“In England they call it, rather elegantly, ‘throwing shapes.’ One American practitioner says he thinks of it as ‘selling a move.’ But to most people who have seen it up close as a rock concert, it is simply that nutty face that the guitar player makes: a contorted grimace, sometimes involving liberal amounts of tongue, that suggests either ecstasy or accidental electrocution….

Now both men and women — professionals, nonprofessionals and air guitarists alike — are being given a chance to put their best swoon-inducing faces on display. As a way to promote a video-on-demand guitar instruction show on cable television called “Guitar Xpress,” the company that owns the service, Rainbow Media Holdings, recently came up with the idea of holding a national “guitar face” contest.” (New York Times)