This premiere was out of this world!
On Tuesday, March 21, the Syfy channel launched their new series Cosplay Melee. The show is hosted by Community actress Yvette Nicole Brown, where she offers four competitors the chance to win $10,000.
In Tuesday’s episode the viewers were introduced to four competitors. Their first challenge to create a character background and a headpiece that was based on their favorite space odyssey, which they only have eight hours to complete. Along with Brown on the panel are two judges, LeeAnn Vamp, a respected cosplayer and Christian Beckman, who is responsible for creating the props and costumes for big moves as Star Trek and Tron Legacy.
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Fred is a 49-year-old married man with a passion for Star Trek, where he based his ideal of creating the villain Martin Cromwell. Xavier, who is studying to become a teacher, has decided to create his cosplay persona based off the Star Wars franchise. Alicia, decides that her character's backstory will based off the movie Chronicle of Riddick, where she will be a warrior that seeks revenge for the destruction of her home planet due to the Necromongers. Grace, who is an officer of the law, decided to base her character, Polaris, from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
Grace is up for evaluation first, the judges are impressed with the way her helmet looks just like metal, however, Beckman advises that her visor should be clearer. Next in the lineup is Fred, who was having issues with the helmet that he was creating. While Beckman said that the front of the mask was very clean he had issues with the back of the helmet. The judges loved Alicia's headdress and they are almost afraid it has weight to it. Xavier’s design has some comments from Beckman that it’s a bit asymmetrical, but he puts it on and the judges are in love, thus solidifying his advantage in the next challenge. Unfortunately even though Alicia’s headpiece was impressive, it didn’t stand out as much as the other competitors.
During the next two days it, it was up to the competitors to create full cosplay armour and bring their characters to life. Grace used her time to create an amazing laser cannon, while Fred decided on adding a cape and more detail to his jet pack, Xavier realized that most of the competition had weapons so he decided on creating a Vibra spear.
While the judges were impressed with each an every one of their creations Xavier received the cash prize and was crowned the winner of Cosplay Melee for this week's episode.