A raucous Copenhagen crowd cheers Denmark’s 2026 Mullet Championship

COPENHAGEN (AP) — 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’s 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’s “mane” 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’t compete in a mullet competition in the United States because he wasn’t a U.S. citizen, Stiw Weber started his own in Denmark.

“I was like, OK, I have to do it on my own here in Denmark,” he said while smiling.

Competitors in Saturday’s championships were evaluated on their cuts’ style, uniqueness, and overall performance and “mullet moves,” explained judge Bobby Agren.

Contestants were given 60 seconds each to perform on stage to showcase their cuts.

“I like the finesse, the twist, the nostalgia. I like it if it looks ridiculous or maybe ugly in a beautiful way,” said Agren, who owns two hair salons in Copenhagen.

“I think in our culture, when everything must … be perfect on social media and everything like that, I think that’s why people have to stand out from the crowd,” 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. “I think it’s just funny. It’s just a big party,” said a smiling Berg after collecting his prize. “It’s just nice to be a bit outside the box.”

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 “Mullet Head” on their 1994 recording “Ill Communication.”

The short-in-the-front, long-in-the-back coiffure was popularized by ice hockey players and ’80s musicians, but later fell out of favor.

Fashion magazine Vogue reportedly once described the mullet as “history’s most divisive hairstyle.”

But in recent years, the mullet has seen a global resurgence — British magazine i-D declared 2020 “the year of the mullet” 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.

“It comes back every 20-30 years. There’s always a circular motion in fashion,” said Agren, the Denmark mullet competition judge.

Competitor Aksel Toft points to his mullet, styled to resemble the Danish flag, at Denmark's Mullet Championship in central Copenhagen, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Competitor Martin Sedolf performs as character pro wrestler "Benny Bacchus", at Denmark's Mullet Championship in central Copenhagen, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Competitors at Denmark's Mullet Championship in Copenhagen, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Judges hold scorecards at Denmark's Mullet Championship in central Copenhagen, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

A competitor looks on during Denmark's Mullet Championship, in Copenhagen, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

An attendee at Denmark's Mullet Championship looks on in Copenhagen, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan early Monday claimed victory in a general election seen as a test of Russia's influence in the South Caucasus state, as the latest preliminary results showed his governing Civil Contract party came first with 49.82% of the vote.

Pashinyan and the governing Civil Contract party were looking for a strong mandate for a new geopolitical course for Armenia, including distancing the former Soviet republic from Moscow, seeking to join the European Union and deepening cooperation with the West.

Casting his vote on Sunday, Pashinyan said that the country would continue strengthening its independence, statehood, democracy and rule of law.

“The European Union is our main partner in democratic reform implementation, and we will continue that path,” he said.

Pashinyan’s main opponent, Samvel Karapetyan, is a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and is under house arrest for allegedly advocating for the government’s overthrow. Karapetyan, whose pro-Russian Strong Armenia bloc was the runner-up with 23.28% of the vote, has rejected the charge as politically motivated.

The Strong Armenia party seeks to develop close business ties with Moscow and has accused Pashinyan of attempting to start a war with the Kremlin.

Richard Giragosian, who heads the independent Regional Studies Center think tank in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, described the vote as a “pivotal election” that “stands as a referendum on the future of the country.”

“This election provides a fresh mandate on sustaining the positive momentum of diplomatic engagement, normalization of relations with neighbors, and the continued diversification of Armenia’s security partners,” Giragosian told the AP on Monday.

Russian officials have hit Armenian exports with a barrage of restrictions in recent weeks. President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have made thinly veiled threats comparing Armenia’s path to that already taken by Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia.

Meanwhile, Armenian investigators said they issued six arrest warrants for members of Karapetyan's Strong Armenia party the day before the election, accusing them of buying votes. The nation’s Central Election Committee confirmed Saturday that the party could run after a member of another opposition party, Republic, appealed for Strong Armenia to be barred over corruption allegations.

Karapetyan was escorted to a polling station on Sunday, and briefly spoke to the media before returning home.

“The Armenian people will make the right choice and Armenia will finally have a legitimate government,” he said.

Armenia’s National Assembly must consist of at least 101 members who are elected for five-year terms. Parties must win at least 4% of the vote to take a seat, while blocs made up of three or more parties must hit 8%.

According to Armenia’s Central Election Commission, the Hayastan (Armenia) bloc led by former President Robert Kocharyan is also set to enter parliament, receiving 9.93% of the vote.

The Prosperous or Blossoming Armenia party, led by pro-Russia business owner Gagik Tsarukyan, polled at 3.99% according to the latest preliminary results, just short of the 4% threshold. Earlier preliminary results had given Prosperous Armenia the requisite 4% of the vote.

Turnout stood at 58.94%, according to the latest announcement by the election commission.

Preliminary results from the election commission suggested the governing party has won 61 seats in the National Assembly, or 58.1% of all mandates.

“This is enough to form a government without coalition partners, elect a prime minister, adopt the government program and state budget, as well as adopt most of the laws and parliamentary decisions independently,” said Giragosian, the analyst.

At the same time, he added, the result would not give Pashinyan the parliamentary majority needed to secure constitutional amendments without a referendum.

Opposition parties have also strongly criticized Pashinyan for attempting to normalize relations with neighboring Azerbaijan. The Armenian leader and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev initialed a document on moving toward a peace deal at the White House alongside U.S. President Donald Trump in August.

Armenia and Azerbaijan were locked in a decades-long conflict over the fate of Karabakh, a breakaway region that had been controlled for decades by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia. Azerbaijan took control of the entire Karabakh region during a rapid offensive in 2023.

Pashinyan announced on Monday that Armenia intends to write the peace deal with Azerbaijan into law in the near future.

“It is important to confirm that this is a truly transformative project, as Armenia is becoming a crossroads of the world,” Pashinyan said at a meeting of a parliamentary committee on state and legal affairs. His remark was a potential reference to the country's strategic geographical position, bridging Europe's hungry energy markets and Central Asia's gas fields.

Top EU officials congratulated Pashinyan following the tightly contested race, seen in Europe as a litmus test of Russia’s influence.

“The spirit of the Velvet Revolution you led in 2018 is alive and well,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday in a social media post, referring to the mass protests sparked by Pashinyan's activism that unseated Armenia's former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.

“We deeply value our partnership with a democratic Armenia that is drawing ever closer to Europe. Armenia can count on us," von der Leyen added.

European Council President António Costa also congratulated Pashinyan.

“Together, the EU and Armenia are building stronger links between people and creating new opportunities in energy, trade, and digitalization. Our strong partnership is an investment in a more peaceful and prosperous future for the region as a whole," he said in a post on X.

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AP writer Sam McNeil contributed from Brussels.

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An earlier version of this story wrongly stated that according to an earlier announcement by Armenia's election commission, turnout in the general election on Sunday stood at 97%. The correct figure at that time was 59.97%.

Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan speaks to the media after voting at a polling station during a parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

A member of an election commission prepares the ballots while waiting for voters at a polling station, during a parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks to journalists after voting at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks at his Armenia Ruling Civil Contract party headquarters after parliamentary elections in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)