SciFi Figure Skating!

Opinion
Written By Robyn Paxman

So the Winter Beijing Olympics have come and gone and…boy was it a wild ride this year. Putting aside the doping scandal in the Women’s event and Yuzaru Hanyu popping his first jump, let’s keep to the bright side and take another look at all the programs this year that were inspired by or told SciFi stories.

*Also, while the routine wasn’t specifically SciFi, special shoutout to Nathan Chen’s dreamy space-inspired getup! Does he look like a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto? Maybe. But it’s awesome.

I can’t move forward without mentioning Madison Chock and Evan Bates’s alien/astronaut romance to a Daft Punk medley. Their performance during the team event was a stand-out and got first place in the team ice dance free skate.

 
 

Adam Siao Him Fa from France gave us what was honestly one of my favorite short programs! He skated to music from STAR WARS. The program opens with the iconic breathing of Darth Vader and includes awesome lightsaber sound clips.

 
 

Daniel Grassl of Italy skated to a mash-up of music from INTERSTELLAR and ARMAGEDDON.

 
 

DISHONORABLE MENTION…

to the German ice dance team for their SUICIDE SQUAD rhythm dance. This is a very anti-‘Jared Leto Joker’ household.

HORROR SHOUT-OUT

Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya from Georgia had their ice dance free skate to a medley of Horror songs.

Lastly, while it wasn’t this year, special mention to this year’s Women’s Bronze Medalist Kaori Sakamoto, who skated her free program to music from THE MATRIX in the two previous seasons.

 
 
Robyn Paxman

Voted "Most Likely to Drop Out of School to Join a Rennasaince Festival," Robyn is a graduate of the University of North Texas class of 2016 where she got a degree in Radio, Television, and Film. Robyn then moved back to Austin since she is a rare, true Austin native. Since then, she has become Podcast Director for FanboyTV. One of her podcast hosts, Thanh Thanh, is also her co-pilot in her PACIFIC RIM Fanfiction. Robyn had the great privilege of having STAR TREK forced down her throat as a child. If you talk to her, you may have the great privilege of having Wrestling or One Direction forced on you as well.

Previous

SOLARIS at Twenty
Next

Newsletter 22.2