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Before you get on stage, you will go through a private judging session with our 3 judges who will rate your costume and performance on a five-point scale for a total of 20 points from each judge. The criteria that you will be judged on are:

Quality

What we look at: If your costume is handmade or store bought, we look at the stitching, material and fit. Handmade costumes get a bonus on this category. If you have compiled your costume from things found around the house, we look at how you have modified them, how you paired them and how creative you were. We also take into account, wig styling and make-up.

Tips: We favour handmade costumes over anything else. If your costume is handmade, make sure to let us know how you made it, if not, try and put more emphasis on something you styled, like your wig or make-up. Chinese fancy dress quality costumes will score much lower than well tailored ones.

Accuracy

What we look at: We will be checking how faithful your costume, hair, make-up and props are to the character you’re cosplaying as.

Tips: Print out a picture of your character showing the full costume. Do mention any variations or specific versions you took into account. If what you’re cosplaying as is not an existing character, mention at least a point of reference or inspiration.

Presentation

What we look at: The goal of cosplay is to look as much like your character as possible, this includes body motions and phrases you say. Those who act in character will score higher than those who do not.

Tips: Talk in the tone of your character and try to say things that he would say. Stand, pose and move like him too.

Effort

What we look at: We will try and determine how hard each person had to work to complete his costume, find a rare prop, style the appropriate wig or do his make-up.

Tips: Make sure to tell the judges how long you worked on compiling your costume and point out details that required effort to complete.