US Champs Class of ‘25
In the past several seasons of figure skating, this particular incarnation of my blog State of the SkateMUSIC has popped up several times a year with deeper dives (or “longer listens,” as I’ve been known to say) into popular and/or classic choices for skating music. From Astor Piazzolla to Hans Zimmer; from “Bolero” to “Rocket Man”... the variety of selections never cease to intrigue me.
But this season, perhaps more than any other, shows how diverse the selections can be– a process that has continued to evolve ever since 2014 (when vocals were permitted in singles and pairs skating music). That’s roughly 10 seasons of learning to hear beyond the Chopin, and Bizet, and Puccini (and vocalizations of such), and find more contemporary musicians than ever– from multiple genres.
So rather than hone in on one or two musical works heard at the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, I’ve created a little primer of over two dozen artists heard in Wichita this past January. While this only includes programs in the Senior division— and a mere fraction of those, at that— I think it’s a worthwhile cross-section of artists and compositions that are neither warhorses (yet) nor moody covers of 80s hits (IYKYK). Read on…
CONTEMPORARY (Non-Classical) ARTISTS-
Do great contemporary music choices need to come from anyone BUT Americans? One might come to that conclusion with the realization that most of these artists are either European (with a disproportionate number from France) or Asian. Except… the American athlete who chose American artists this season— Ilia Malinin— happens to be one of the best competitors in the history of the sport. So much for theories.
The song in question (not the skater’s performance) is linked in each case.
KATE BUSH
Kate Bush’s 1985 single “Running Up That Hill”-- which became her biggest U.S. hit when it was popularized by the TV drama Stranger Things in 2022-- made it to the ice this season thanks in part to Wakaba Higuchi’s free skate. But the British artist’s wrenching ballad “This Woman’s Work” (first heard in 1988) met the skating community soon after vocals were permitted… and was used for Alexa Gasparatto’s SP this season.
DAFT PUNK
The incognito, now-defunct duo from France is one of many outfits best known for creating art by way of their music sampling skills. Chock/Bates showcased Daft Punk’s work with their “Alien” free dance in the 2021-22 Olympic season, but they’re also heard on the TRON movie soundtrack (which was Maxim Naumov’s free skate here) and other capacities, such as “Touch”… which was utilized this season by Samuel Mindra.
LARA FABIAN
Fabian is a Belgian songstress similar in vocal stylings to Dion; her version of “Je Suis Malade” was the one used by Canadian ice dancers Weaver/Poje to great effect. “Broken Vow,” used by Elyce Lin-Gracey for her SP this season, is a song Fabian co-wrote that appeared first in on an album of hers released in 1999.
FALLING IN REVERSE
Ilia Malinin has introduced us (and skating) to some of his personal favorites this season. Rapper NF is the artist behind his SP, while this American rock band, founded by lead vocalist Ronnie Radtke in 2008, gave Malinin his “I’m Not a Vampire” free skate. But take note– Malinin uses the 2021 “Revamped” (get it?? re”VAMP”ed???) edition of the song, which is lushly orchestrated and produced.
(Here’s how the 2011 original sounds in case you’re curious.)
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
Florence Welch and her band have brought powerful pop/rock music to the masses since 2009. But while skaters tend to lean on uptempo tracks like “Cosmic Love” and “Moderation,” pairs skaters Kam/O’Shea instead brought Florence’s cover of the Ben E. King classic “Stand By Me” for their free skate.
HOZIER
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (a.k.a. Hozier) is an Irish singer/songwriter whose monster 2013 hit “Take Me to Church” was used several years back by both Adam Siao Him Fa and the U.S. pairs team of Kayne/O’Shea. But while Hozier re-entered the international spotlight in 2024 with “Too Sweet,” it’s a track from his 2019 album Wasteland, Baby! that became an SP for Liam Kapiekis and a FS for Lindsey Thorngren… that song is called “Movement.”
STELLA JANG
Born in 1991 and active in the music industry for about a decade, Jang is the South Korean singer/songwriter behind the SP of Michelle Lee, who finished 16th at Nationals. The track Lee used is called “Villain,” and is found on Jang’s 2020 album STELLA I.
LAUFEY
Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir (known as Laufey and pronounced LAY-vay) was born in 1999 and is the Icelandic singer/songwriter behind Alysa Liu’s “Promise” SP. The track is from Laufey’s album Bewitched, which won the Grammy for Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2024.
M83
A collection of electronic musicians that has gone through numerous lineups since it started in the early 2000s, M83 has been fronted all along by France’s Anthony Gonzalez. U.S. men’s bronze medalist Camden Pulkinen used two M83 tracks for his free skate this season; the better-known one is “Outro,” which is found on their 2011 release Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
STROMAE
Stromae is a stage name (“maestro” with the syllables reversed) for Belgian singer/songwriter/rapper/producer Paul van Haver (born 1985). While he isn’t a household name in the U.S., Stromae has found international success with a number of singles released since 2010. “L’enfer” (translated as Hell), a European chart-topper that deals with depression and suicidal thoughts, has been successful SP music for Andrew Torgashev two years running and is used by no less than THREE European skaters this season as well.
WOODKID
I feel a deeper dive into Yoann Lemoine (a.k.a. Woodkid) coming on– he’s done so much not just as a musical artist, but a visual one– but for now, just know that the Frenchman that Nathan Chen skated to several years back (“Land of All” FS 2018-19 ) was heard at this year’s Nationals by way of Lucius Kazanecki’s FS to “I Love You.”
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL ARTISTS
Sure, we heard 19th-century legends like Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff… but they were greatly outnumbered by these luminaries-in-waiting from the 20th century.
ARMAND AMAR
French composer Armand Amar (b. 1953) has scored dozens of TV and film projects internationally. “La Terre Vue Du Ciel” (“The Earth From Above”) was one such project; it also came to Olympic ice in 2018 by way of Savchenko/Massot’s gold medal-winning free skate. Jimmy Ma is the one who brought it to Nationals’ ice this year.
OLAFUR ARNALDS
Olafur Arnalds (b. 1986) hails from Iceland and started bringing his brand of ambient/atmospheric pop worldwide in the early 2000s. The Emmy and Grammy-nominated multi-intrumentalist released his first solo album in 2007; “Epilogue,” his piece used in the free dance by Zingas/Kolesnik, was released in 2021.
EZIO BOSSO
Perhaps the contemporary composer on this list best known to skating fans is Italy’s Ezio Bosso (1971-2020), whose piece for piano/violin/cello known as “Rain, in Your Dark Eyes” has been used widely in competition for the past 8-10 years. The pairs team of Kam/O’Shea is the latest U.S. representation, using it for their 2024-25 short program.
BALAZS HAVASI
Born in 1975, Hungarian pianist/composer Balazs Havasi has been heard at previous U.S. Nationals by way of Alysa Liu and Bradie Tennell, both of whom have skated to his piece “The Storm.” This time it was the new U.S. pairs team of Shin/Nagy that did the honors, skating to “Prelude/Age of Heroes.”
ARVO PART
Arvo Part (born in Estonia in 1935) has the distinction of being the most performed living composer in the world between 2011-2018 and again in 2022. “Spiegel im Spiegel” (Mirror in the Mirror), which he wrote in 1978, remains one of his most popular works… and has been skated to by everyone from the Shibutanis to Shoma Uno. This season, “Spiegel” is featured in two different American programs: Green/Parsons (which was heard at Nationals), and Jason Brown (who hopes you will hear it at Worlds in Boston).
YIRUMA
Unlike all the other (European) contemporary composers on this list, Yiruma (b. 1978) hails from South Korea. His recorded solo piano compositions date back to 2001, which is also when he initially recorded “River Flows in You” (first popularized in figure skating by Evgenia Medvedeva and Mariah Bell). Pairs team Shin/Nagy skated their FS to it in the 2024-25 season.
POP/ROCK/R&B CLASSIC ARTISTS
BEATLES- The classic of pop classics, Beatles music (both originals and covers) has been a popular choice off and on since vocals were permitted in skating. And while multiple ice dance teams were lured back to the Beatles well when this season’s rhythm dance was chosen, U.S. pairs skaters Williams/Lever took on “Eleanor Rigby” with a fair amount of success. (The version they used was arranged/performed/produced by Cody Fry.)
JAMES BROWN- As with The Beatles and 60s music, James Brown music became a popular 70s music option for ice dancers this season (second only, I suspect, to disco music in general). While his 1976 hit “Get Up Offa That Thing” was heard more than once during the rhythm dance at U.S. Nationals, Tomoki Hiwatashi brought his mid-70s piece “Superbad” to the short program too.
FLEETWOOD MAC- This band wouldn’t be showing up at elite competitions at all if not for two words: “The Chain.” The Dutch pairs team of Daria Danilove and Michael Tsiba used it last season for their FS; when they kept it for this season, they were hardly the only ones anymore. Among them was American Beck Strommer, who used it for his SP and finished 12th overall.
JANET JACKSON- The Jackson 5 got the nod by some teams this year for the 50s/60s/70s music selection, but it was Janet who got the love during the “street dance” Olympic season (remember Hubbell/Donohue?). And thanks to repeat U.S. Champion Amber Glenn, “This Time” (a deep cut off of her 1993 album Janet) has Miss Jackson in the skating limelight once again.
MADONNA- From the “disco brits” (Fear/Gibson of GBR) to Loena Hendrickx (of BEL, who’s used her music in three different programs), Madonna has become a force to contend with on the ice. At Nationals, her energy was brought to American ice as well… as evidenced by Alex Evans’ free skate to (appropriately enough?) “Frozen” and “Vogue”.
PRINCE- Prince music has seldom met a skating program for which it wasn’t an electrifying match… especially for men (see Yuzuru Hanyu, Jason Brown, and Kevin Aymoz). This time around it was Emmanuel Savary sporting the purple in his costume, returning to competition for the first time in six years with a self-choreographed short program set to “Purple Rain.”
SIMON & GARFUNKEL- Unlike most other artists on this list, 60’s folk/rock duo Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel have made a name for themselves in the skating arena by way of other artists covering them. (The one exception I can think of is Jason Brown’s medley of “Old Friends”/”Bookends”/”Hazy Shade of Winter” from the 2018-19 season.) The most obvious cover that leaps to mind is the band Disturbed’s heavy-metal take on “The Sounds of Silence,” which was released near the end of 2015 and has been used in competition most every season over the past decade. But Chinese pair OGMs Sui/Han brought a contemporary cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to their final competitive free program with great success… and American Liam Kapeikis introduced a Mumford and Sons’ cover of “The Boxer” for his free skate last season, and liked it enough to keep the program for 2024-25.
DONNA SUMMER- I will write more about this in a future post, but there’s never been as much “Summer” in the competitive skating world than this season. And while most of the credit goes to the ice dancers choosing disco-themed RDs, U.S. Silver Medalist Alysa Liu opted for selections from Donna Summer’s 1978 “MacArthur Park Suite” for her free skate– and given that we’ll now see that program at both 4CCs and Worlds, it’s safe to say that the “Queen of Disco” has served Liu’s return to competition quite nicely!
THE WHO- Two classic rock giants entered the elite ice dance world this season. One–Led Zeppelin– will be performed at Worlds by way of Davis/Smolkin (GEO). But the other– The Who– ended its season when the U.S. brother-sister team of Oona & Gage Brown free-danced to “Baba O’Reily” and finished 5th overall.
Are there artists and/or compositions you heard at Nationals that YOU’D like to read more about? Whether mentioned here or not, there’s plenty of benefit in a “longer listen”… just drop a note in the comments!
