Second Annual US Air Guitar Championships Kick Off Nationwide

June 5, 2004 -- This June the second annual US Air Guitar Championships are kicking off the search for America's next air guitar hero. Regional heats will be held in New York, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis and Los Angeles, with the five regional winners competing in Los Angeles on June 17th for the American crown.

This year's competition builds on the excitement of last year – when Brooklyn native David "C. Diddy" Jung captured the US title and went on to win the world title as the first-ever US entrant in the World Air Guitar Championships. "We set the bar high last year by taking the world title in the first year of US competition," said producer Jane Lipsitz. "But it's really not so surprising when you consider that the United States is the true home of guitar rock." Fellow producer Cedric Devitt added, "Now that the competition is in its second year there are some serious contenders coming out to challenge C. Diddy's title. We expect the competition to be fierce and the talent to be world-class"

Last year's first annual US Air Guitar Championships in New York and Los Angeles drew sell-out crowds and enormous TV, radio and print coverage including CNN, Newsweek, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, Fox News, Howard Stern, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, ESPN, NPR, the BBC and many more.

This year's competition promises to be even more intense. Can the USA pull off the first back-to-back victory since the UK's Zac Monro claimed the crown twice in a row? Will the next US champ beat C-Diddy in Finland?

In addition, for the second year, the events will be recorded for the official US Air Guitar documentary project. The documentary is being produced by Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves Inc., executive producers of HBO's "Project Greenlight" and NBC's "Last Comic Standing".

Contestants perform for one minute to a song of their choice and are judged on a combination of technical prowess, stage presence and "airness." "What we mean by that," said Devitt, "is really that elusive quality of transcending the imitation of an art form – ie playing guitar - and creating a new art form – air guitar."

The 2004 US Air Guitar Champion will move on to the Air Guitar World Championships, held every August in Northern Finland. Currently in its ninth year, the Air Guitar World Championships brings together the best air guitarists in the world for a fierce battle of national pride and rock and roll style. Currently, there are official national championships in the USA, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United Arab Emirates, with more countries participating every year.

Dates and locations:
Chicago:    June 3 @ 8PM    Joe's Bar   
Contact:    Greg McKibben 312.925.4263 greg.mckibben@rrd.com

Denver    :June 10 @ 8PM    Hi-Dive Bar   
Contact:    Matt LaBarge 303.917.2288 matt_labarge@hotmail.com

Minneapolis:    June 10 @ 7PM    Triple Rock   
Contact:    Lori Stopperan 612.804.4418 stoppera@biworldwide.com

New York:    June 12 @ 11PM    Knitting Factory   
Contact:    Cedric Devitt 917.679.8987 cdevitt@tribalddb.com

Los Angeles:    June 17 @ 7:30PM    Key Club
Contact:    Anna Barber 310.656.0750 annabarber@earthlink.net

US Finals will be held in Los Angeles, immediately after the regional contest.

For more information on venues, tickets and how to enter, visit www.airguitarusa.com.

Rules
The US Air Guitar Championships obey the rules set forth by the Air Guitar World Championships:
Each performance is played to one minute (60 seconds) of a song
The 60 seconds can start anywhere in the song
The instrument must be invisible, i.e. air
Air roadies are allowed, but must leave the stage before performance begins
Back-up bands (air or real) are not allowed
There is no dress code

The US regional heats will each consist of two rounds:
Round 1: each competitor performs to a song of their own choosing.
Round 2: the top five from round 1 perform to a surprise obligatory song selected by the organizers. The obligatory song is the same for every contestant – contestants will all hear the song before going on stage.

The US Finals, held in Los Angeles immediately after the regional competition, will pit the 5 regional winners against one another in another two rounds of air guitar.

In each city, the jury is made up of a panel of three independent judges. The results of the jury cannot be protested. To evaluate the contestants, the judges use the same evaluation system as international figure skating. Each judge scores the contestants from 4.0 to 6.0 points, based on: technical ability, stage presence and "airness" – the extent to which an air guitar performance transcends the imitation of a "real" art form and becomes an art form in and of itself.

Prizes
The winner of each regional competition will receive a free trip (airfare and two nights lodging) to the US Finals, where he or she will compete against the other regional champions for the right to defend America's honor on the world stage.

The winner of the US Air Guitar Championships receives a free trip (airfare and four nights lodging) to the Air Guitar World Championships, held in Oulu, Finland in late August.




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