LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-06 AT 07:02 PM (PDT)
 
I was talking to a friend about the potential of this and I think Pacific Media Expo is the best con to hold a contest like this. This would be like a combination of a karaoke and a cosplay contest in one. People sign up and can sign up individually as say, Ayumi Hamasaki, performing "Evolution." Or a group could sign up as members of Dir en Grey, performing "Yurameki." And this of course is not limited to only j-pop and j-rock but c-pop, k-pop, k-rock, j-urban, etc. The point is cosplaying as the said artist is encouraged and would gain you extra points (like how at Anime Expo's karaoke contest they award cool points for dressing up or having a gimmick). It's not required that you dress up but it's part of channeling the group / artist. Performance is big too. This wouldn't be a lip sync contest. You'd be required to use your own voice to give a great and memorable performance. So points are awarded on that basis, exhibiting strengths of the group or artist, "costume" accuracy, singing, and performance. I'm thinking of USA Musume and how I only get to see them perform every now and again, and this is an opportunity to give other groups and artists and fans of those groups and artists an opportunity to be seen and heard. =)

Hmm, this is a really interesting idea. My largest concern would be that it would end up pulling heavily from the CosFest. We're trying to get that event away from a pure anime cosplay and distracting people interesting in cosplaying famous artists might weaken it.

Mike