Finnish performer topped Air Guitar World Champion after 25-year drought

Finland, the house of the World Air Guitar Championships, has produced its first winner since 2000.

Local hope Aapo “The Angus” Rautio gained the thirtieth version of a three-day occasion that brings collectively rivals from 13 international locations.

The last was held on Friday night on a sq. within the metropolis of Oulu on Finland’s west coast.

Yuta “Sudo-chan” Sudo from Japan was second, with Belgium’s Lèon “Leonfire” Ostrowsky named because the viewers favorite.

Contestants are judged on the efficiency of two songs in two separate rounds, every lasting 60 seconds, with the singers pretending to play an imaginary guitar.

Passion is a should, however a lot of the remainder is as much as the contenders.

Props and costumes are allowed, however backup bands and actual devices are off-limits.

The two-hour last pitted final 12 months’s winner, Canada’s Zachary “Ichabod Fame” Knowles, towards eight nationwide champions and 7 contenders who emerged from the qualifying rounds.

The challengers embody US champion Saladin “Six String Sal” Thomas and German champion Patrick “Van Airhoven” Culek.

The winner is chosen by a five-member jury of performing arts professionals.

The champion takes dwelling an precise guitar — a “Flying Finn” made by Finnish luthier Matti Nevalainen.

The championships had been first held in 1996.

Organisers say that “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”.

Contestants could, in response to the principles, “use an electric or an acoustic air guitar, or both”.

The jury takes into consideration “originality, the ability to be taken over by the music, stage presence, technical merit, artistic impression and airness”.

Each jury member scores the performances with a mark between 4.0 and 6.0.

Each contestant’s scores from the primary and second spherical — the primary with a track chosen by the performer and the second with one chosen by the organisers — are added collectively and the candidate with the very best whole rating wins.

AP