May 2, 2009
No Stopping The World Air Guitar Champion
CBS Evening News: Craig Billmeier Has A Room For Practicing His Moves, Which Won Him The World Title In Finland
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Play CBS Video Video The Air Guitar Rock Star CBS News' John Blackstone reports on the career of Criag Billmeir, who has emerged as an unexpected star due to his unique air guitar skills.
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World air guitar champion Craig Billmeier performs. (CBS)
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World air guitar champion Craig Billmeier performs as his alter ego, Hott Lixx Hulahan (CBS)
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The mild-mannered Craig Billmeier, who, as his alter ego Hott Lixx Hulahan is the reigning air guitar world champion. (CBS)
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When Craig Billmeier is at his day job, you would never guess - "Right now," he said, "there's no stopping it - but like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly he goes through a nightly metamorphosis emerges as Hott Lixx Hulahan.
What many of us do only in private, playing air guitar, Hott Lixx revels in doing publicly.
He is the American air guitar champion. And, yes, there is a competition for that.
Hott Lixx has an air guitar workout room at home in Alameda, Calif. He demonstrates his moves, at one point seeming to play on a tiny guitar and then declaring, "I don't like the tiny guitar. Get rid of it!" and tossing the invisible instrument.
He say this is much like interpretive dance. An art form - seriously.
"You kind of want to embody what you're hearing and your body interprets it in a way," he says. Then, laughing a bit at himself, he says "This is totally nerdy," before continuing, "It's all about a faux persona being taken to some sort of stage."
It's on the world stage where the faux persona, Hott Lixx, is now playing, at the world air guitar championships held annually in Finland.
It's a contest, where there's plenty of hot air… guitar
But Hot Lixx's big finish blew away the competition. At 34, he became the air guitar world champion plucking victory right out of thin air.
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Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
dude.