ICL qualifying competitions
International Cosplay League qualifier
Heroes Comic Con Stockholm Summer + Made in Asia are proud to present the brand new Swedish qualifier for the International Cosplay League! The competition has been held in Spain since 2017 and has steadily grown with more participating countries. In 2023, 33 participants took part and now Sweden is finally participating!
The competition consists of two different formats and qualifiers:
ICL Solo: Solo competition in craftsmanship.
ICL Duo: Couple competition in craftsmanship and performance.
Both follow the format that is at the final in Madrid to best prepare you. The winners of each qualifier will be awarded a trip to Madrid where they will have accommodation and food paid for, and will be able to compete against the winning teams of all other countries. We hope you are as excited as we are to show off what Sweden can do!
participate in the competition
Do you want to participate in the competition? Cool! Then read about the qualification and its rules here and then submit your application via this form. The last day of registration is April 14 and it is the first 20 in Solo and the first 8 in Duo who send in a complete registration that can participate in the qualifier. The qualification relates to the rules set by ICL and it is recommended that all participants read these before registering.
- Day: Sunday, May 5
- Time: 16:30–18:00
- Location: Heroes Main Stage
- Maximum number of participants: 20 in Solo, 8 groups in Duo.
- Changing/storage for participants: More info to come
- Meeting in good time before the show: Heroes Main Stage
- Responsible: Sam Anlér
CRAFTSMANSHIP
(Solo & Duo) Mandatory pre-assessment
You have a preview before the show where you get to meet the judges who look at your costumes and ask questions. Via email you will receive more details about exactly when this will happen, but the full estimate is:
Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm, with Solo participants judged first.
Location: More info to come
PERFORMANCE
(Duo only): Interview during show and mandatory rehearsal before
After your performance, during the show we will want to ask you some questions. We will tell you more about this during your mandatory rehearsal, where we ensure that everything about your performance works as it should by letting you try it out a few times. For this you will receive an individually booked time via email, but the entire rehearsal is:
Time: Sunday, May 5, 08:00–10:00
Location: Heroes Main Stage
Rules for participation in the competition:
The qualification is intended to follow as much as possible the rules set by ICL. Below is a condensed version of their rules with the most important details that apply to this qualifier. Complete rules for the final can be found here.
- Competitors must be a Swedish citizen or have permanent residence, turned 18 on September 10, 2024, and have the opportunity to travel to Spain during September 2024.
- Contestants must attend pre-judging before the show and have their costume reviewed by the judges.
- The character the entrant cosplays must be from an official published popular culture source and must have at least one reference image. Some examples of popular cultural works are comic books, books, movies, musicals and video games.
- Contestants may not wear cosplay based on fanart, doujinshi, live action, or genderbends. Original characters are not allowed.
- Suits that have previously won international qualifying rounds or awards in international competitions such as NCC, WCS etc. cannot participate in the competition. If the participant has been selected as runner-up in an international competition, the suit is allowed to compete in the ICL qualifier, but any performance must be changed.
Rules for Solo:
- Maximum 20 competitors. Those interested register by signing up for this form. It is first-come, first-served where the first 20 who submit a complete registration are allowed to participate.
- Competitors must have made their own costume.
- On stage, the participant completes a catwalk. This must be done alone without any help.
- Changing costumes during the catwalk is not allowed, one costume per contestant.
- Only the craftsmanship is judged, no performance.
Rules for Duo:
- You compete as two people, not as an individual or a group with more people.
- Max 8 competing pairs. Those interested register by signing up for this form. It is first come, first served, where the first 8 couples who submit a complete registration are allowed to participate. Only one registration via the form per duo-pair applies.
- Scoring: 40% in craftsmanship and 60% in performance.
- During the show, the contestants must perform a performance that is between 90-180 seconds long.
- Only the two competitors in the duo are allowed to be on stage during the participants’ performance, any assistants must leave the stage before the start of the performance.
- Competitors must submit audio and any graphics in connection with registration. Microphone is not allowed and any voices must be pre-recorded.
- Both in the couple must have cosplay costumes from the exact same source. Example: If the couple cosplays characters from “How to train your dragon”, it is not allowed that one cosplays from HTTYD 1 and the other from HTTYD 2, the costumes must be from the same movie.
- Stage props, if any are used, are not assessed in advance. This must be at least 50% created by the contestants.
- The participants can help each other in the creation of the costumes. But each participant must have worked with at least 50% of one of the costumes, one of the participants cannot create both costumes themselves, but both must contribute.
Rules for participation in Madrid:
The rules above are those that apply to the qualifiers at Comic Con Stockholm Summer + Made in Asia. Complete rules for the final can be found here.
Do you have any questions regarding the qualification for the ICL?
Get in touch with sam@narcon.se
