Cosplay Contest Chaos

                Cosplay contests have been going on at conventions for years upon years. Cosplayers who make their costumes are allowed to enter the contest to show off all the hard work they put into their cosplays, showcase them in the masquerade, and hopefully walk away with an award representing their talents. It all sounds like an amazing and brilliant idea and inspires cosplayers to work harder, right? So what exactly is the problem then?

                During the last decade of conventions, the contestants have continued to grow more hostile and dramatic over the outcomes of the contests. Horror stories of contestants bribing judges, rigged contests, unfair judging, and cosplayers winning in bought costumes have sprung up all over the nation. Unfortunately we've only ever really heard one side of these stories - usually coming from contestants who didn't win. Now things are beginning to sound a bit fishy.

                I decided to speak with a few judges for cosplay contests about the subject (their full interviews will be at the bottom of this article) to gather a more solid understanding of both sides. I also spoke with a few winners of cosplay contests. The overall result was that most of them feel entirely victimized.

                The situation that is going on lately, is that cosplayers who enter contests and do not win - refuse to accept they lost and start blaming everyone else - the winner cheated, the judges were friends with the winner, etc. Some even go as far as to get their friends to harass the contest winner or judges after the convention. More times than not, these accusations are all false and have no truth behind them.

                This behavior is also unfortunately encouraged by other cosplayers at the cons who don't know what really went on with the contest. They hear stories from a contestant about it being rigged, and their blood begins to boil. Without even thinking to look into whether the comments are true or not, they will quickly band with whoever spoke of scandal in the contest and spread it around at the convention until the contest winner feels so alienated they want to leave the convention.

                These truths are appalling. Nobody who won a costume contest should ever have to feel like they did not deserve to win. They worked just as hard, if not harder, on their costume as anyone else who entered.  Judges, who took the time out of their own convention schedule to see all the different costumes up close and personal, should also not be ridiculed, harassed, or accused of rigging a contest. There is more than one judge at each costume contest just to prevent this sort of biased voting.

                This problem has become increasingly intense lately, and there is too much support for those who claim a contest is rigged without providing evidence. Everyone needs to stop and take a step backwards in the future regarding these situations. When someone wins, don't insult them, congratulate them on their costume. When you lose, don't assume something was wrong just because you didn't win. Please consider the other contestants, the judges, and the time and effort they also put into working/entering a costume contest. The hate needs to stop.

                Going more in-depth on the topic, this is an interview with a Cosplay Judge/Cosplay Head/Cosplay Contest Winner from the Ohio area: Krissy Nunnemaker, who also runs blogs speaking out against convention bullying and etc which you can find here:  (questions are in bold, answers in italics)

1. What is are your feelings when after winners are chosen in a cosplay contest, those who did not win start to gripe and complain and accuse the judges of being biased?

It's a really difficult feeling. You want to be able to award so many people for their efforts, and I know how hard it is to pick the winners. However, the judges are the only ones who have seen the inner workings of a costume. Hems, seams, and the proper skills used are all major things which people don't see. While a ball gown may look amazing, you don't know what's going on underneath. I generally reassure people that, yes, it is a tough call. However, the winners were chosen for craftsmanship beyond what is visible. And if anyone ever wants feedback on what they had points removed for, most cosplay heads can put you in touch with the judges for feedback. So while you feel upset, you have to realize that if everyone got an award, it wouldn't be a competition, and only we, the judges, see every little detail.

2. Have you ever picked a winner and then later found out they had bought the costume or prop from someone else and lied about making their costume?

I haven't personally, but I've seen it happen. Its why, as a cosplay head, I make sure my judges ask questions that only the seamstress/tailor would know. Say a judge suspects an E-bayed costume: they usually ask questions pertaining to a serger. If the person doesn't know what that is, doesn't know how it works, or what brand it is, they more than likely didn't make their costumes.

3. How upset does it make you to know that people will actually lie about making stuff instead of giving credit to who made it or helped them just to try and win a contest?

It's really upsetting. When I enter a competition, I put my heart and soul into that costume. It's disappointing not to win, but the people who do win generally deserve it. When I find out someone entered a bought costume into a contest, it infuriates me. Because craftsmanship competitions are very serious. And those using it to win undeserved awards take away from those who have spent months creating something. I don't understand why people do it, because you ruin your reputation and risk getting banned from that competition in the future.
It's just all over upsetting, and its cheating.

4. Have you ever been personally targeted by someone who didn't win and their friends and accused of judging unfairly to the point it became harassment?

No, but I've seen it happen at bigger cons. Someone once threw a fit on a convention's facebook page and had her friends join in. Thankfully, the cosplay community quickly jumped on her and reminded her that the judges were qualified and that a flashy costume doesn't automatically mean it's better than say a "boring" but well fitted suit with bias tape. That's one thing I've noticed more; sore losers quickly embarrass themselves when they start throwing around accusations.

5. Have you ever seen a judge take bribes from a contestant or unfairly judge? If so, how did that make you feel as a fellow judge?

Nope, never seen that happen. But I've heard rumors of it happening.

6. What was the worst experience you've had to endure as a judge so far? What happened?

My first judging experience was awful. I was pulled into judging two hours before the competition and didn't feel qualified at all, but they had no one else willing to judge. I found out later that the judge who worked beside me didn't even make her own costumes, and so, even today when I see someone who didn't win from that particular competition, I feel absolutely terrible because I was highly under qualified at the time. I actually ended up dating a guy for a long time that had entered that contest and didn't place, and he teased me about it a few times. That same cosplay competition, we were placed in the room to judge while skits were going on. We literally had 2 minutes to judge each person, and could hardly hear over the skits. So that whole experience was really rough and I can't even count how many people I've apologized to over it.

7. Now that you are more than qualified in the area - what advice would you give to people who are just starting out as a cosplay judge or wish to become one?

If you want to become a judge, you have to enter competitions. No serious competition will have a judge that hasn't won any awards, or who isn't in Masters Class. You're going to have to better your craft and get those awards to be qualified. Through competitions, you'll meet the area's prominent cosplayers, the judges, and the cosplay heads. Make friends with people, don't make fun of anyone and be a friendly person and you will be remembered respectfully. If you're just starting to judge, make sure the people entering get to know you beforehand. If they can see you're an accomplished cosplayer, they will feel that you are qualified and be more willing to enter the competition.  From the perspective of a cosplay head, I pick judges who show a multitude of skills. Not just one set thing they're good at. I also generally pick people who have let me see their work up-close. I also only pick people who are willing to help others, who aren't rude or mean to people, and who are generally pleasant to be around. In my opinion, attitude for judges is just as important as skill.

8. As someone who's also entered and won costume contests, how upsetting is it for you after you win to hear rumors in the halls that you didn't win fairly and then be alienated by others afterwards?

Yes, my first award was San from Princess Mononoke. It's a fairly simple costume; however I had dyed the fabric with berries, nut and wood for authenticity. I was bumped up from Novice to journeyman as Best Journeyman. People made a stink about it because, again, it seems like a fairly simple costume. Thankfully, the judges backed me up and calmed the rumors and angry messages.  It made me feel really bad, and I regretted entering the contest at first. But all three judges reassured me that I deserved to win, so I felt a lot better.

And here's another short interview on the subject, that had a few very good points and also shows you how dedicated these judges truly tend to be (which only makes their harassment even more upsetting): 

1. Have you ever been accused of picking a friend or being biased? If so, how did that make you feel?

Most judges can tell, that a costume is bought. And it is not that you are undeserving of an award, we just can't give an award to everyone, though we would love to. Recently I had a few friends enter the costume contest at a convention this past weekend. Of course I believed they were deserving of an award but I chose to leave my opinion last. I let the other judges speak, and decide who they though should be deserving of an award, and if my friend was picked by the majority of judges, I approved. And I also know how hard people work for costumes.

2. How does it make you feel when you hear all these horror stories of people accusing judges at cons of voting unfairly because certain people didn't win?

I want people to know, that we love everyone's costume. We want to give you a medal, a certificate or a little something because we KNOW, we know how hard you worked and how much you put into it. It is very difficult to come down to picking a winner for craftsmanship. And the cosplayers have to realize how many people the judges look at. And it's more of a matter of if you stood out. We look for positive feedback about your own costume and positive thinking and appreciation for your own costume. Those people will be remembered. If you are negative or feel disappointed in yourself, we can tell. And it's kind of, if you hate your costume so much, why should we award negativity? It is all a matter of presentation.

So there you guys have it. The word needs to be spread out about this injustice in the cosplay community regarding contests and we all need to work together to prevent judges and contestants from the alienation they seem to constantly face these days. 

Article and Interview conducted by: Abra Gauthier
This article is now viewable on Cosplayer Nation's blog as well.