THE FINNISH COSPLAY CHAMPIONS 2017
Lisa Poutavirta calls back to when she won the Finnish Cosplay Championships in 2017. “I remember hearing my mother cheering through the audience, she was watching me compete for the first time.” she says.
Lisa feels that the championship very nicely marks the most active time of her cosplay hobby but it also encouraged her to believe in her own skills and start her own company Lisan Otuspaja. These days she makes fursuits and mascot costumes professionally, so she doesn't have much time for her own costumes. But someday she will get back up on a stage with a costume that combines the skills she’s gained from work, she declares.
Lisa recalls how during the competition day walking around Game Expo with a couple of other competitors eased the tension they felt and they ended up buying matching plushies that day. The plushies are still a nice memory of that day. After the event I was on two different competition trips: Cosplay World Masters in Portugal and Nordic Cosplay Championships in Sweden. Both trips were good experiences that she has warm memories of. But the most important thing she remembers from those times is the importance of an assistant in big cosplay competitions. There were times she surely would have been completely lost without a friend.
For the future champions Lisa has a further piece of advice: “On representative trips, it's a great idea to have a good friend on the trip who knows what to do if problems arise. Go through possible bad situations in advance and decide on what to do. Research the destination and the event together.”
Photo: Mikael Peltomaa
Lunatar and Jatek won the Finnish Cosplay Championship 2017 in the group category. The winning costumes were Mercy and Tracer from the video game Overwatch. The costumes have been worn multiple times ever since.
The day of the competition wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for the pair. During their live performance a prop malfunctioned but they were quick to adapt and carried on with the show as if nothing happened. So they speak from experience when they say: "Don't worry about making a mistake on stage, it happens to everyone. Anything can happen and a small blunder won't ruin the whole thing."
In their competition year, the groups didn't get to go on a competition trip abroad, but Lunatar and Jatek still got awarded a prize trip to J-Popcon in Denmark and they both say it was a really fun experience!
Photo: Mikael Peltomaa
Nina also known as Nianmaho was the first winner of the Cosplay Photograph of the Year award in 2017! Back then Nina was volunteering as a cosplay assistant in the backstage area of the competition and wasn’t really thinking of the award ceremony. She was simply working and just about to respond to an interval act performer’s questions when the competition manager Miro whisked her away and onto the stage. However even with the trophy in hand and posing or the cameras she wasn’t fully aware of having won 1st place. Soon the pieces fell into place and after that she cried a great deal.
She created the photograph in a relaxed way and free of any pressure to succeed. The main emphasis was not on the competition. She describes the day: “I’m proud of my model Saara and of my assistant Hapsu. We made a well balanced team and I found working together easy and comfortable. The scream was actually Saara’s idea.”
For Nina, the trophy represents victory over insecurity regarding herself and her own skills and reminds her of the courage required to walk her own path, at her own pace. She also suggests that the cup-shape works as a pretty good container for a victory drink perhaps enjoyed together with the model!
Photo: Nianmaho Model: Saaraz_cosplay