American Ron Messel named air guitar world champion

Ron Messel from the US strutted his way to success at the annual Air Guitar World Championships in Finland on Friday.

Messel, whose stage name is “The Marquis,” won the event at the third attempt after missing out on the top prize on two previous occasions.

‘The Marquis’ takes the plaudits as he becomes Air Guitar World Champion

The US national champion beat stiff competition from Australia’s Alexander “Jinja Assassin” Roberts who finished second, and third placed Frederic “French Kiss” Reau of France.

The reigning world champion, Namami “Seven Seas” Nagura of Japan, seemed to be somewhat out of tune this year as she tied for fourth place with another US entry, Will “The WizAIRd of Rockenroll” Herndon.

“The Marquis” admitted to nervously pacing up and down just hours before the final but the butterflies did not seem to do him any harm as he won the championships without missing a beat.

Fake blues

Contestants are judged by a jury of five on their ability to pretend to strum a guitar solo. The catch being, they head bang away with neither instrument nor plectrum.

According to the official website of the competition, under the title of ‘Make Air Not War‘, the competition’s ideology is that “wars will end, climate change will stop and all bad things will vanish when all the people in the world play the air guitar.”

“That’s why everyone is invited at the end of the competition to play the air guitar all at once to save the world.”

This year’s event followed that mantra as the rain fell on the watching audience while finishing with all and sundry strumming away to Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

The event has been taking place in Oulu, northern Finland, since 1996 with previous winners including “The Destroyer” Michael Heffels from the Netherlands, “The Devil’s Niece” Aline Westphal from Germany, and “Günther Love” Sylvain Quimene from France.

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  5 activities you probably didn’t know hold world championships

  Air guitar

  Allegedly, the grandfather of air guitaring is Joe Cocker. He even did it during his famous Woodstock show in 1969. While the hippies gave him a skeptical look back in the day, the “lightest instrument in the world” is now world famous. There is a world championship held in Oulu, Finland. Joe Cocker might have had quite a chance with his performance.

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  5 activities you probably didn’t know hold world championships

  High-heel racing

  The High Heel Drag Queen Race originated in Washington, D.C., where drag queens have been “crossing the line” and competing on stilettos for the past 30 years. The race has since spread all over the world. Most contests have strict rules regarding the length and width of the heels. The winner’s secret: long steps and don’t roll your feet!

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  5 activities you probably didn’t know hold world championships

  Cheese rolling

  A cheese wheel is rolled down a steep hill at up to 70 mph and dozens of Brits run after it. Sound like fun? Though it’s nearly impossible to actually catch the cheese round, whoever reaches the bottom of the hill first wins anyways. Broken bones and other injuries are not uncommon, yet hundreds of fans come to Gloucestershire to witness the spectacle.

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  5 activities you probably didn’t know hold world championships

  Deer calling

  Back in the day, hunters used to imitate the call of male deers in order to attract females. Today, it’s more of a hobby – and a competition at Europe’s largest hunting fair, “Jagd Hund,” in Dortmund. Contestants use plastic pipes, snail shells or ox horns to bellow. Competitors not only have to imitate the call of a young deer, but also the deeper, angrier one of older deer. The best call wins.

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  5 activities you probably didn’t know hold world championships

  Extreme ironing

  It’s not about wrinkle-free laundry. Extreme ironing is much more about extraordinary places. The world championship has several teams completing a course at several locations: underwater, in a forest, on a climbing wall, or on top of a car. Whoever is the most creative and finishes their laundry the fastest is the winner. The “sport” has its roots in England.

  Author: Antje Binder / ski

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