The cosplay masquerade, the high energy highlight of every anime, fantasy, or sci fi convention. It’s you’re first masquerade performance. You’ve hand casted every resin accessory to your sword. You’ve stitched every hem and vectored every graphic perfectly. You’ve practiced your routine flawlessly for months. Now you’re back-stage with a crowd of over 10,000 hungry fans roaring with excitement outside those curtains. With sweaty palms and a racing heart, the curtains raise and the blazing lights hit your face. Now what?!

Diana as Orihime from “Bleach”

Diana Tolin, cosplay alias “Binkxy”, is an experienced cosplayer, co-creator of CosPod (an online podcast for all things cosplay), and has been a masquerade judge for conventions like Anime Expo (the largest anime convention in the U.S.) and Comic Con (the largest comic book, fantasy, and sci fi convention of its kind). She was kind enough to sit down with me recently and explain what it’s like behind the scenes at one of the most stressful events at any convention.

GEN: For a first time cosplayer entering a masquerade show, what are some usual guidelines they can expect to encounter?

Diana: For the most part, there are no commissioned costumes allowed (”commission” would mean money was exchanged for the costume or prop), or if it was commissioned, usually the person who created it must be part of the skit or walk-on. If they’d like to be judged on the craftsmanship of their outfit, they should bring at least two reference pictures of their character and expect at least 2-5 minutes normally the day before the show for judging, groups typically get 10 minutes. Most questions a judge has about a costume can be answered visually or by touching the costume itself. But feel free to explain pieces of your costume to the judge that you’d like them to pay attention to. Every judge has their own style, and some don’t ask questions as much as others.

GEN: In your opinion, what makes the perfect masquerade skit?

Diana: There are many ingredients that make a good masquerade skit. In my opinion, the most crucial are having a good audio recording (recorded before hand with over pronunciation), a simple script, humor that doesn’t appeal to only half of the crowd, good craftsmanship in each division (novice, intermediate, advanced, etc.), and good stage direction. It seems to me that people with stage experience have smoother skits and performances overall. Inside jokes or “fan-service” won’t get you an award.

GEN: In your opinion, what makes a perfect costume “walk-on”?

Diana: The best walk-ons are when the cosplayer stays appropriate to their character. Don’t be over-dramatic if your character does not call for it. It’s best to go with a song from the show, video game, or chosen music that makes sense with your character. I tend to like the walk-ons with only music, no lyrics. Be aware that a brief walk-on should still allow enough time for people to take pictures and admire your outfit.

Diana as Baiken from Guilty Gear

GEN: What are some of your biggest pet peeves when it comes to masquerade performances?

Diana: Laughing as she replies, Oh man, so many things! Over-complex skits, bad audio, bad stage direction and positioning, people who have not read the rules of the competition, people not knowing when a joke is dead, overused music and fan-service, the list goes on! But that’s not to say people who do these things won’t walk away with an award, it’s just that we see so many of these offenses at every masquerade.

GEN: Do you have any memorable masquerade moments? Any skit or walk-on that made you go “Wow!”?

Diana: Smiling as she recalls, During Anime Expo 2006, a group called “Underground Cosplay” performed a skit called “The True Power of the Clow”. It started off somewhat slow and dramatic, the costumes were amazing, but the skit seemed like it was nothing special. Suddenly the music changed to the opening theme song to “Captain Planet”, the main character rips off his costume to reveal the blue and red leotard and a hilarious choreographed dance ensued. The crowd went insane and it got a standing ovation. They went on to win “Best of Show” as well as “Judges Award”, even though that caused unnecessary drama.

Diana as Hitomi Kanzaki from “The Vision of Escaflowne”

GEN: Take us back to your most chaotic moment backstage. Where were you? What was going on?

Diana: Oh man…it was Anime Expo 2007 at the Long Beach Convention Center. From the start, we were being stalled by the security of the convention center to even enter the building in order to judge costumes. It was insane. Then during the half-time show, usually a time in which we make important decisions and award placing after we’ve seen all of the skits and walk-ons, a spokesperson for the LBCC informed Kenji (the head of AX Masquerade) that our show was being cut short by literally over an hour. We needed to clear the entire arena within almost a half hour’s time! We were forced to cancel a handful of performances including a drum line and the awards appeared rushed and completely disorganized. It was unfair to us, it was unfair to the cosplayers, and it was unfair to the audience. Let me just say a shout out to Kenji and I hope he knows I will defend him until the day I die! You give 110% effort and did your best with that awful situation! (Ms.Naru: “Let me just say that I was there back-stage along with the insanity as one of the entrants, and it was probably the most chaotic scene I’ve ever experienced. People were FLIPPING out. And rightfully so, the show was nearly ruined because of LBCC’s extreme lack of communication. It haunts me to this day…oh the screams…)

GEN: What do you think of the drama surrounding most masquerades? Specifically the aftermath of judging and the award give aways?

Diana: Drama usually generates from people wanting acknowledgment of their costume or from those who did not receive an award. A lot of people don’t take into account the amount of work and chaos that goes into creating a successful masquerade show. For some reason, judges awards seem to create the most drama. Personally, I base my judges award on a costume or skit that sticks with me, something I make a connection with and leaves a great cosplay impression on me as a judge. I do my best to be accessible to those I judge, I even have an open door policy in which people are free to PM me via Cosplay.com or Email me questions about my judging or why they didn’t win an award. I’ve had people contact me questioning these things and though not everyone can walk away a winner, I do what I can to help them in their future competitions by giving advice or feedback that they may not get elsewhere.

Diana as Heather from “Silent Hill 3″

GEN: Any advice for the cosplay masquerade veteran that just can’t seem to walk away with an award?

Diana: The best advice I can give is that if it’s your intent to win an award, take a look at what you’re not doing correctly. Perhaps you’re not working within your spectrum of experience. Your humor and skit performance may not appeal to the entire crowd, therefore lessening your chances. Re-evaluate your skit and/or walk-on, it’s a good idea to learn from award winners and see what they may have done differently. Don’t start blaming others immediately, but rather look to yourself for improvement.

GEN: Do you have any other thoughts on your cosplay masquerade judging experiences? Where will you be appearing next as a judge?

Diana: With great enthusiasm, she replies, I have a great time every time I do it. I enjoy seeing what people are into and what new challenges they have created for themselves. Seeing what people can come up with challenges me to go further with my own cosplay. I love seeing where the cosplay world currently is and how people have shaped where it is today. I will be appearing at Anime Mexicali and later this year at Anime Expo in Los Angeles.

Diana as Gum from “Jet Set Radio Future”