- Title: Air guitarists rock Finland for the world championships
- Date: 23rd August 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) 2011 AIR GUITAR CHAMPION, NORDIC THUNDER, SAYING: "What brings me here, look at all these people - Oulu. It doesn't matter if it's raining, if it was snowing right now there would still be people out here, so these people want to see a good show, the performers they are going to see tonight they gonna be putting on a good show, people from all over the world, doesn't matter what language we speak or our countries political preferences, all that stuff is forgotten about tonight. We are here to project positivity and love and good vibes in this wonderful wet air."
- Embargoed: 6th September 2019 23:23
- Keywords: air guitar Air Guitar World Championships Rob "The Marquis" Messel air guitar world champion
- Location: OULU, FINLAND
- City: OULU, FINLAND
- Country: Finland
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA002ATFXBO9
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: American Rob "The Marquis" Messel rocked his way to victory at the 23rd Air Guitar World Championships in northern Finland on Friday (August 23).
Twenty air guitarists from around the world - including the United States, Australia, Japan, France, Canada, Finland, Russia, United Kingdom and Iceland - competed in the final in front of an audience of 3,000 people at rainy Rotuaari Square in the city centre.
"The Marquis" was awarded top marks for what the organisers called "a smooth and Zen-like" performance. "An explosion of energy" gave Alex "Jinja Assassin" Roberts from Australia a second place, and Frederic "French Kiss" Reau came in third place by using traditional technical air guitar.
The aim of the Air Guitar World Championships is to promote world peace, and the official website of the championships states that "wars would end, climate change stop and all bad things disappear if all the people in the world played Air Guitar."
Part of the city's August Festival, Oulu has hosted the Air Guitar World Championships since its inception in 1996.
(Production: Attila Cser, Ilze Filks) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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