Rock music and figure skating: are these worlds compatible or not? Some programs of this genre can be called legendary, even if at first it seems that it is too harsh and harsh genre.
What is not suitable for figure skating and what is correct – with each new season, the framework of understanding moves apart. Now on the ice you can listen to rock in all its diversity – from gothic to symphonic rock, blues, grunge and punk.
In the 2023/24 season, Pyotr Gumennik will try to prove that even industrial metal looks good on ice. In the spring, he already experimented on the show, and now he will start the season with a very bold application.
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“Championship” recalls famous rock shows in different styles and explains why our figure skater can still be considered a pioneer.
How does rock music fit into figure skating?
In fact, skateboarders take rock hits much more often than we think; it’s just that often these songs are taken in a different arrangement.
The first option is to use cover versions of famous songs by rock artists. An example is the song “Paint it Black” by The Rolling Stones. In recent years, she has been playing in figure skater shows, but in the cover version of Ciara, Adelia Petrosyan acted with such arbitrariness in the 2021/22 season. A similar story occurs with the song “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes: not so long ago, Sofia Akatieva and Stanislav Konstantinov skated to it.
Adelia Petrosian
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, Championship
Another way out is to opt for piano or symphonic arrangements. Dmitry Aliev became the European champion with “The Sound of Silence” performed by the rock band Disturbed. The composition is very strong, but the arrangement is quite calm and it sounds good on the ice rink.
Another option for using rock music is to look for options at the intersection of genres: for example, the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” brought the Russian team many gold medals in major starts. The French musical “Mozart. Rock Opera, and not only quiet ballads are taken for the programs.
What rock artists are taken most often?
What rock music sounds good on ice in the original? One of the most popular rock bands among figure skaters is Queen. Only in the Russian national team many skaters skated to the songs of Freddie Mercury, and Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov became world champions with the legendary “We are the champions.”
Michal Brzezina and Adam Rippon conquered the audience with “Who wants to live forever”, Matteo Rizzo mixed “Love of my Life” with “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Don’t stop me now”, and Elena Ilyinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin used Queen songs in a strictly regulated dance rhythm.
The melodic songs of the Scorpions and Metallica sound good on ice – Mikhail Kolyada skated with these artists. The skater chose the legendary “Nothing else matters” for the demo number and used “Wind of change” in the short program of the 2019/20 season: unfortunately, the public saw it only on the test skates. Alexander Samarin also took Scorpions: in the 2016/17 season he skated “Maybe I Maybe You” in a free show.
mikhail kolyada
Photo: Alexander Safonov, “Championship”
Layla Fir and Lewis Gibson proved that KISS also sounded good on the ice in the last Olympic season: they used the classic hits “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”, “Forever” and “Rock and Roll All Nite” in rhythmic dance.
Yuzuru Hanyu’s short program “Parisienne Walkways” is a perfect example of blues-rock performance. The guitar solo performed by virtuoso Gary Moore seemed to be a continuation of the Japanese skateboarder’s skating and mesmerized the audience.
Last season Andrey Mozalev was great with Led Zeppelin in the short program. The songs “I can’t quit you, baby” and “Kashmir” were chosen for the production, and the skater managed to reveal himself well in both the slow part and the fast part.
What about modern rock? Do you take metal, grunge and alternative?
One of the most used contemporary rock bands is Muse. In the third part of “Exogenesis”, which simply did not ride, in one season even Evgenia Medvedeva and Kamila Valieva had coincidences! Alexandra Trusova took the song Muse from the Game of Thrones soundtrack and received feedback from lead singer Matthew Bellamy. Mikhail Kolyada a little earlier took up a more melodic and fast composition “I belong to you”, which was perfect for a short program.
Skaters also experimented with Linkin Park. In the 2009/10 Olympic season, British dance couple Sinead Kerr/John Kerr skated in the “Crawling” free dance, with the original song playing at the end. In 2018, the hard rock of AC / DC also sounded at the Olympics – it was taken by the Hungarian figure skater Yvette Toth.
Gothic also sounds sometimes on the track. Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov in the 2011/12 season took the composition “Bring me to Life” from Evanescence for the short program, and the song is not only good in itself, but also specifically suits pair skating, because it has a female part and a male part.
: Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Maxaim Trankov
Photo: RIA Novosti
The band Apocalyptica is generally metal with cellos, and this genre has also taken root in figure skating. In the winning Olympic free program, Anna Shcherbakova skated to the song “Ruska”, and Andrey Mozalev chose the song “Romance” for the new short program.
The trend of recent seasons is experiments with Eurovision winners Maneskin. Matteo Rizzo rocked the short program to “Zitti e buoni”, and Alexander Gallyamov became a real rock star: together with Anastasia Mishina, they made the number under the cover of “Beggin” their hallmark.
Will the public accept Goumennik with his Rammstein?
Gumennik himself argued in an interview with “Championship” in November 2022 that some rocks fit perfectly on the ice, and some will be difficult to skate under. For six months, the skater reached the program number of one of his favorite groups, and the audience in the Eteri Tutberidze program listened to Rammstein for a whole month. And in the next season we are waiting for a full short program of the song “Sonne”, and this is a real hit on target.
Peter Gumennik
Photo: Anastasia Matrosova, Championship
Rammstein metal sounds good on ice; we already understood it by the number “Mein Herz brennt”. Another advantage of the choice is the popularity of the song among fans of figure skating. The track “Sonne” is very often used in fan videos with the participation of figure skaters, so you won’t have to get used to something unusual.
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Is this choice dangerous for the competition? In a demo format, such a choice is very cool, but how will such an experiment be perceived by the judges of the competition and the conservative part of the fans? According to the excerpt from the production that Pyotr posted on his Telegram channel, it becomes clear that there is also a symphonic arrangement of the song in the cut, so the show is not just about metal.
In the Olympic season, Gumennik already had modern lyrics in the short program (the composition “Leave a light on”), but the skater himself admitted that he did not quite feel it and did not agree with the lyrics of the song. Here everything arose from the desire of the athlete, so he does not have to worry about the presentation – when he skates what comes from the inside, the program is perceived in a completely different way. Yes, and it’s a joy to see how a skater with classic programs so brightly reveals himself in something completely new, both for himself and for the world of figure skating.
