COPENHAGEN (AP) 鈥� Business in the front, party in the back.
A packed Danish crowd celebrated on Saturday the much-maligned but enduring mullet hairstyle, defined by very short hair at the front and longer hair at the back.
Denmark鈥檚 raucous 2026 Mullet Championship, presented on an outdoor stage in central Copenhagen, attracted 12 well-coiffed competitors and more than a thousand spectators to the evening鈥檚 鈥渕ane鈥� event.
Organizer Steffen Stiw Weber, a 37-year-old electrician, said the championships, now in their fourth year, began after he had a hair transplant and chose to grow out a mullet.
After realizing he couldn鈥檛 compete in a mullet competition in the United States because he wasn鈥檛 a U.S. citizen, Stiw Weber started his own in Denmark.
鈥淚 was like, OK, I have to do it on my own here in Denmark,鈥� he said while smiling.
Competitors in Saturday鈥檚 championships were evaluated on their cuts鈥� style, uniqueness, and overall performance and 鈥渕ullet moves,鈥� explained judge Bobby Agren.
Contestants were given 60 seconds each to perform on stage to showcase their cuts.
鈥淚 like the finesse, the twist, the nostalgia. I like it if it looks ridiculous or maybe ugly in a beautiful way,鈥� said Agren, who owns two hair salons in Copenhagen.
鈥淚 think in our culture, when everything must 鈥� be perfect on social media and everything like that, I think that鈥檚 why people have to stand out from the crowd,鈥� said Stiw Weber.
The event featured an array of over-the-top performances, including beer-swilling, body-popping, and a live saxophone show. One competitor even wore a mullet haircut styled to resemble the Danish flag.
The crowd screamed and chanted with their energy seemingly feeding directly into the various performers on stage.
After every performance, judges held up scorecards to distribute points to the competitors.
Forty-three-year-old construction worker Thomas Berg eventually took home the top prize after wowing judges by frantically jumping on a trampoline while clad in neon green gym wear. He completed his mullet haircut with an orange headband. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just funny. It鈥檚 just a big party,鈥� said a smiling Berg after collecting his prize. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just nice to be a bit outside the box.鈥�
Though mullets have likely been around longer than there have been barbers, the Oxford English Dictionary cites hip-hop legends the Beastie Boys for helping popularize the term mullet with the song 鈥淢ullet Head鈥� on their 1994 recording 鈥淚ll Communication.鈥�
The short-in-the-front, long-in-the-back coiffure was popularized by ice hockey players and 鈥�80s musicians, but later fell out of favor.
Fashion magazine Vogue reportedly once described the mullet as 鈥渉istory鈥檚 most divisive hairstyle.鈥�
But in recent years, the mullet has seen a global resurgence 鈥� British magazine i-D declared 2020 鈥渢he year of the mullet鈥� as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered hair salons and lockdown-weary citizens let their locks flow.
Numerous mullet competitions are now staged around the world. Belgium hosted the European Mullet Cup last month.
鈥淚t comes back every 20-30 years. There鈥檚 always a circular motion in fashion,鈥� said Agren, the Denmark mullet competition judge.
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