Earlier today at Takashimaya Square, a superhero battle of a different sort took place.
20 contestants came together on stage for the first-ever cosplay competition of Batman and Gotham City characters. The event was the last of many events held this year as part of this year's special
Batman 75th Anniversary celebration. (
Click here for a previous article on this.)
There was also a replica of the 1989 Batmobile on display beside the stage, which captured a lot of admiration from Batman fans - young and old alike.
Red Dot Diva was at the cosplay event to give moral support to a couple of friends who were participating in the competition.
@Sarahcoldheart was there as the current version of Batgirl, and
Raymond Xperia Chan was all suited up as Batman.
Just before the event kicked off, she bumped into fellow geek blogger, action figure customizer and ardent DC comics supporter
Jedd Jong. As expected, he had brought his customized action figures with him.
Accompanying Jedd for today were 1989 Keaton Batman, and unmasked Catwoman! Of course,
Red Dot Diva had to molest action figure Batman's biceps. *
grin*
Very promptly at 1 PM, the event host Juliana came on stage to introduce the judges for the competition. They were
Wallace Tay from Pacific Licensing Studios,
Bernard Ang from GnB Comics, and
Reno Tan from Movie Mania.
After which, the cosplay contestants were introduced on stage, one after the other. Unfortunately,
Red Dot Diva cannot remember all of the cosplayer names (sorry!) but there were a few who really stood out.
The first few contestants were hamming it up with their stage presence, especially
Scarecrow. His costume wasn't much but he was going around spreading his fear toxin via aerosol spray can.
Pzzt psszzt. Red Dot Diva thought he was hilarious.
Then, there was a really good and pretty rare cosplay of a Stephanie Brown version of
Robin. Female represent, YEAH!
Red Dot Diva learnt that the cosplayer was from Hong Kong and she came all the way to
Red Dot Island for the competition! WOW. Talk about dedication!
One of
Red Dot Diva's favourite was what she calls Harvey Quinn -- or
genderbend Harley Quinn. For one thing, there were BICEPS, yo! And also, Harvey Quinn certainly had a lot of bad boy stage presence.
The other two who did their poses well were young, svelte
Nightwing and hunky
Red Hood.
@Sarahcoldheart was cute as ever being
Batgirl. She was the one of the most resonant and energetic on stage. And that's even after taking into consideration that prior to the cosplay contest, she ran for the 10km Standard Chartered Marathon bright and early in the morning!
As for the two Batman cosplays,
Red Dot Diva liked both Jacen's and Raymond's versions. She can't decide which!
Many of the others seemed a little awed by the number of onlookers somehow, and didn't stay still to pose long enough for the audience to soak in their presence. The DC52 Joker had a really cool cosplay getup but he seemed a little shy. (Note to new and aspiring cosplayers: Be confident, hold your poses, and strut it on stage!)
The judges were not the only ones deciding on the Top 3 winners. The audience had a chance to cast their votes on site as well. After a few minutes tabulating the results, the final 3 were Batman (Jacen Khoo), Red Hood and Steph Robin!! Congratulations!
Even for those who did not win, they looked like they were having fun. Which was what geeky cosplay is all about, isn't it?
Here's another look of all the contestants with the judges: (OK, so... Gotham City Police dude looks a little down in the dumps, but then again, patrolling the streets of Gotham City is a tough job.)
Just when one thinks it's safe after the cosplay competition had officially ended, there was more mayhem to be seen.
Out of nowhere,
Nurse Joker appeared. After making a very tentative truce with Batman, they posed for a photo op.
And Harvey Quinn was caught throwing a mini tantrum and about to take it out on the Batmobile....
Good thing, the Bat Family were all there to save the day! Even the Baby ones!
By the way, special mention to Victoria, who was in a really pretty Batgirl (animated cartoon version) costume but decided not to participate because of minor "wardrobe malfunction". Still, she attracted a lot of attention with her unusual costume. That was because many were unfamiliar with this particular version of Batgirl, and a few even called her BatMummy. Yes. You heard it right. BAT MUMMY. Is anyone going to do an Egyptian alternate universe for Batgirl yet?
Soon, everyone had kind of dispersed in their own groups or gone off to remove their costumes. But... there was still one more thing
Red Dot Diva wanted to do before she headed home.
A
Batman and Catwoman "Meet and Greet" was scheduled to take place at the same stage at 4 PM. That was still 1.5 hours away. So, after wandering around Takashimaya shopping for Christmas trimmings and much needed sustenance,
Red Dot Diva returned to stage side to get a good vantage point.
There was a long line of excited children waiting for the appearance, and soon all the available floor space in front of the stage were taken up by a sea of eager faces.
When showtime was up, Catwoman was the first to appear. She slinked across the stage, cracking her leather whip to very good effect.
Red Dot Diva thought a few grown men possibly purred at the sight of her too.
Tall and buff Batman then joined her on stage. He was a uber-friendly kind of Batman, waving to the kids and crowd. There was a chance to take photos (no selfies though!) with the two characters, so
Red Dot Diva practically dived into the queue. From what she saw, she was the only non-parent in line for photos. Hahaha. Not shy, lor.
But since
Red Dot Diva is an evil minx, she thinks she fits right into the Bat-Cat family. Yes? ;)
