As a girl in Hibbing, Minn., Lindsey Peterson learned the craft of air guitar through careful observation of her mom and uncle rocking out to new-wave and hair-metal bands. For Lisa Speedling, early experiments strumming tennis rackets and brooms led her to discover that she possessed the same gift. And on Saturday at the U.S. Air Guitar regional championships at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, both women will demonstrate that faking it -- or jamming for one intense minute to guitar rock, minus the guitar -- is not only a spectator sport, but also a legitimate talent. Well, sort of.

"This is an outlet for [competitors] to play up their inner musical talent, without knowing how to play an instrument," says Lori Stopperan, the regional volunteer coordinator for U.S. Air Guitar. Stopperan first saw an air-guitar competition while visiting New York in 2003. She wanted to bring it to Minneapolis, she said, because "we have a great underground music scene - and I just like fun events."

She's not the only one who likes the quirkiness of air guitar. Thanks to a performance by the 2003 U.S. champ on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and websites such as YouTube, air guitar's notoriety has grown. The popularity of the "Guitar Hero" video game has sparked enthusiasm for fake guitar. There's even a documentary film, "Air Guitar Nation," coming to Bryant-Lake Bowl on July 12.

Fourteen U.S. cities are holding air guitar competitions, with contestants vying for a trip to the national championships in New York and then the world championships in Finland. For local air guitarists, though, conquering Minneapolis comes first.

When James Brown belted out, "It's a man's world," he wasn't specifically talking about the world of rock 'n' roll. He wasn't talking about air guitar, either, but it follows that the hobby has been dominated by men -- with the notable exception of 2004 U.S. and world champion MiRi "Sonyk-Rok" Park.

Peterson and Speedling want to change that, and this year they'll have to battle more women than ever before. Stopperan estimates that nearly half of Minneapolis' competitors will be women.

Lisa Speedling will compete in this year's Air Guitar Championships

What kind of woman is drawn to air guitar?

"The air-guitar woman is a special kind of woman," says Speedling, 23. "She's not afraid to make fun of herself, yet she also has that 'I want to be famous' thing going on.

"She's ready for her 15 minutes, or I guess 60 seconds, of fame."

Peterson, 25, whose air-guitar name this year is MAIRilyn Monrock, says she welcomes the tougher, more feminine competition. In addition to vying for Minneapolis air-guitar champion in 2004 and 2006, she's also an actress and lead singer in the local band Ahna Whim.

"I wouldn't want to win just because I'm the only girl," she says. "Women, too, can rock the air guitar."

She performed "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister last year, complete with blood on her hands. This year she's strutting and strumming her nonexistent guitar to Hole's "Violet." Inspired by Courtney Love's less-than-wholesome image, she says she plans to play up Love's raunchy image by wearing lingerie inspired by the song's video.

"I won't be doing anything Courtney Love-like in the sense of baring my parts," she says. "But it will be hot."

That is, as long as she avoids last year's erratic and unrealistic finger movements. "I got a lot of criticism for that last year," she says. "A lot of people said I looked like I was reeling in a big fish."

Her practice routine is decidedly low-key -- she is simply "taking a few minutes every day to listen to some rock and roll" and "jamming" -- but Peterson's third-place finish last year makes her a contender this year.

Speedling, also known as "Kiki Minnesota," is taking a more intense approach to training. Last year, Speedling essentially walked backstage with no preparation, slammed a few shots and pranced onstage, air guitar in hand.

"I don't really remember being on stage at all," she admitted. "I was pretty bombed."

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