For the first time ever, Olympic figure skaters are allowed perform to music with lyrics at the Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, due to a recent rule change. Traditionally, skaters were only allowed to perform to instrumental versions of songs during their routines, i.e. classical or jazz music.
The International Skating Union adopted this new rule in order to appeal to a younger audience, and when the skating competition began on Thursday night, social media definitely took notice — especially when German skater Paul Fentz performed to Paul Anka’s jazzy take on Oasis‘ “Wonderwall.”
Meanwhile, Eric Radford of Canada, along with his partner Meagan Duhamel, skated to a cover of U2’s “With or Without You.” In an interview, Radford said the song “resonated so strongly with what we were going through.”
“I think that bringing this different dimension kind of opens doors for skaters that weren’t there before,” Radford said. “It’s probably one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a skater,” he said.
In light of this new rule, skaters have incorporated music of all genres into their routines, with Oasis, Ed Sheeran, Mariah Carey and The Beatles (along with some more traditional classical numbers) used in just the first weekend of competition alone. As skaters take the frozen stage throughout this year’s Winter Olympics, follow along with Billboard as we keep track of all the pop songs used during the 2018 Olympics figure skating/ice dancing performances. (Note: Due to time zone differences, all dates are when competitions aired in the U.S.)
Ice Dance (Free Dance)
Feb. 19
Canada, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir-music from Moulin Rouge
France, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Crizeron- “Piano Sonata,” ‘Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven
USA, Alex and Maia Shubutani, “Paradise” by Coldplay
USA Madison Hubbel and Zachary Donohue- “Across the Sky” by Rag N’ Bone Man and “Caught Out in the Rain” by Beth Hart
OAR Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev- “Oblivion” by Beethoven’s Five Secrets
Italy, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte- La Vita E Bella (soundtrack) by Piovani
USA Madison CHock and Evan Bates, “Imagine” by John Lennon
Canada, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier- James Bond Medley
Italy, CHarlene Guignard and Marci Fabbri- “Exogenesis Symphony Part III” by Muse
Great Britain, Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland- “Butterflies and Hurricanes” by Muse
Spain, Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin “Don Quixote” by Leon Minkus
OAR, TIffany Zagorski and Jonathan Guerreiro- “Exogenesis Symphony,” ruled by Secrecy
Japan, Kana Muramoto and Chris Reed- “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” by Ryuichi Sakamoto
MEN’S FREE SKATING
Feb. 17
Japan Yuzuru Hanyu – Seimi (soundtrack) by S. Umebayashi
USA Nathan Chen- “Mao’s Last Dancer” (OST) by C. Gordon
Japan Shoma Uno – “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini
Spain, Javier Hernandez- “Man of La Mancha” by Mitch Leigh
Canada, Patrick Chan- “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley
China, Jin Boyang, “Mars” from The Planets
OAR, Dmitir Aliev, “To Build a Home” from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack
USA, Adam Rippon, “Arrival of the Birds” and “O” by Coldplay
Czech, Michal Brezina- Human nature cover of “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King
OAR, Mikhail Kolyada, Elvis Presley Selection
USA,Vincent Zhou, Moulin Rouge (Soundtrack)
Canada, Keegan Messing, Charlie Chaplin Medley
Belguim, Jorik Hendrickx – “Concerto De Aranjuez” (performed by) IL Divo
Korea, Junhwan Cha, The Postman (soundtrack)
Uzbek, Misha Ge, Meditation (From Thais) by J. Massenet
MEN’S SHORT PROGRAM
Feb. 16
Germany’s Paul Fentz “Wonderwall (cover)” by Paul Anka
U.S.A’s Nathan Chen, “Nemesis” by Benjamin Cementine
Canada’s Patrick Chan “Dust In The Wind” by Kansas
Canada’s Keegan Messing, “Singing’ In The Rain,” Nacho Herb Brown
Australia’s Brendan Kerry, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Cover),” Cinematic Pop
PAIRS FREE SKATE
Feb. 15
Russia’s Evgenia Tarasova & Vladimir Morozov, “Candyman” by Christian Aguilera
Canada’s Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford, “Hometown Glory” by Adele
France’s Vanessa James & Morgan Cipres, “Sound Of Silence” arranged by M Rodriguez
Russia’s Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov La La Land theme, Justin Hurwitz
Canada’s Julianne Seguin & Charlie Bilodeau “Where’s My Love” by Syml
Czech Republic’s Anna Duskova Martin Bidar- Selections from Cirque Du Soleil
U.S.A’s Alexa Scimeca Knierim & Chris Knierim- Ghost The Musical
PAIRS SHORT PROGRAM
Feb. 14
China’s Wenjing Sui & Cong Han : “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen
Canada’s Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford : “Without Or Without You” A. Meservy (U2 Cover)
Italy’s Nicole Della Monica & Matteo Guarise: “Magnificant” by Mina
France’s Vanessa James & Morgan Cipres: “Make It Rain” by Ed Sheeran
Canaada’s Julianne Seguin & Charlie Bilodeau: “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Lorde
USA’s Alexa Scimeca Knierim & Chris Knierim: “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge
North Korea’s Tae Ok Ryom & Ju Sik Kim: “A Day In The Life” by Jeff Beck
Austria’s Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya & Harley Windsor: “Paint It Black” by Hidden Citizens
WOMEN’S FREE SKATE
Feb. 11
United States’ Mirai Nagasu: selections from ‘Miss Saigon’ by Claude-Michel Schoenberg
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto: selections from ‘Amelie’ by Yann Tiersen
Canada’s Gabrielle Daleman: George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’
Italy’s Carolina Kostner: Claude Debussy’s “Prelude a l’Apres-midi d’un faune”
Russia’s Alina Zagitova: selections from ‘Don Quixote’
TEAM FREE DANCE
Feb. 11
China’s Kana Muramoto & Chris Reed: Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence”
Canada’s Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir: “Roxanne,” The Police (Moulin Rouge! version)
United States’ Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani: Coldplay’s “Paradise”
Russia’a Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev: “Secrets” The Piano Guys (OneRepublic Cover)
MEN’S FREE SKATE
Feb. 11
Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada: medley by Elvis Presley, including “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “Rip It Up”
Italy’s Matteo Rizzo: Beatles medley, including “Come Together,” “Let It Be” and “Help!”
United States’ Adam Rippon: The Cinematic Orchestra, “Arrival of the Birds” and Coldplay, “O”
Canada’s Patrick Chan: Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah”
Japan’s Keiji Tanaka: Nino Rota’s “Amarcord” and “La Notti Di Cabiria”
SHORT DANCE
Feb. 10
Israel’s Adel Tankova and Ronald Zilberberg: E-Type, “Banca Banca” and Sergio Mendes, “Mas Que Nada”
Germany’s Kavita Lorenz and Joti Polizoakis: Marc Anthony, “Aguanile,” Isabelle & Felicien, “Soha Mil Pasos” and Sergio Mendes, “Magalenha”
Korea’s Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, “Despacito,” Mariah Carey, “My All” and Thalia, “Mujer Latina”
China’s Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu: Madilyn Bailey & Leroy Sanchez, “Despacito” (cover) and “Bahia Beat (Samba)”
Japan’s Kana Muramoto & Chris Reed: Pete Rodriguez, “I Like It Like That,” Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, “Mondo Bongo” and DJ Dero, “Batacuda”
United States’ Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani: Perez Prado’s “Mambo No. 5” and “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”
Canada’s Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir: Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil,” Eagles, “Hotel California” and Santana, “Oye Como Va.”
MEN’S SINGLES
Feb. 8
Germany’s Paul Fentz: Paul Anka, “Wonderwall”
Although Fentz fell twice, he stole the show on social media after viewers took notice of his song choice.
I’M SORRY THERE’S A JAZZ VERSION OF WONDERWALL !?? Is there no hope for humanity pic.twitter.com/jZdc6TCUkY
— gillian (@brotatoee) February 9, 2018
USA’s Nathan Chen: Benjamin Clementine, “Nemesis”
Japan’s Shoma Uno: “Winter”
Israel’s Alexei ByChenko: “Hava Nagila”
Canada’s Patrick Chan: Kansas, “Dust in the Wind”
Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan: “Gypsy Dance” from Don Quixote
China’s Yan Han: Christina Perri, “A Thousand Years”
PAIRS
Feb. 8
Japan’s Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara: Yuri on Ice
yuri on ice at the olympics!!!! pic.twitter.com/eKUYf8hC8Z
— David Zhou (@dz) February 9, 2018
China’s Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao: “Swan Lake”
France’s Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès: Ed Sheeran’s “Make it Rain”
Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford: April Meservy, “With or Without You”