Justin "Nordic Thunder" Howard from the US won the 17th Air Guitar World Championships in Finland on Friday.

The Air Guitar World Championships is a three day event with international contestants that culminates in a Grand Finale at Rotuaari Square in the centre of Oulu in Northern Finland.

Around 5,000 people gathered in the city centre to watch 18 contestants from around the world battle for the grand prize -- a real guitar.

Contestants must impress both the judges and the audience with their air guitar skills.

In the first round, contestants played a song of their choice. The 10 contestants with the highest score went through to the second round, where they performed 'Loose My Soul' by the Flaming Sideburns.

"Nordic Thunder" Howard won the 2011 National Competition in the US and went through the qualifying round to enter this year's final.

His strategy was to immediately get the attention of the judges.

He said: "Going early in a competition is tough because the judges, they are going to be conservative with their scores until they see someone that really pops, so my plan is to come out and be that one that's like 'paah'.

"I feel amazing, I feel loved, I feel like crying and laughing and hugging."