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  • From: Paul Jones <pjones AT metalab.unc.edu>
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [internetworkers] Brit wins Air Guitar Crown!
  • Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 14:12:26 -0400 (EDT)

http://www.salon.com/people/wire/2002/08/24/air_guitar/index.html

Briton wins world air guitar crown

By Matti Huuhtanen

Aug. 24, 2002 | OULU, Finland (AP) --

Zac Monro played a mean guitar as he jumped on an outdoor stage in
northern Finland, but he didn't even strike a chord.

As the red sun set behind the dark fir trees, he changed tactics and
rolled on his back while thrashing madly with his hands -- enough to give
him the Air Guitar World Champion title for a second straight year.

Monro, a 32-year-old architect from Brixton, London -- also known by his
stage name "Mr. Magnet" -- was one of 12 finalists in the three-day
contest with competitors from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, the
United States, Norway and Austria.

Some 3,500 spectators cheered, clapped and whistled in the balmy summer
night on the outskirts of this Baltic port city, 600 kilometers (370
miles) north of the capital, Helsinki, egging on the long-haired artists
in masks, headbands and bright, skintight pants.

The contestants each mimed a minute-long excerpt from a rock piece of
their choosing, followed by a mandatory performance of part of "Last
Night," by The Strokes, a New York rock group.

The seventh Air Guitar World Championship is one of several zany events
the Finns arrange in the summer, which include a cell phone throwing
contest, boot throwing, wife carrying and mosquito swatting.

Pieces chosen by competitors were mostly heavy rock numbers by Kiss,
Motley Crue, Motorhead and Lenny Kravitz, but organizers kept the
mandatory song a close secret until the last round of the competition
began late Friday.

The air in Oulu was full of expletives, the beer flowed freely and people
partied into the early hours of the morning in a seaside concert park on
the island.

Not a single guitar string was seen on stage until Monro was named the
winner of the first prize and he was handed a handmade guitar known as a
"Flying Finn" worth some 2,000 euros (dlrs 2,000).

He won the same prize last year and said he could now think about forming
a group. "I understand that a band needs two guitars, a lead and a rhythm,
so I now have half a band."

But for Monro, playing air guitar -- which he has only done for a year
since discovering the competition in Oulu last year -- is much more than
about prizes.

"There's a purity to playing air guitar," he said. "It's a zen thing."

For the first time, some countries, including Australia and New Zealand,
held preliminary rounds this year before sending national winners to this
seventh international contest in Oulu.

Two judges, including Juha Torvinen, a Finnish rock musician, graded the
performers on a scale from 4.0 to 6.0 points.

"The standard was very much higher this year," Torvinen said. "We look for
spontaneity and improvisation, and we certainly got that. The compulsory
piece is the one that usually brings out the true artist."

Mr. Magnet scratched up almost full marks with a double set of 5.9 points
for his convincing performance of "Last Night."

Sharing second place were Toby "The Tobanator" Peneha, from Hastings, New
Zealand, and Andrew "Air Raid" Buckles of Nova Scotia, Canada.

David "Super Dave" Williams, the national champion from Sydney, Australia,
who failed to make the top three, was accompanied to Finland by a loud
group of fans who waved Australian flags.

"Naturally, I would have liked to win, but this has been such great fun.
I'm enjoying myself tremendously," Williams said. "I've been playing air
guitar since I was a young kid, and am not going to stop now.

==========================================================================
Paul Jones
"Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!"
http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/ at the Site Formerly Known As MetaLab.unc.edu
pjones AT ibiblio.org voice: (919) 962-7600 fax: (919) 962-8071
===========================================================================




  • [internetworkers] Brit wins Air Guitar Crown!, Paul Jones, 08/24/2002

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