2. The judges are biased. I'll admit it; I would make a terrible judge. I am not that familiar with all the anime out there and can't understand most of the skits because of that. I would also tend to be partial towards my favorite series. I have a feeling the judges are also this way. I remember at the first masquerade I was in, a judge gave a "special judges award" to a group who cosplayed as "maho tsukai tai" b/c they "dressed up as characters from an anime that was cute and not so violent". does this sound fair to you? was the judge awarding the cosplayers or the anime "maho tsukai tai"?? I happen to LOVE maho tsukai tai, but I'm not about to give a special award to a group just because they dressed up as those characters.

3. The judges are too few. 3 to 5 judges decide who the best is...why not let the audience decide?? This way, you get a much more mixed opinion, and the entertainment factor is addressed. In our first masquerade, when we were called on stage for our "honorable mention" award, the audience "boo"ed. Why, we still don't know, but they were either mad that we didn't win, or mad that we got as high as honorable mention. either way, the audience didn't agree with the judges' judgement.

4. The cosplayers don't get to watch the show. If you go on first, you get to see most of it...but what if you're last? Éd and i were last our first time, so we didn't get to see anyone else's skit, and we had to wait backstage the longest.

5. No matter how good your costume is, or how much time you spent on it, a crappy costume with a good skit could beat you. There has been some controversy over how people should be judged: on costumes or on skits. A good mix of both is great, but I'm not all that happy when someone who simply bought a kimono and did a cool skit wins, and someone (like me) who spent hours, days, months, sewing a really complicated (and cool) costume is ignored.

6. Too many bad entries get in. 1 bad entry is too many. Let's face it: there are people who just can't act and can't make a good skit and can't realize that they're way over the time limit and should just go off stage. sorry, but that's the grim truth. bad skits and costumes should be weeded out. judges should look at your costume the day of the masquerade and if they see taht it is simply a T-shirt with some plastic taped onto it, sucks to you!! judges should also get coppies of scripts before the competition. (or if you're doing a walk-on, say "i'm doing a walk-on".)

7. For goodness sakes, rehearse your skits!! Last minute planning backstage won't cut it, dearies. We can tell which skits are planned, and which were not. the planned ones run smoohter, look better, ARE better. The un-planned ones are choppy, silly, and boring. If you're great at improvising, go for it! otherwise, PLAN something well in advance. Also, learn some basic stage techniques!! it's not taht hard! simply face the audience when you say your lines and say them loudly!! (louder than you think you have to). You may have a really funny skit, but if the audience can't hear you, they won't know how cool it is.

8. Prizes could be better. I'm glad we finally won a prize for all our effort...but just b/c we like anime doesn't mean that we like Tenchi Muyo...or have a DVD player, for that matter. Sure, we can sell it (and we will), but gift certificates work much better.

1. Don't make all the cosplayers arrive at the same time. Tell everyone when the competition starts. stick to that time. tell everyone their numbers. let them arrive at their own discresion. if they're late, too bad; their fault.

2. Don't make everyone get there early. once again, i know this tactic (it's used often in ballet and other performing arts) make them come 3 hours early so we'll be sure to have everyone there and ready in costume...well, ya know what? we're not stupid. just tell us when the competition starts, adn we'll come when we feel we should. some people might be late, but oh well!! they should have planned more carefully! We're all adults (well, some of us are) and have the skills to arrange ourselves in numerical order. people are much more responsive to being organized adn getting ready when there are only 10 minutes to get ready.

3. don't have everyone wait backstage. i realize it's neat to surprise the audience, but many cosplayers have been walking around in costume all day and have been seen already. have the cosplayers sit in the audience and enjoy the show, adn then casually get up out of their seats and perform when it's their turn. label all the seats. you have all hte paper work. you see that group #1 has 2 people, group #2 has 7 people, group #3 has 1 person; so what you do is start at one end of the seats and number 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3....and so on. the cosplayers can sit in order, adn can get in order w/o everyone having to be there. this way, if you're #23 and you're very nervous about being there on time, you can "line up" and be all ready even before #22 and #24 are tehre.

4. The sound system: if it doesn't work, "the show must go on". the saying is NOT "the show must wait 3 hours while we fiddle around". project, people. opera singers do it all the time.

5. Audio tapes adn CDs...now this is a hard thing to keep track of. i would suck at this job. lift the burden! have a good quality boom box at the side of the stage and have the contestants take care of their own music! our music cue was at least 20 seconds late, adn our poor nakago had to stand on stage doing nothing (and he already threatened to leave).

6. As far as judging goes: the "special" awards should be from the prominant guests of honor. that would be very nifty. these would be biased, but just make it a "recognition" type of award (no prize, money, etc). As for the rest of the judging; let teh audience decide!!! at least for "best of show". the craftsmanship award should be granted by a panel of judges (since the audience wont' konw all the details about the costume).

Those are all the things i can think of now....so onto...

COSTUMING ALTERNATIVES!!

The following is alternatives to the current masquerade system:


1. Fashion Show. a "runway" is set up. songs like "I'm too sexy" and other modeling-type music are played in the background as contestants parade across the runway. contestants can hand teh MC a little naration of something like "this soi costume is modeled by Bob, designed by Éd, and costructed by Bob and Éd. This suit of armor contains light protection ideal for those smaller battles...." and stuff like that. fashion shows can be VERY FUNNY if teh contestants act like models. this also cuts down on the time A LOT. it also brings attention to the costume, rather than a skit. each entry would only end up being about 40 seconds long (depending on how long the narration is), allowing more contestants to enter. it's also much easier for the sound-people. they're using their own music; no speical cues, and only one mic is needed (for teh MC). this could be judged, or even not judged. (judging things seems to take the fun out of it sometimes.)

2. Masquerade Ball. I honestly can't see any reason NOT to have the event sound like the name! contestants (and non-contestants) get together in a big sort of "ballroom". fans/dealers can donate anime posters and other stuff to decorate. catering involved; charge a small entrance fee. anime music is played in the background (why not hold the karaoke competition at this time? kill two birds with one stone and it would be a nice touch. hold the two final rounds of karaoke there) people at the "ball" can dance individually, together, or be "wall flowers" and chat with other people. durring the course of the evening, everyone will see your costume, comment on it, take picutres, adn judges will come around with clipboards and judge you. this way, the judges get a good, long look at the costumes and can spend as much (or as little) time looking as they want.