Updated 100 Memorable Skating Programs
Back in 2018, I created the original version of this list. (You can find the master post here.) Since 2024 marks my 30th year as an official fan of figure skating and there have been some more great programs created since the last time, I thought it was about time to update the list in honor of World Ice Skating Day. Same rules apply as last time:
Only senior competitive programs starting from the 1993-1994 season are eligible, since that's the first season I really started watching figure skating.
Each skater may only be listed once, unless a partner/discipline switch is involved.
Choice of music may also not be repeated. (Yes, there are two James Bond programs on the list, but Yuna and Wakaba use different music for the most part, so I'm letting it slide.)
I debated long and hard about whether or not I should still include programs from skaters who have proven themselves to be not so great people. I'm someone who has little difficulty separating the art from the artist, so in the end, I decided to keep them listed (although most of them got knocked down a few pegs). This list is more about the choreography than the skater anyway, although there are certainly some problematic choreographers out there, too. (Looking at you especially, Morozov!) So, just because a skater is listed doesn't mean that I'm a fan of them or that I condone their actions! I just think certain programs are still great regardless of the skaters' terrible behavior off the ice.
Choreographers are noted if known. If you know who choreographed the programs without a choreographer named, please let me know!
I've also created a handy playlist on YouTube if you don't want to click on all these links.
Ashley Wagner - Moulin Rouge (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2016 Worlds
Jason Brown - Melancholy (Rohene Ward) 2023 Nationals
Patrick Chan - Phantom of the Opera (Lori Nichol) 2011 Canadian Nationals
Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje -Je suis malade (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2012 Worlds
Meryl Davis/Charlie White - Kajra Re/Silsila Ye Chahat Ka/Dola Re Dola (Marina Zueva, Igor Shpilband, and Anuja Rajendra) 2010 Olympics
Mao Asada - Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 (Tatiana Tarasova) 2014 Olympics
Sui/Han - Rain, In Your Black Eyes (Lori Nichol) 2019 Worlds
Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat - Romeo & Juliet 1998 Olympics
Cain/LeDuc - W.E. (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2022 US Nationals
Daisuke Takahashi - Blues for Klook (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2012 Worlds
Kurt Browning - Casablanca (Sandra Bezic) 1994 Olympics
Michelle Kwan - Salome (Lori Nichol) 1996 Worlds
Alexei Yagudin - Winter (Tatiana Tarasova and Nikolai Morosov) 2002 Olympics
Jamie Sale/David Pelletier - Love Story (Lori Nichol) 2002 Olympics
Jeremy Abbott - Exogenesis (Jeremy Abbott and Yuka Sato) Nationals 2012
Oksana Grishuk/Evgeni Platov - The Feeling Begins 1997 Worlds
Yuzuru Hanyu - Seimei (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2015 Grand Prix Final
Chock/Bates - Egyptian Snake Dance (Marie-France Dubreuil, Ginette Cournoyer, and Sam Chouinard) 2019 Grand Prix Final
Javier Fernandez - Guys and Dolls (David Wilson) 2016 Worlds
Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres - Sound of Silence (John Kerr and Silvia Fontana) 2017 Euros
Evgenia Medvedeva - Anna Karenina (Daniil Gleichengauz) 2018 Olympics
Nathan Chen - Philip Glass medley (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2021 Worlds
Gabriella Papadakis/Guilliame Cizeron - Elegie (Saxon Fraser and Marie-France Dubreuil) 2022 Olympics
Aljona Savchenko/Bruno Massot - La terre vue du ciel (Christopher Dean) 2018 Olympics
Kevin Aymoz - Bolero (Brice Mousset and Kevin Aymoz) 2023 Skate America
Julia Lipnitskaya - Schindler’s List (Ilia Averbukh) 2014 Olympics
Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze - Lady Caliph 2002 Olympics
Yu-na Kim - James Bond medley (David Wilson) 2010 Olympics
Shoma Uno - Buenos Aires Hora Cero (Mihoko Higuchi) 2016 Grand Prix Final
Michal Brezina - The Way You Look Tonight (Jeffrey Buttle) 2016 Skate Canada
Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz - Riverdance 1998 Olympics
Adam Rippon - O/Fly On (Benji Schwimmer) 2016 Trophee de France
Jeffrey Buttle - Bells of Moscow (David Wilson) 2005 Worlds
Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier - Vincent (Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs) 2019 Canadian Nationals
Rudy Galindo - Swan Lake (Sharlene Franke) 1996 US Nationals
Sasha Cohen - Malaguena (Tatiana Tarasova) 2004 Worlds
Aljona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy - Pina (Ingo Steur) 2011 Grand Prix Final
Samantha Cesario - Carmen (Inese Budevica) 2013 Trophee Eric Bompard
Tatsuki Machida - East of Eden (Phillip Mills) 2014 Worlds
Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao - Turandot (Lea Ann Miller, Renee Roca, and Gorsha Sur) 2003 Worlds
Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker - Liebestraume (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2018 Nationals
Olga Mikutina - My Nocturnal Serenade (Rostislav Sinicyn) 2023 Europeans
Lu Chen - The Last Emperor (Toller Cranston) 1995 Worlds
Giada Russo - Red Violin (Edoardo de Bernardis) 2016 Europeans
Junhwan Cha - Fate of the Clockmaker/Cloak and Dagger (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2022 Olympics
Han Yan - La La Land (Yuka Sato and Kurt Browning) 2019 Chinese Interclub League
Wakaba Higuchi - Skyfall (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2018 Worlds
Kazuki Tomono - Die Fledermaus (Misha Ge) 2022 Japanese Nationals
Yuma Kagiyama - Believer (Shae-Lynn Bourne) 2024 Worlds
Karen Chen - On Golden Pond (Karen Chen) 2017 Nationals
Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani - Coppelia (Marina Zueva and Cheryl Yeager) 2016 Nationals
Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirov - Manfred Symphony (Peter Tchernyshev) 2014 Skate America
Philippe Candeloro - The Three Musketeers (Natacha Dabadie) 1998 Olympics
Alexander Abt - Songs from the Victorious City 1998 Nations Cup
Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir - Prince medley 2017 Worlds
Ekaterina Gordeeva/Sergei Grinkov - Moonlight Sonata (Marina Zueva) 1994 Olympics
Satoko Miyahara - Madama Butterfly (Tom Dickson) 2017 Japanese Nationals
Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha - The White Crow (Romain Haguenauer and Ginette Cournoyer) 2023 Four Continents
Anjelika Krylova/Oleg Ovsiannikov - Masquerade Waltz 1997 Worlds
Alena Kostornaia - The Departure, November (Daniil Gleikhengauz) 2019 Grand Prix Final
Nelli Zhiganshina/Alexander Gazsi - Two from the Grave (Ilia Averbukh) 2013 Worlds
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov - The Man and The Shadow (Nikolai Morozov) 2015 Grand Prix Final
Stephanie Rosenthal - Rockit (Stewart and Christi Sturgeon) 2006 Nationals
Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue - Across the Sky, Caught Out In The Rain (Marie-France Dubreuil) 2018 Nationals
Mikhail Kolyada - The Nutcracker (Ilia Averbukh) 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia
Sinead Kerr/John Kerr - The Landing/Turn Around/Gravity of Love (Evgeni Platov) 2008 Worlds
Kaetlyn Osmond - Sous le ciel de Paris, Milord (Lance Vipond) 2016 Grand Prix Final
Carolina Kostner - Ave Maria (Lori Nichol) 2014 Olympics
Karina Manta/Joe Johnson - Sweet Dreams (Christopher Dean) 2019 Nationals
Gracie Gold - Firebird (Lori Nichol) 2016 Nationals
Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri - Atonement/Song For A Little Sparrow (Barbara Fusar-Poli and Corrado Giordani) 2022 Europeans
Keegan Messing - Singing in the Rain (Lance Vipond) 2018 Worlds
Elizabeth Punsalan/Jerod Swallow - Astor Piazolla medley (Igor Shpilband) 1998 Olympics
Rika Kihira - A Beautiful Storm (Tom Dickson) 2018 NHK Trophy
Mariah Bell - Chicago (Rohene Ward) 2016 Skate America
Brian Joubert - Rise (Evgeni Platov) 2009 Europeans
Stephane Lambiel - Poeta (Antonio Najarro) 2007 Worlds
Kaori Sakamoto - The Matrix (Benoit Richaud) 2020 NHK Trophy
Akiko Suzuki - O (Pasquale Camerlengo) 2012 NHK Trophy
Qing Pang/Jian Tong - The Impossible Dream (Shae-Lynn Bourne and David Wilson) 2010 Olympics
Takahito Kozuka - Io ci saro (Lori Nichol) 2014 Japanese National
Smart/Diaz - Mask of Zorro 2022 Europeans
Matt Savoie - Ennio Morricone medley (Tom Dickson) 2006 Nationals
Deniss Vasiljevs - Puttin’ On The Ritz (Benoit Richaud) 2016 Worlds
Caroline Green/Michael Parsons - Violin Concerto No.1 Eso Concerto, Clouds, The Mind on the Wind (Elena Novak and Alexei Kiliakov) 2022 Four Continents
Tara Lipinski - The Rainbow (Sandra Bezic) 1998 Olympics
Denis Ten - SOS d'un terrien en détresse (David Wilson) 2017 Shanghai Trophy
Valentina Marchei/Ondrej Hotarek - Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano (Massimo Scali) 2018 Europeans
Krisztina Czako - The Addams Family (Igor Bobrin) 1997 Europeans
Cheng Peng/Yang Jin - My Drag (Lori Nichol) 2016 GPF
Bradie Tennell - Mechanisms, Chronos (Benoit Richaud) 2020 4CC
Evgeny Plushenko - Tribute to Nijinsky 2004 Russian Nationals
Vanessa Gusmeroli - Rats D'Hotel 1999 Worlds
Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau - Monde Inverse (Shae-Lynn Bourne and Shae Zukiwsky) 2015 Skate America
Isabeau Levito - Dulcea Și Tandra Mea Fiară (Yulia Kuznetsova) 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva - Batwannis Beek/Sandstorm (Tatiana Prokofieva) 2015 Europeans
Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi - Soran Bushi (Marina Zoueva, Ilia Tkachenko, and Koyo Yanai) 2021 NHK Trophy
Amber Glenn - This Time (Kaitlyn Weaver and Randi Strong) 2024 Lombardia Trophy
Ivan Righini - You Raise Me Up (Ivan Righini) 2016 Europeans
Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte - Life is Beautiful (Liudmila Vlasova) 2017 NHK Trophy
