ability for improvisation.