This just in: the Milano Ice Skating Arena is in need of urgent repairs. Why? Because there have been so many fire song selections this year.
OK, fire might be a slight overstatement, but there has definitely been a push towards making figure skating more accessible at this year’s Winter Olympics – in addition to the familiar classical compositions, song choices are being increasingly pulled from popular culture (to varying degrees of success). We’ve seen voguing to Lady Gaga, Travolta-style finger points to Daft Punk, and even some rather cringeworthy Fortnite dances.
“Now, you’re seeing skaters take risks,” figure skating expert and ESPN editor Adam Reisinger said earlier this month. “[US figure skater] Amber Glenn is doing ‘Like a Prayer’ this year, and [her teammate] Alysa has her Lady Gaga program. Skaters are performing to what they like, not just what they think will impress the judges.”
This modernisation has also been accompanied by an increasing social media presence of the contestants, with various musicians offering words of encouragement to the skaters who have decided to use their music (or, in Ilia Malinin’s case, purely in awe of his aura). But, as the 2026 Winter Olympics draw to a close this weekend, which of these song choices were the best? And which figure skater left with the most aura?
Below, we break down the best and worst musical moments from this year’s Winter Olympics, with the help of Dazed’s signature (and entirely arbitrary) aura points™ metric.
Czech figure skaters Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek were on the news for all the wrong reasons this Olympic season after not one, but two scandals surrounding the use of AI music during their performances. The first arrived months before the opening ceremony, in which Mrazkova and Mrazek sparked controversy for plagiarising the New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give” with AI-generated audio during their November rehearsals.
However, the pair doubled down in their official Olympics routine, skating to an AI-generated medley imitating both “Raise Your Hands” by Bon Jovi and “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. Mrazek even appeared to acknowledge the plagiarism with his outfit, which featured the letters KM DM bisected by a red lightning bolt on his back, much like AC/DC’s official logo. This might have seemed like a creative way to avoid copyright violations, but, in music at least, copyright exists for a reason – artists deserve to get paid for their work!
This moment wasn’t the only AI scandal at the Winter Olympics this year. Elsewhere, the Olympic committee themselves were drawn into controversy after fans reported spotting traces of alleged AI generation in a now-deleted animated promotional video for the event. Let’s hope this is all a learning experience and the Olympic committee decides not to replace real artists with evil machines moving forward.
– 1 million aura points
In the run-up to his appearance in Milan this year, Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté made headlines when he got caught up in a copyright dispute with Universal Music over his choice to use a musical medley lifted from the Despicable Me franchise. His request was initially denied by the mega-label, but this decision was then reversed days before the event. Unfortunately, we think this idea should’ve stayed in the bin.
Appearing in a Minions-themed costume in his routine, Sabaté performed a number of moves lifted from Fortnite while a cheesy Minions montage played in the background. It was a shameless attempt at appealing to Gen Alpha, but it ended up coming across as rather beta in our books.
– 10,400 aura points (one for every Minion created)
Now, look, we love the Blade Angels – Team USA’s star skating trio composed of Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, and Isabeau Levito. We particularly love Liu, who has featured endlessly in Instagram fan edits for her love of Charli xcx and PinkPantheress – the latter even offered a message of support to the skating star ahead of her performances this year. Meanwhile, Glenn received a video of encouragement from none other than Madonna after skating to “Like a Prayer” at the event.
So, it’s because we love the Blade Angels so much, that we are handing out one single aura point for the two-minute-long promo video that Taylor Swift has created for them. Just imagine how much cooler a video from Charli, PinkPantheress, or – get this – Bladee would have been? (Ok, Swift’s message was actually very well done and is a massive achievement for the trio, but they deserve even more!!!)
+ 1 aura point
Moving into aura surplus territory, we have French figure skating duo Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud, who worked their calves to the sounds of Daft Punk’s “Around the World” this year. The Winter Olympics briefly resembled a roller arena as the pair performed body pops and grooves to the electronic track, culminating in a flashy finish. It’s certainly not the coolest electronic track out there, but points are due for trying something new.
+ 50 aura points
The clue’s really in the name, isn’t it? This year, British duo Lilah Fear and Louis Gibson celebrated ‘Girl Power’ group Spice Girls with a medley including “Spice Up Your Life”, “Viva Forever” and “Wannabe”, with Fear rocking a sequin Union Jack dress and Gibson wearing Mel B’s signature leopard print to complete the Britpop motif. The duo’s song choice caught the attention of group members Mel B and Mel C, who both submitted messages of support prior to the performance.
+ 75 aura points
Continuing France’s trend of eccentric song choices, French figure skater Kevin Aymoz quickly became a fan favourite this year after performing a flamboyant routine to Lady Gaga’s “Judas” – the second time he has performed to the song. Replete with the exaggerated arm movements and some light voguing that feature frequently in Aymoz’ routines, the moment was also notable for drawing one of the biggest crowd reactions of the event. ““A piano for my emotions, Lady Gaga to my rage,” he wrote on Instagram prior to the performance. “[This is] a program that talks about me, in fire, in fragility, in truth. I can’t wait to show you this program that I choreographed with love.”
+ 100 aura points
20-year-old US figure skating star Alysa Liu has immaculate taste. In the last year, she has skated to 88rising star Joji’s “Slow Dancing in the Dark” and a Lady Gaga medley, but it was her skate to “Promise” by 26-year-old Icelandic singer Laufey that won her her second gold at this year’s Olympics.
On some level, Laufey is actually a musical analogue for what Alysa has achieved in figure skating: becoming the Gen Z face of an old and noble discipline. Much like how Laufey has breathed new life into classical music and become one of the most-streamed artists in the world, Liu’s refusal to conform to some of figure skating’s stricter traditions has led her to become a fan favourite. The fact that she’s also the best in the world right now is only the cherry on top.
+300 aura points
Man. Like. Ilia Malinin. The 21-year-old American figure skater might have earned his first Olympic gold medal this year for the figure skating team event, but the so-called ‘Quad God’ (gaining his name after becoming the only skater to ever land a complete quadruple Axel at an international competition) has long held a different legacy: figure skating’s biggest hip hop head. Over the years, Malinin has skated to everything from the Succession theme song (in which he won the highest figure skating score ever awarded at an international competition) to various tracks by Michigan rapper NF. This year, however, Malinin doubled down on his rap repertoire with the niche selection of “The Lost Crown” by German producers 2WEI and Joznez, and Canadian rapper Kataem lifted from 2024 video game The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
This legacy seems to have attracted none other than Snoop Dogg as a fan, who appeared in the sidelines during one of Malinin’s rehearsals wearing a t-shirt of Malinin’s face. Days later, the pair were spotted watching fellow American skater Amber Glenn’s performance – he’s just aura farming at this point.
+ 420 aura points (get it?)
