Cos-Con Championship Guidelines
The Cosplay Championship is a celebration of Cosplay, costume making and performing, bringing fans together through their love of crafting costumes and bringing their favourite character to life.
Competitor Eligibility:
To be eligible to enter the Cos-Con Championship each entry needs to meet the following criteria:
- Have a valid Cos-Con North event ticket.
- Enter as an individual
- Each participant must be aged 18 years old or older at the time of the event.
- Chosen characters can be based on characters that have appeared at any time in any format, comic, novels, movies, television, cartoons, anime, manga or fan art (including cross-overs or mash-ups thereof). (Original characters are not eligible)
- Photographic material, printed or digital, showing the build progress of your costume, will be requested after application.
- Each costume must be predominantly self-made - around 75%. Small accessories (such as wigs and shoes) are fine. If an item has been substantially modified then it is at the judge's' discretion to award points based on the efforts made to modify.
- Space in the Cos-Con Cosplay Championship is limited and entry will be based on each applicant’s entry form and pictures.
Registration:
Those wishing to compete in the Cos-Con Cosplay Championships will need to apply in advance by completing the Cos-Con Cosplay Championship entry e-form.
There will be a limited number of spaces available for registration, which will open on Thursday 6th October and closes midnight on Wednesday 19th October (or when all spaces are filled).
Each application will be reviewed for eligibility and a member of the Cos-Con Cosplay Championship costume team will confirm entry to all successful applicants.
You will be permitted to enter one of the Specialist Comps on Saturday in accordance with their associated rules.
Once your application has been confirmed, you will need to provide the following by no later than Friday 21th October 2016:
- Source references pictures of your costume(s) for the judges to be able to mark your accuracy/authenticity.
- A soundtrack (maximum duration of three minutes) in mp3 format to be played during your performance, if desired.
- An outline of your performance, and details of any stage props to be used, which will be assessed for health and safety.
- Itemised list of item not made by you, altered or unaltered.
During the competition, you will also be asked to provide details of your construction process, and anything else that you wish to share with the judges about your costume.
Dressing Room / Cloakroom: Attendees will have access to a room to use for costume changes but as space and time at this event are limited there will be a 10 min limit for each person, without exceptions. Championship entrants will be given priority.
The cloakroom will be attended, but again space will be limited so only jackets and small bags will be stored. Please bear this in mind if you have a large costume or prop.
Check in: Each successful entrant must check in at the Cosplay Guest Table no later than 1pm on the day of the event. You will be given a run down of the event and told where you need to be and when. Your supporting material and music files will be double checked at this point.
Competition Format:
The Panel of Cosplay Guest Judges are a blend of experienced costume makers from different fields.
Each participant will be awarded marks based on:
- 75% Costume: Costume points will be allocated on the basis of complexity, craftsmanship and accuracy/authenticity, with 25% being designated for each.
- 25% Performance / Stage Presence & Confidence: Performance points will be allocated on execution, originality and fidelity to your chosen character.
We want for our guest judges, our attendees, our competitions entrants to enjoy the event as much as possible, so there will be no pre-judging for cosplay competitions. Everything regarding the competitions will happen live on stage so the Cos-Con Cosplay Championship will consist of 3 on-stage rounds.
Performance Round:
- Participant(s) will perform on stage, this can include speaking, dancing/simulated combat, singing, playing of musical instruments or simply posing.
- Performances may last no longer than 3 minutes, but can last less.
- Cos-Con cannot supply tech arrangements such as lighting, stage props or special effects.
- We recommend each participant bring an additional copy of his or her soundtrack on a USB stick on the day just in case.
- Please endeavour to make your performance family friendly. No liquids, solvents, confetti or pyrotechnics are allowed on stage. Please consult our Prop Policy, and if you have any queries please contact us to discuss.
- All qualifying performances will take place on the Main Hall Stage and will be open to public viewing.
Interview round:
After your performance the Judges will have time to inspect your costume up close, they will each be allowed to ask 1 question about your performance, your costume or props or how you created them.
This will be happening on stage and will be as much for the audience's benefit as the Judges. Be prepared and ready to answer questions about every element of your costume, you worked hard, so make sure everybody knows it.
Final Round:
Once all performances and interviews have taken place the Judges will be given time to discuss the entries amongst themselves.
The Judges will ask their favourite cosplayers to return to the stage for final evaluation. There will be a brief interview for each finalist from the Hosts, this will be your opportunity to further highlight the skills, talent and effort you put into your costume.
The Judges will then be allowed to ask each contestant one further question before they make their decision.
The Judges will then award 3 prizes:
Cos-Con North Champion
Best Fabricator
Best Needlecrafter
Judges decision are final. Contestants will not be permitted to view or ask about how they or other contestants were marked. Judges will be allowed to give you feedback or constructive criticisms if they wish to do so. If a Judge wishes not to speak about your entry please respect their right to do so.
