Cosplay Melee

*Cosplay Melee*
Cosplay Melee
Genre	Reality television; Cosplay;
Judges	Yvette Nicole Brown; LeeAnna Vamp; Christian Beckman;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Jay Peterson; Todd Lubin;
Running time	42 minutes
Production company	Matador Content
Original release
Network	Syfy
Release	March 21 –; April 25, 2017

Cosplay Melee is a Syfy channel reality television show executive produced by Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin, which was announced in February 2017 and premiered its first season of six episodes on March 21, 2017. The series is hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, and follows cosplayers as they put their skills to the test. Cosplay Melee is Syfy's second cosplay-competition series, after the two-season series Heroes of Cosplay in 2013.

Premise

The series is hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, and follows four cosplayers each week as they put their skills to the test as they create innovative cosplays, having to not only create the costume, but also act the part of the character for a realistic performance. Guiding and critiquing the contestants are international cosplayer LeeAnna Vamp, and Christian Beckman, the costume creator for The Hunger Games and Tron: Legacy. At the end of every episode each week, the winner of that particular competition is awarded with $10,000.^[1]

Contestants

In each episode, there are two rounds. The first requires the contestants to make a small test piece, and one is eliminated and one receives a bonus for the second round, where they create their full characters, and a contestant is selected as the winner of the episode.

#	Name	Occupation	Cosplay source	Result
1^[2]	Alicia Bellamy	Costume Designer	Chronicles of Riddick	Eliminated
	Xavier Conley	Chef and Prop Builder	Star Wars	Won both rounds
	Grace Herbert	Police Officer	Guardians of the Galaxy
	Fred Reed	Miniatures Painter	Star Trek
2^[3]	Edgar Mayoral	Blacksmith	N/A	Eliminated
	Jennifer Rose	Professional cosplayer	Baratheon
	Emily Schmidt	Assisted living activities director	Wildling	Won both rounds
	Ruth Stetson	Professional cosplayer	White Walker
3^[4]	Garrick Backer	Professional cosplayer	Demon
	Marty LeGrow	Children's entertainer	Angel
	Lisa Rosenberg	Professional cosplayer	Demon	Won both rounds
	Jesseca Thaxton	Fashion designer	Angel	Eliminated
4^[5]	Joshua Brown	Professional cosplayer	Fallout	Won first round
	Caitlyn Culpepper	Small boutique	Overwatch	Eliminated
	Becka Noel	Costume designer	Star Trek Online
	Steven Smith	Prop maker	Destiny	Won second round
5^[6]	Aaron Bowholtz	Tattoo artist	Ancient Egypt
	Tuwanda Chandler	Seamstress	Peace, love, positivity	Eliminated
	James Fipps	Graphic designer	Vigilante guardian	Won first round
	Dhareza Maramis	Creative director	Military, cats	Won second round
6^[7]	Paul Esquer	Prop maker	.hack	Won first round
	Jacqueline Goehner	Professional cosplayer	Record of Lodoss War	Won second round
	Meesha LeDoux	Veterinarian assistant	Monster Girl series	Eliminated
	Jessie Pridemore	Professional seamstress	Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Episodes

No.	Title	Cosplay Theme	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
1	"A Night at the Space Opera"	Space opera	March 21, 2017 (2017-03-21)	0.521^[8]
Themes: Alicia: Chronicles of Riddick. Xavier: Star Wars. Grace: Guardians of the Galaxy. Fred: Star Trek. Round 1: Alicia: headpiece. Xavier: X-Wing pilot helmet. Grace: helmet, goggles and respirator: Fred: helmet, respirator and visor. Eliminated: Alicia. Winner: Xavier. Round 2: Xavier: Crime Lord. Grace: Bounty Hunter. Fred: Militant Dictator. Winner: Xavier.
2	"Throne Off"	Game of Thrones	March 28, 2017 (2017-03-28)	0.532^[9]
Themes: Edgar: Wildling. Jennifer: Elvish. Emily: Stark. Ruth: Targaryen rival. Round 1: Edgar: Sword. Jennifer: Crossbow. Emily: Flail. Ruth: Shield. Eliminated: Edgar. Winner: Emily. Round 2: Jennifer: Baratheon. Emily: Wildling. Ruth: White Walker. Winner: Emily.
3	"Angels and Demons"	Angelic and devilish characters	April 4, 2017 (2017-04-04)	0.449^[10]
Themes: Garrick: Demon. Marty: Angel. Lisa: Demon. Jesseca: Angel. Round 1: Garrick: Metal wings. Marty: Wings made of the Bible. Lisa: Angel of pestilence wings. Jesseca: stone wings. Eliminated: Jesseca. Winner: Lisa. Round 2: Garrick: Former angel banished from heaven. Marty: Fallen angel recruited by Lucifer. Lisa: Servant of pestilence, horseman of the apocalypse. Winner: Lisa.
4	"War Games"	High-tech futuristic video games	April 11, 2017 (2017-04-11)	0.398^[11]
Themes: Joshua: Fallout. Caitlyn: Overwatch. Becka: Star Trek Online. Steven: Destiny. Round 1: Joshua: Multi-weapon arm. Caitlyn: Flamethrower. Becka: "The Genesis", funnels knowledge. Steven: Plasma cannon. Eliminated: Caitlyn. Winner: Joshua. Round 2: Joshua: Synth reprogrammed by U.S. army. Becka: Creator and destroyer of life. Steven: Warlock necromancer. Winner: Steven.
5	"Superheroes"	Superheroes without superpowers	April 18, 2017 (2017-04-18)	0.401^[12]
Themes: Aaron: Ancient Egypt. Tuwanda: Peace, love, positivity. James: Guardian. Dhareza: Military, cats. Round 1: Aaron: Gear emblem. Tuwanda: Peace, lightning, heart emblem. James: Shield emblem. Dhareza: Armored cat emblem. Eliminated: Tuwanda. Winner: James. Round 2: Aaron: Egyptologist turned defender of humanity. James: Ex-con turned crime fighter. Dhareza: Vigilante avenging death of cat. Winner: Dhareza.
6	"Animelee"	Anime	April 25, 2017 (2017-04-25)	0.420^[13]
Themes: Paul: .hack. Jacqueline: Record of Lodoss War. Meesha: Monster Girl series. Jessie: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Round 1: Paul: Beetle gauntlet. Jacqueline: Fire flower. Meesha: Dragon skull staff. Jessie: Winged heart wand. Eliminated: Meesha. Winner: Paul. Round 2: Paul: Delinquent thief, con artist. Jacqueline: Moe fairy, protector of the forest. Jessie: Heroic schoolgirl with magical powers. Winner: Jacqueline.

Production

The series was announced in February 2017 by Heather Olander, the senior Vice President of Syfy.^[1]

Christian Beckman, a judge on the series, has done costume work for Tron: Legacy, The Hunger Games, The Last Airbender, Star Trek, Where the Wild Things Are, War of the Worlds and I Am Legend, as well as having been part of the team that created the mechanical arms for Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2.^[14]

Broadcast

Cosplay Melee premiered its first season of six episodes in the U.S. on March 21, 2017 at 10/9c on Syfy.^[1]^[15] The series premiered on June 13, 2017 in Canada on Space.^[16]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Cosplayers Put Their Skills to the Test in Syfy's Newest Competition Series, "Cosplay Melee"". The Futon Critic. February 16, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
^ "Episode 1: Contestants Personal Portfolios". Syfy. Accessing archiving of the slides requires scrolling to "Next" and clicking through individual slides. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
^ "Episode 2: Contestants Personal Portfolios". Syfy. Accessing archiving of the slides requires scrolling to "Next" and clicking through individual slides. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
^ "Episode 3: Contestants Personal Portfolios". Syfy. Accessing archiving of the slides requires scrolling to "Next" and clicking through individual slides. Archived from the original on April 9, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
^ "Episode 4: Contestants Personal Portfolios". Syfy. Accessing archiving of the slides requires scrolling to "Next" and clicking through individual slides. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
^ "Episode 5: Contestants Personal Portfolios". Syfy. Accessing archiving of the slides requires scrolling to "Next" and clicking through individual slides. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
^ "Episode 6: Contestants Personal Portfolios". Syfy. Accessing archiving of the slides requires scrolling to "Next" and clicking through individual slides. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 22, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.21.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 29, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.28.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 5, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.4.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 5, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 12, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.11.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 12, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 19, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.18.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 26, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.25.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
^ Rosenfeld, Laura (March 22, 2017). "Who Is Christian Beckman? The 'Cosplay Melee' Judge Has Made His Mark On Hollywood". Bustle. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
^ "Shows A-Z - cosplay melee on syfy". The Futon Critic. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
^ "CTV Sci-Fi Channel".