Aapo Rautio from Oulu participated in the Air Guitar World Championships for the first time when he was only 10 years old. Since then, he has been among the top contenders for many years. This year, he finally became World Champion.
Oulu and Finland have hosted the Air Guitar World Championships since 1996, but we cannot be accused of playing favourites. Aapo “The Angus” Rautio is the first Finnish world champion in the sport in 25 years.
“Finally,” said many of Rautio’s competitors, happy for the Oulu native. Rautio first participated in the World Championships at the age of 10 in 2010, under the stage name Little Angus, and placed sixth. Little Angus later grew up to become The Angus, who has represented the sport on the TV show Talent Suomi, among other places. In recent years, Rautio has been a regular competitor and one of the best in the world.
This year, Rautio made his way to the finals through Thursday’s Dark Horse qualifiers. In a record-breaking final, he defeated Japanese champion Yuta “Sudo-chan” Sudo only after a tiebreaker, or “air-off,” which was decided by an additional performance. The air-off, decided by the guitar solo in Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine, gave Rautio an overtime victory by just one tenth of a point over the Japanese player.
Third place went to France’s Apolline Andreys, aka Lady Attila. Last year’s world champion, Zachary “Ichabod Fame” Knowles from Canada, came in fifth. The audience voted Belgium’s Lèon “Leonfire” Ostrowsky as their favourite.
The Air Guitar World Championships are organised by Oulu-based Airnest Productions Oy and the event is part of the annual Oulu Festival. Next year, the event will be part of the official Oulu2026 programme.
The final results:
1. Aapo Rautio – The Angus, Suomi, 34,8 + 17,6 p.
2. Yuta Sudo – Sudo-chan, Japani, 34,8 + 17,5
3. Apolline Andreys – Lady Attila, Ranska, 34,4
4. Patrick Culek – Van Airhoven, Saksa, 34,3
5. Zachary Knowles – Ichabod Fame, Kanada, 33,7
6. Saladin Thomas – Six String Sal, USA, 33,4
7. Lèon Ostrowsky – Leonfire, Belgia, 33,1
8. Dana Schiemann – Danasaurus Rex, Kanada, 32,7
You can watch a recording of the 2025 Dark Horses’ qualification and final at the AGWC website through this link.