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Magicon Elevation proudly hosted Cosplay Duo competition, the Norwegian Preliminary Contest for GICOF!
This was Magicon Elevation’s biggest competition in which paired winners went to South Korea to represent Norway in the international cosplay championship GICOF, which is organised by the Korean Manhwa Content hub Komacon!
What is GICOF?
Gyeonggi International Cosplay Festival, or GICOF, is South Korea’s largest cosplay themed festival. It was held in the vicinity of the Korean Manhwa museum in Bucheon, the 14th-17th September 2023. During the festival, the International Cosplay championship is held with cosplayers from many different countries around the world. Only the best cosplayers who have passed a preliminary contest in their home country get to participate in this extravagant contest! The festival offers diverse programs including networking events, cultural experiences and concerts.
There are currently fifteen countries represented at GICOF, where only four of these are from Europe, and the rest are situated in Asia and America. We are happy to make Norway join their ranks as the fifth European country represented, and sixteenth country overall.
Among honour and glory, the winners of the GICOF International Cosplay Championship receives a cash prize of 80 000 NOK.
Cosplay Duo competition at Magicon
To enter the Cosplay Duo competition, and have a chance to qualify for GICOF, you’ll have to pair up with another cosplayer. This competition is one of our more advanced competitions where participants are expected to show off advanced skills in their costume and performance-craft.
The competition will consist of two parts: prejudging and performance on the main stage. Each team will have 10 minutes of prejudging where the judges will be able to get a closer look at the contestants’ craftsmanship. Later, they will have 3 minutes to perform on stage.
There will be prices for 1st and 2nd place.
The winning team will get travel and living expenses to Korea for the duration of GICOF (14th-17th September 2023 + 3 additional nights = 6 nights in total) covered.
* PLEASE READ ALL THE INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE ENTERING THE COMPETITION *
Important information
The Magicon GICOF Duo Cosplay Competition welcomes anyone who wants to perform on stage as a duo to sign up by 20. May 2023. There is only room for 10 cosplay duo performances this year. We really want to give everyone who wishes to compete a chance to sign up, and as much time as possible to prepare and come up with a great performance concept for the competition.
That is why – if more than 10 duos sign up before the deadline the competition committee will select which 10 duos get to compete at Magicon Elevation. The selection will be based on the criteria set by GICOF (read about it below) and who the committee believes to be the best prepared participants with the most clearly defined performance concept. The selections will be based on the descriptions and resources that have been submitted through the sign up form. The chosen participants will be announced a few days after the deadline 20. May 2023. You are not guaranteed a spot in the competition when you sign up, but you are guaranteed to be considered by the committee.
This process is similar to how the art stand application process works. Magicon has found it to be a good way of making sure that everyone who wants to join gets the chance to throw their hat in the ring.
The Magicon crew will do their best to keep everyone posted and well informed on the ongoing process ahead. This is our first time hosting this event and we’re super excited to see where this journey takes all of us.
Good luck to everyone!
Duo cosplay competition rules (GICOF preliminaries)
The following rule set is the official, international rules issued by GICOF used universally by all representing countries worldwide.
Click to see all rules
1. All costume players concerned should actively cooperate with Gyeonggi International Cosplay Festival Championship (hereinafter referred to as “GICOF Championship”).
2. In order to be invited to participate in the preliminary round of the GICOF Championship finals the participating team has to consist of two persons.
3. Age: 18 years of age or older
If a participant is under the age of 18, he/she must have a guardian’s signed permission and the permission form must include agreement that they can attend alone upon invitation from Korea.
4. Country/Region: citizens or residents of the country/region
- In the case of residents, they must submit their citizenship or residence right to the organizers of the relevant country when applying for a competition.
- If they have no citizenship or residence right, participation qualification may be granted according to the judgment of the organizers of the relevant country/region.
- However, if the participants’ residence is changed to another country, they will participate in the competition as a member of the first country/region to apply, not the changed country, which cannot be changed for three years.
5. Costumes
- Only cosplay costumes based on characters from media such as cartoons, webtoons, animations, games and movies can participate. Original characters are not allowed.
- The contestants have to keep both the cosplay and performance PG13.
- The cosplayers are not allowed to participate with the cosplay which has previously won or placed in competitions without at least 30% improvement on the given cosplay.
6. Participation in the Finals
The winning team of the GICOF Championship preliminary rounds must participate in the GICOF Championship finals held in Korea 14-17 september 2023.
Overseas preliminary rounds will be conducted in accordance with the following criteria for judge:
| Classification | Details | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Total points | 110 | |
| Costume & Objects | Similarity to the original contents, quality of costumes and objects | 50 |
| Direction ability | Acting, using objects, controlling the stage | 50 |
| Additional points: | Connection with audience Eye contact, expression, audience’s response | Up to 10 |
The Judges
Our esteemed judges for the Cosplay Duo Competition were:
Kelley of Cowbutt Crunchies Cosplay
As a part of the cosplay duo Cowbutt Crunchies cosplay, Kelley specializes in complex couture cosplay and original pop culture-based designs. Their work is both intricately detailed and impossibly over the top, making use of their ever-growing skillsets including advanced needlework, extreme wigwork, detailed armor, makeup effects, moldmaking, lighting, and animatronics.
Andreas Reijers
Andreas is originally from Sweden and is a professional shoemaker. Andreas has studied in England where he became the student of one of the top shoemakers in the world, who won Work’s championship in Shoemaking in 2019, a competition where Andreas himself came in 6th place in 2018. He is now responsible for the shoemaking education at Plus school and he’s also got a small business in Moss where he makes bespoke and handmade shoes.
Raahega
Raahega is a Swiss costume creator who specialises in big foam-based costumes, as said in her own words; “I like to torture myself with big winged builds”. Valkyrie from God of War and Lyra Dawnbringer from Magic the Gathering are only two of the many characters she has portrayed since her cosplay debut in 2016. Because of her amazing craftsmanship she has represented Switzerland at multiple international Cosplay contests, among them are GamesCom in 2020, PGEC in 2022, and FaBa in 2022 where she won the Audience vote.
Magic in the making!
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