A Cosplay Contest at the Consumer Electronics Live
Consumer Electronics Live! (CEL!) Manila 2009 is touted as the first and only world-class consumer electronics exhibit in the country. Organized by SUMMIT LIVE! the event is on its second year and will run from November 13 to 15 and will feature different electonic devices and gadgets from around the world. This year's showcase is going to be at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
Similar to the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES) in the United States, the event will include different gadgets from mobile phones to laptops to digital cameras to flat screen TV sets. The exhibit will include the latest gadgets that any tech-savvy geek will enjoy. It will also feature gaming consoles, and various home electronic appliances.
Aside from the electronics exhibit, CEL! Manila 2009 will also have various mini-events that include raffles, gadget demos, blogging events and a cosplay competion.
A Cosplay Contest is brought to you by Cosplay.ph in partership with CEL! Manila and SUMMIT LIVE! The competition has the theme Techno Anime and will be held during the event on November 14 between 4 PM and 6 PM. The Cosplay Contest will be an open category event, which means you can cosplay anything from anime, manga, games, western comics and other fandoms. Details and guidelines for the contest are available at Cosplay.ph.
Let me just get on my soapbox for a minute to express my personal opinion about the event. Like I mentioned earlier CEL! Manila 2009 is similar in nature to the CES in the US (granted the latter is non-public). It showcases electronics, gadgets and home appliances. It makes me question the relevance of a cosplay competition in an electronics exhibit. I could understand if they have a contest for booth babes, as its typical for any electronics show to have them, but a cosplay competition at an event like this seems a little bit out of place. It feels like it makes more sense if these were cosplayers promoting a product like someone dressed up as Neo from the Matrix promoting a new computer gadget.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the event orgainzers nor cosplay.ph. I even know a few people that would be competing for the event. It's just that I feel it's not needed for this type of convention. Somebody said to me that it's electronics and you will have items geared towards gaming so it's okay to have cosplay. To me though, it sounded like it was a stretch to even just connect the two. And even if that were the case, I have to wonder why the event is open category and did not limit it to tech or mech themed cosplay categories.
Although, I love the idea of an electronics showcase and I love cosplay, this somehow feels like taking cosplay a bit too far. Not to mention, that it feels like the organizers decided to include cosplay in their lineup just so that they could draw the crowds that typically comes when there is a cosplay competition.
Not everyone will agree but that's just my opinion.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
I honestly don't see the
I honestly don't see the connection between the event and cosplay. What do we cosplay? DELL Laptops? Oakley shades? What?
Before setting up a cosplay contest in an event, it should be considered, first and foremost, if the event is even of any relevance to any cosplayers' interests. Just because an event has a cosplay competition doesn't mean that cosplayers will attend it. I believe that cosplayers not only attend events for the competition, but also for the event itself, the atmosphere in the convention venue. I don't think cosplayers would want to be surrounded by fathers looking for upgrades for their DSLRs or a new refrigerator or TV. And I don't think these people are interested in cosplay enough to pay attention to it while all the gadgetry is happening around them.
In line with cosplay competitions, I feel that there is a congestion on cosplay contests in the country right now. Week in and week out there is one. I understand their presence in anime/manga/comic conventions, but this one in a convention that exhibits bags, computers, and batteries is one that we don't need. Expanding the span of cosplay is good. But we must look into where we are expanding it to.
I will cosplay the White
I will cosplay the White Westinghouse logo..
Do eeet! XD
Do eeet! XD
I totally agree. Simply, the
I totally agree. Simply, the event does not need a cosplay event. I am not going to say don't attend the event and not cosplay because, it's really up to the cosplayer if they want to join in. It's just that I feel there are other events where a cosplay contest would make more sense to be introduced.
Let's also not forget that this actually has the potential of having middle aged men drooling over hot young women in cosplay. It sounds really like pedophilia.
In the end, you are right about choosing the atmosphere and the event that best suits cosplay and not just having cosplay for the sake of having cosplay.
IMHO, I have NO idea what
IMHO, I have NO idea what consumer electronics have to do with cosplay but then... "Gaming systems are considered consumer electronics! BRING OUT THE COSPLAYERS!" 8D
LMAO! Exactly my point. It's
LMAO! Exactly my point. It's like forcing the two together just so that we can have a cosplay competition.
Forced
Sometimes Summit approaches otaku culture correctly, and sometimes they just make me scratch my head. For instance, I can totally understand Alodia writing about electronics on a Summit blog. Aside from being a famous cosplayer, she's an actual gadget hound who can write a decent review.
A cosplay contest at a Summit electronics show, on the other hand, just feels forced. There's a very good reason CES doesn't feature a cosplay contest: it makes no sense in the context of the event.
Like I said, just because we
Like I said, just because we have electronics, we have gaming gadgets, then we tie that in gaming events have cosplay, so we should have cosplay too. WHAT? It's too much of a stretch for me.
And you typically have booth babes for events like these, there's really no need for cosplay competitions. Even at events like E3, they have booth babes and sometimes cosplayers, but these cosplayers are not there to compete or simply show off, they are marketing and selling the product they are cosplaying.
Be that as it may, I don't want to alienate the cosplayers who will attend the event and cosplay. Afterall, I'm open to having people know more about cosplay, but I just wish they would pick the events better where cosplay would be used.
Perhaps Summit must've
Perhaps Summit must've noticed the pertinence of a cosplayer/cosplay fan and gadget geek. Even with that, there's an abstraction between the two which hinders of both sides' unanimity. IMO they'll be having the show with their sights on the consumers, not on the theme.
I'm sure by now that Summit
I'm sure by now that Summit knows the power of cosplay. It's just a question of when and where to use it. And to me, this is definitely one of those events. It just doesn't make sense to me.
But if I were cosplay.ph, I would not pass the chance of organizing a cosplay event if it was offered to me. Especially in such a big event. I just don't get the point of having a competition for the said event as again the gap between the electronics showcase and cosplay is a bit far too wide to even bridge that gap.
It needs fine-tuning...
I agree that the cosplay would have been appropriate had they limited the category and the theme to better suit the event. Because say, SAILORMOON shows up at the event... that's weird, isn't it? Unlike, if, say, only OS-TANS were allowed, or CONSOLE-TANS. XDDDDD
I'm all for cosplaying, I love cosplayers, but what has Sailormoon/ Kuroshitsuji / Naruto / ToraDora got to do with washing machines, new-fangled vacuum cleaners, a state-of-the-art fridge or an osm batch of camera lenses for your DSLR?
And one has to keep in mind, that even in E3, it's a GAMING expo, so the connection to cosplay comes more easily.
As much as I think I might understand what triggered the decision to do this in the first place (cosplayers = CROWD = YAY FOR OUR EVENT), I still can't help but have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, it's flattering that the niche is being appreciated for being a crowd pleaser and crowd-maker, on the other hand it kind of makes you feel... desperate, ne? O_O;; Or exploited. (LAL INSERT REPOLYO JOKES HERE)
Sigh. Anyway, I guess I'll just see how it goes and hope everyone has fun, since at the end of the day, I guess that's what really matters. ^_^v
If you had OS-Tans or
If you had OS-Tans or Console-Tans cosplaying, I would completely understand, but then again in a competition?
"And one has to keep in mind, that even in E3, it's a GAMING expo, so the connection to cosplay comes more easily." >>And even then they do not have cosplay competitions? XD
LAL and I agree with regards to the desperation and exploitation. Most people would like to keep cosplay in line with its fandom (anime, manga, games, comics) but when it's used in an electronics event it does sound like we're marketing cosplay to businesses and corporations. Wasn't this the whole argument about cosplay before?
Well, in any case, I am not going to dismiss the event coz, cosplay is all about having fun and if people want to go and complete I am not the person to stop them. I just wish the organizers could have thought this out more thoroughly.
To cosplay or not to cosplay?
Hmmm... someone needs to cosplay as pikachu and act as the source of electricity for the whole event ^_^
Oh well, as far as I observed, cosplay is somehow being dragged to the public and used as a cause whenever people are conducting event.
Sooner or later, whenever people are to conduct a special event, cosplay will most probably be involve again.
I'm expecting to see Naruto showing up infront of a laptop booth ^_^ omg
The idea of Naruto appearing
The idea of Naruto appearing at a consumer electronics event haunts me. Seriously, there is a such a thing as too much. There's a time and place for everything but at the rate we are going, we're going to have cosplay during the general elections. Now, that's just wrong. >.>
Post new comment