Updates to Air Guitar World Championships Rules
As this year’s Air Guitar World Championships nears, the production team decided to make some minor updates in the rules of the competition. Mostly these updates were just clarifications in the phrase structures, but a couple of new rules got added in as well.
The first addition clarifies that playing air guitar is a solo competition. In other words, there can just be one person competing on stage at a time. As many who have followed the competition might know, sometimes the air guitarists can take a bit too long while making their entrance on stage. Therefore the new rule determines the time that the contestant is allowed to use for character building and setting the scene. The strict rule states that contestants can take up to ten seconds on stage before the song starts. The song starts when the contestant puts up one hand with a finger pointing up – or when ten seconds has passed.
For air guitarists and event fans the term “Air Off” and what it means is hardly new, but there wasn’t yet a mention of it in the official rules. Ties are always solved with an Air Off, if one or more contestant has the same amount of points at the end of either round. The contestants will hear the Air Off song selected by the organizers once, after which the contestant going first will be determined for example by the old faithful rock-paper-scissors method. Air Off can be used as a tie breaker in Dark Horses Qualifications as well as on both rounds of the World Final if the situation so requires.
To ensure a smoothly running final, an addition was made regarding the usage of props. Here on out, all used props must be taken off the stage immediately after each performance. This means there can be no confetti, theatre glass or anything similar left on stage, that might take a lot of time to clean up. The contestants are however allowed to have their possible Air Roadies help when taking the prop(s) off stage.
You can read the rules in full by clicking here.