Nordic Cosplay Championship

NCC GENERAL RULES

1. General

Travel expenses for contestants and judges are covered by the NCC and the participating countries’ events that host the qualifier rounds. The NCC also provides accommodation for all contestants and their assistant as well as the judges and one qualifier representative from each country.

The contestant must be either a citizen of the country or otherwise considered a resident there.
All participants must be at least 16 years old. Participants who are up to 18 years old (or legal adulthood) must submit a statement of authorization signed by their participation guardians.
Each contestant will be allowed to bring one assistant to the event. The NCC will not pay for the assistant’s travel expenses. The NCC will however provide the assistant with entry and accommodation for the event. If the contestants wants to bring more assistants, that is perfectly fine, but they or their assistants’ must cover all expenses, including admission to the event, on their own.

2. Judging

The panel will consist of judges from the NCC’s founding countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The qualifier representative from each country will select their respective judge. The panel may also include international judges chosen by NärCon.
Before the final, the contestants will meet the judges for prejudging. Contestants will attend the prejudging in their full costume and with their hand-held props. Presenting the costume without wearing it is prohibited. Each contestant has an allotted judging time of ~15 minutes.
During the prejudging, judges may ask questions about the construction of the costume. They may also touch the costume after asking and receiving permission from the contestant. Judges may document, record and photograph the costumes for use in the judging. The judges may post the material publicly only after asking and receiving permission from the contestant
The performances will be judged live during the show. Judges will score all contestants after their performance, their points are hidden from other judges. After the last contestants, judges will have ~10 minutes to talk to each other about performances and change their scores (the points awarded by each judge is still secret). After the total scores have been finalized, the highest and lowest score for each contestant will be eliminated and the remaining summed up to determine the exact order of all contestants.
If there is a tie for first, second or third place, the total sum of points, including those previously eliminated, will serve as the first tie breaker. Should a second tie breaker be required, the points from the guest judge will serve as the second tie breaker. Should there still be a tie, the guest judge will decide who wins the tie.

3. Points

Contestants will be judged on their craftsmanship, performance and the overall likeness to the character.
- Craftsmanship: 10 points
- Performance: 10 points
- Likeness: 5 points

4. Performance

Each contestant must prepare a performance which should be between 90 and 150 seconds long. The time of the performance can not be longer than 150 seconds, can not be less than 90 seconds, but can be of any length in between 90–150 seconds.
The NCC will create a video for the digital backdrop based on the contestants wishes. The contestant may instead make their own backdrop. The contestant’s backdrop will be subject to changes following communication between the NCC and the contestant. The contestant must be available to answer questions regarding their performance in order to make the background video as good as possible.

- Contestants may use the following

- Music
- Microphones for live dialogue
- Background video
- Pre-recorded dialogue
- Stage props
- Hand held props, such as swords or small items
It is prohibited to take the performance outside of the stage, e.g. to the area between stage and audience. Use of possible catwalks is allowed, as is running off stage at the end of the performance.
Stage props must be lightweight enough for 2-4 people to carry up on stage.
Use of fire, water or scattering of items requires permission from the stage crew. This must be acquired ahead of submitting information about the performance.
Contestants should be able to walk in their cosplay without outside assistance. Stage helpers are allowed to help contestants on to the stage in case of steps or steep surfaces.
Contestants may use one or more assistants in their performances.

5. Assistants

Assistants may:
- Wear a costume
- Not wear a costume if they so choose
- Appear on stage
- Be on stage for the entire length of the performance
- Have speaking/singing lines
Assistants may not:
- Have a role equal to the contestant in the performance. It should be 100% obvious who is the contestant and who is the assistant.

All performances are subject to changes asked by the production if there is a concern for safety of the audience, crew or contestant. The production will review all performances after receiving all related files and plans, and will be contact each contestant regarding their performance.

6. Costumes and hand-held props

Outside of official NCC activities, your costume and hand-held props are subject to the rules of the event.

6.1 The Costume

Costumes must be constructed by the contestants themselves and contestants are expected to be able to give an account of how all details of their costume were made. Store-bought and modified costumes are not allowed.
Contestants are allowed to compete with the same costume they qualified with, but not a costume they’ve participated in an earlier NCC final with.
Costumes must be finished on the day the contestant arrives at the venue. Repairs to any damage from travelling is allowed after arriving.

6.2 The Character

The character must be a fictional character from a published source. Published pictures of the character must exist for judges’ reference. Original designs and characters are not allowed.
It is recommended that the character is part of a story/narrative. If a character from an illustration, painting or the likes is chosen where the character doesn’t have an expressed backstory, personality or the likes the judges will only be able to judge the likeness-category in the performance.
It is recommended that the character isn’t a genderbend version or a gjinka/human version of a character if this particular version of the character is not part of the original published source. If the contestant still chooses to do this, the judges will only be able to judge the craftsmanship-category.

6.3 Props

Realistic props or replica weapons are allowed only on stage and during official NCC photoshoots. They must be kept hidden or stored safely in areas designated by event staff during all other times. When carried to and from stage and photoshoots, such props should be kept covered and sealed safely.

All rules regarding Finals could be find at NCC site: https://www.nordiccosplay.com/rules.

All questions regarding qualifiers could be send to cosplay@jtsoon.ee email directly.