Air Guitar: the next Olympic Sport?

Wishing the best of luck to all the air headz competing in the 2008 US Air Guitar Championship Finals tomorrow. The event takes place at the Grand Ballroom in San Francisco. Competition is likely to be fierce as contenders vie to follow in the footsteps of past U.S. champions Rockness (2005), Hot Lixx (2006) and Ocean (2007). The hot air guitar hero crowned in S.F. will represent our rock schooled nation at the World Air Guitar Championships, which are held annually during the Oulu Music Video Festival in Finland..

Surprisingly for a sport as seemingly American as apple pie, the U.S. has only won the title once, when David "C-Diddy" Jung brought home the gold in 2003. Fortunately, this year, those who aspire to air guitar greatness can participate in an intensive Air Guitar World Championship High Altitude Training Camp to polish their skills. Attendees will be offered classes in improvisation, choreography and philosophy, the latter class being taught by world renowned air guitar philosopher Dan "Björn Türoque" Crane, who authored the inspirational book To Air is Human - One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist.

Heavyweights like Brazil and Russia are joining in the fun for the first time this year, with a total of 24 countries competing for the world title in the grand final on Aug 22nd. Other leading air head nations include France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

As air guitar matures, both as an art form and as an international competitive sport, I think it's high time it gained Olympic recognition. I'm therefore starting a campaign to make air guitar an Olympic sport by 2016. After the success of snowboarding in the last Winter Olympics, I'm told the Olympic committee is trying to include more youth-orientated sports like skateboarding (which is well on its way to approval for the 2012 London games), which bodes well for seriously competitive air axe wielders worldwide.

I would argue that if synchronized swimming and prancing around on ice skates in silly outfits cut it as Olympic sports, so should air guitar, which is equally physically challenging and has similar compulsory moves. It'd sure be a ratings winner, since there's always been a positive correlation between viewers and competitions that involve music, sequins and skimpy attire (just look at the success of Dancing With The Stars). Air guitar is Hendrix, Page and Van Halen meets rhythmic gymnastics (without the ribbon, hoops or guitar). I'm sure you'll agree the sport is a compelling combination that is more than worthy of the five-ringed games, which, quite frankly, needs livening up (I mean, no offense, but who really wants to watch Olympic table tennis?).

Watch this space for an official petition, which will be announced shortly.