Olympic figure skating music is downright awful

by on February 15, 2010 | 36 Comments

Uh oh, uhoh uhoh... Uh oh, uhoh uhoh... Break it down.It may be the 2010 Olympics, but the music selection for figure skating is clearly trapped in the past. While the athletic skill of ice skating has evolved dramatically over the years (take your double axel laziness and go home, the triple axel standard will eventually herald the quadruple axel kickflip), it seems the music chosen for the skaters to choreograph their routines is “safe” and uninspired.

Let me give you a few examples of what passes for current music taste: The German pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy dressed up in harlequin and chose “Send in the Clowns” originally composed in 1973. A pleasant piece, but rather boring and not very energetic. Or how about The Canadians Jessica Dube and partner Bryce Davison who chose the title song from the 2000 movie Requiem for a Dream — a fairly recent song that’s still a decade old. Why bother mentioning the litany of 18th and 19th century classical pieces that make it less of an athletic competition and more of a string of ballet performances?

I know it’s a bit rude to say that these music choices are bland, considering how dedicated these athletes are to their craft, but is it too much to wonder if maybe their choreographers can put down the phonograph and pick up an iPod with some recent dance music with more than 70 beats per minute? Bad Romance by Lady Gaga or even some Daft Punk, Nine Inch Nails or Black Eyed Peas. JaQuel Knight (Beyonce’s choreographer) could assist in dance routines. That would be a musical ice performance that would surely wake up the crowd (and perhaps the judges).

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  • Lea

    Really, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov skated last night?? Dude, he died of a heart attack in 1995. You may want to do a little research and know something before you post.

  • Sara

    If you consider orchestral music to be without "taste" or "uninspired", then you are horribly mistaken. There is still a very large audience for orchestral music and if you would give it a closer listen, I think you might agree that there is just as much passion that went into making that music as there is in the skaters' routine. I am only 18 and recognized Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade from the routine of USA's pair Denney and Barrett. I am a huge fan of a lot of contemporary music, but what's wrong with the past? There would be no present without the past.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/stephenvandyke stephenv

      Orchestral music is fine and I have no problem with historical music being used, it just seems like there is a line that the trainers/skaters are refusing to cross when it comes to choreographing "pop" music. It's safe and unoriginal.

      They spend years working on routines to showcase their skills to a massive audience, it seems obvious that they could incorporate living musicians to write songs just for them. I can't think of an artist who wouldn't leap at the chance to debut a new single on the Olympic stage (even a living orchestral composer).

      • Sara

        Touche. When you put it that way, it seems a lot more reasonable. One would think that more recent artists would love the opportunity to compose something for the Olympic stage. I don't really consider the orchestral music to be safe, though…or even historical, even though it is from the past. Orchestras all around the world are still rehearsing and performing these works daily.

        I do agree with you, though. Actually, I think one pair did their routine to "Piano Fantasy", which is a composition of a very young William Joseph. And like you said, one pair used the theme from Requiem for a Dream. I guess it just depends on what the team is going for, but I still would not say that using orchestral music is being safe.

        But who knows, perhaps one day there will be an olympic Lady Gaga routine, haha. I don't know too much about figure skating, but I'I would guess that there is a lot more use of contemporary music on the lower levels of competitive skating.

        • chelsey

          Johnny Weir (USA) did a routine to Lady Gaga's Poker Face at the US Open. you can find it on youtube

    • janet

      Are you too young to remember Torvil and Dean from England? They did their routine to Ravels "Bolero" and did moves nobody else had ever done…and got straight 6's across the board! They set the bar for things to come. that music was perfect for their program.

  • Frodo Big Guns

    Thank you for identifying the song used by the Canadian couple. I knew it had been used for a movie trailer but could not remember which. An online search confirms my suspicion that the Requiem for a Dream theme, known as "Lux Aeterna", (Eternal Light?) was used in several other movies and or movie trailers, including the trailer for "The Two Towers", which I probably watched 50 times while anxiously waiting for the film's release.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Earsucker Roberta

    I can't wait until the skaters bust out with music from this decade already. It was a snoozefest! I know that they are all going for the technical points and that has to be hard enough, but could you imagine them skating to Gaga? That would be awesome and would wake everyone up, for sure. This needs to happen.

  • Eileen

    Do you know the piece of music that Bazarova and Larionov skated to in their short program this year at the Olympics. Thanks.

  • Marie

    FYI,
    1. Skaters at the international level of competitive figure skating are prohibited from use of vocal music at this point in time.
    2. Choreography and Interpretation are 2 of the 5 component scores. Using a variety of music selections along with tempo changes gives the choreographer and skater’s the ability to show a variety of movement which makes the performance much more interesting. One may appreciate a Lady Gaga performance but it is unrealistic for use by a skater for more than an exhibition piece. The focus on the sport of figure skating is still sport.

  • Vomere

    Even some neo classical symphonic metal groups would work… I.E nightwish or within temptation, personally I would love to see them skate to Crimson Tide Deep Blue sea from nightwish, Walking in the air, or gethsemane…. or Within Temptations "Mother Earth" or "Stand my Ground" would be awesome!

  • Lauren

    I agree with both the argument for new music and still incorporating amazing orchestral works into pieces, depending on the dance style. actually, ice dance is a bit more interesting when it comes to music. Pairs has ALWAYS seemed mired in the past–my least favorite event due to it's reliance on the same old tricks where every routine is essentially the same tricks over and over and very little innovation.

    That being said, there are actually rules against using music with lyrics in pairs, men's and ladies figure skating. Only ice dancing is allowed to use music with a beat and lyrics-they are penalized otherwise. Just food for thought.

    Despite that, with an ocean of classical music to choice from, most of the chosen orchestral works are SO overdone. How many times will a woman skate to Carmen before someone says, "Let's try something new." Why not bust out some lesser known Ravel or something?

    • John

      Hi Lauren,
      Did you see the mens short programme yesterday?
      Yes the music was same old same old – then the US skater Vaughn Chipeur came on – with the best music I've heard for ages – just for info, the track was called: Come On Baby by Joe Satriani.

      • Doug

        FYI, Chipeur is a Canadian skater, not a US skater.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/stephenvandyke stephenv

      Excluding lyrics makes perfect sense as it would probably distract (and the speakers would make it sound garbled), but that doesn't mean an instrumental version couldn't be used.

  • karl

    I agree the music needs updating, but even more so does the judging. Plushenko's short program was not the best I saw, did not have any passion in comparison to others and should never have gotten as high a score. Even the last competitor (from the Czech Rep.) had a better program…getting better scores because you can do a quadruple even though the rest of your program sucks is not right in my opinion.

    • Julia

      Plushenko's scores have been inflated for years (he didn't deserve the marks he got in Turino, either – he deserved to win, but did not deserve the marks he got). He's gotten used to that, and he counted on it. That's why he spent so much time whining that he didn't win. The new scoring system is better about that, but is by no means perfect. There is no way Plushenko's program component scores should have been in the same ballpark as Evan's, let alone the same final total (which they were).

  • MysticWeasel

    Wait..Is it just me or is anybody else amazed by the fact that there has been an actual increase in the lack of Manly in this sport? Just when coaches started convincing kids that maybe it was a stereotype that figure skating is a gay guy only sport in the US. Along comes Johnny Quest Weir, and blam. 90% of the boys decide to play hockey.

    I felt like I was watching a bad Will Farrell movie.

    And yes the music did not seem that awesome.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/stephenvandyke stephenv

      Wait… you mean the pink and black glittery corset outfit is *not* hetero style?

  • Susan

    I'd like to know the music used by several competitors…is there a site listing the performers with their music? No? Well then, can anyone help me with at least these: 1. Bazarova & Lariyonov / freestyle pairs 2. Dube & Davison / short program pairs 3. Denis Ten / the first piece in his long program. Thanx in advance for any help.

    • DHedrick

      Go to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics website. Click on the figure skating tab. Then click on the event you want to check on. This will bring up the list of skaters. Find the one you want and click on the plus sign on the far right. This will show their scores and the music used.

    • janet lamont

      me,too..I would like to know the music Denis Ten skated to in the long program…the first piece. IF you find out, please email me….thanks so much!

      • O.sweetheart

        The one Ten used on the 2010 winter olympics was entitled "Sing, sing, sing"

  • jim

    who performed the music that denis ten used?

  • michelle

    I would also like to know the music that Denis Ten used. I can’t find it anywhere.

  • Laura

    Does anyone know the piece that I believe one of the Canadians used? It was a piece called "Sunrise" that was so beautiful! If anyone knows, please let me know!

  • Carol

    The piece of music that Bazarova and Larionov skated to is called "Sadness". It is a beautiful song. Does anyone know the name of the artist who recorded it?

  • sal

    Earsucker, you list the compositions for Denis Ten but not the performers. There are many, many versions of both these songs. Any idea of the performers?

  • Drachir

    Thanks for that Requiem for a Dream title. I have always wondered what that tune was called. BTW it is fantastically beautiful and perfectly suited for figure skating.

  • The Shadow

    Argh, I'm so tired of people wanting to inject their mainstream music into every single thing. Classical music has its place and is better for broad appeal, which makes it more versatile (notice how it can fit into any movie genre too).

  • teacherlady

    I thought the music was sad and depressing. Can a skater only emote to whiny violin music. Some songs sounded like the background music to a Holocost movie. The crowd always seemed to respond to music that was recognizable.

  • Grace

    Classical music is not old and out dated, and definitely not dead. Classical music can evoke emotion like no other style. The reason it doesn't have lyrics is so that it can be interpreted in many ways, it can connect to many people in many situations. It has no language other than passion, so any person anywhere can understand it. Earsucker, you mentioned 18 and 19th century works, but there were plenty of modern (as in present day) composers used too, William Joseph for example. He wrote 'Piano Fantasy' which was played during Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang's short program. Another example was Yann Tiersen, who is a French composer who has also written songs in rock and pop genres. You probably decided at some point as you grew up that classical music was uncool or boring, and have since then written off every song you've heard from that genre as dumb before you got past the intro. I'm not some old creep with no life writing this, im a sixteen year old girl. I have a social life and play sports and go to high school. I play violin. I am in an international touring orchestra. You would appreciate classical music if you actually listened to it, or recognized the work it takes to put together. I love to listen to Lady Gaga and Beyonce as much as the next teenage girl, but while those songs are fun to listen to, classical music is infinitely more intricate. It takes years to learn an instrument, and months to put together pieces like they were playing during the Olympics. You should at least *attempt* to listen to and appreciate it before you bash it. If you still can't relate, you can at least respect that it's beyond your maturity level and move on to bashing something you comprehend.

  • Julia

    They can't include lyrics, so the choices are limited. Some have done more modern music – Pirates of the Carribean, can hardly be called 'old'. If you mean pop music, that is frequently seen in exhibitions and after they "turn pro" (and by the way Johnny Weir DOES skate to Lady Gaga, just not in competition, because he can't). There have been some amazing performances to classical music (Bolero was one of the most amazing ice dance performances of all time; Gordeeva & Grinkov's Vocalise is one of the most unique and beautiful skating performances I've ever seen). I just wish the ladies would mix it up and not always use slow and sweet classical. I loved Mirai Nagasu's short program – Pirates of the Carribean. I'd love to see more women mix it up with powerful classical music rather than cute and sweet over and over and over again.

  • moi

    I think its funny how the article was posted about how crappy and boring Classical music was, and everyone commenting is making requests for song titles: ) Just proves how wrong earsucker is.

  • jbx3

    why dont u try skating to a bunch of beating drums and guitar riffs for 4 and a half minutes straight . it sounds HORRIBLE without lyrics . classical music sounds just fine