By Sandra Loosemore
CBS SportsLine Figure Skating Writer
Oct. 1, 1998

The beginning of a new season brings new programs from most skaters.

Each year, fans eagerly wait to learn what their favorites are planning, but all too often these lofty expectations turn into groans of dismay once the new programs are revealed.

You can already hear the complaints about music:

• "Yuck! Not Malaguena again! Not West Side Story again!"
• "Couldn't they come up with anything more original than Swan Lake?"
• "Hasn't Zorba the Greek been done to death already?"
• "It's Yanni again -- yawn!"
• "I've already seen three other skaters using the music from Titanic!"

The choice of music has a huge impact on the artistic and popular success of a program. A bad choice -- or bad cut or poor-quality recording -- can create such a negative impression that it's hard for fans to look past it to enjoy and appreciate the actual skating and choreography.

Compounding the problem, the same handful of pieces keep getting used over and over again, to the point where serious fans -- to say nothing of the judges -- are already sick of them.

Unfortunately, skaters and skating coaches tend not to be particularly well-educated or knowledgeable about music, especially classical music. The kind of classical music they're most likely familiar with is music that other skaters have already used successfully.

Thus, the same handful of pieces keep showing up year after year. It's not just Malaguena and Swan Lake, but also Carmen, Giselle, Samson and Delilah, and Don Quixote, to name a few.

The monotony aside, these are not necessarily bad pieces of music for skating. Malaguena and Samson and Delilah, for example, have zippy rhythms and suit themselves to obvious program themes with a strong sense of drama.

BALLET MUSIC, IN GENERAL, IS EASY to adapt for skating because it has a danceable rhythm and usually comes in short scenes. That makes it easier to cut into a four-minute program length than a symphony or concerto, which usually involve a more leisurely and extended development and statement of the musical themes.

Since the music rules for eligible competitors generally forbid vocal music,

Music from Titanic has been used so often at competitions recently that fans might expect Leonardo DiCaprio to appear. (AP)

the most likely sources of non-classical music for skating are movie scores. It's all too common for skaters to simply use the theme music from whatever blockbuster movie happens to be popular that year, even if the music is not particularly interesting or "skateable" in its own right.

In the past, some top-ranked skaters have been so predictable in their use of movie music that they have drawn snickering from fans. There have also been times when it seemed as if dozens of skaters had all chosen to skate to the same movie theme. There was a veritable plague of Robin Hoods several years ago, followed by another infestation of Swing Kids.

Overuse is also a problem regarding music drawn from Broadway shows, because there are fewer of them. By now everyone is tired of hearing Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera at skating competitions.

Sometimes skaters try to get around the no-vocals rules by using horribly bland, Muzak-like instrumental arrangements of popular songs. In recent years some top skaters have subjected the music of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley to this treatment, all of which have resulted in a general "yuck" reaction from fans.

IN THE PRO RANKS, WHERE VOCAL music is allowed, things are not necessarily better. Far too many skaters wind up performing to what fans have nicknamed the Generic Female Ballad, or "GFB" for short.

For most of these programs, the actual artist and song involved seem to be totally interchangeable. The only thing worse than skating to a GFB is when the skater keeps skating to the same GFB over and over again, at one event after another. By the end of the season, fans wind up using the mute button on the remote control because they're so thoroughly tired of hearing the same old song all the time.

Why do pro skaters keep choosing such bland music? After all, the pro ranks are supposed to be a place where skaters can exercise more creative freedom and can take more artistic risks. Instead, it seems skaters keep using music that sounds exactly the same.

Some skaters, coaches, and choreographers might simply be too lazy or ignorant to track down good, original music. On the other hand, it's actually quite hard to find good music for skating.

Part of the trouble is that, with the increased popularity of the sport on TV, skaters need to have more new programs. It used to be common for skaters to keep the same competitive programs and a single exhibition program for two or three years. But now, with skaters commonly doing a half dozen or more televised appearances each year, they're typically performing at least two, and often up to four, new programs every year.

CUTTING MUSIC FOR A COMPETITIVE skating program is a major challenge in itself. The rules for Olympic-style competition are quite specific on the length of the program -- only 10 seconds plus or minus is allowed -- and it's typical for the program to be structured in three or four sections to demonstrate changes in tempo and style. The music also has to fit the placement of technical elements such as required jumps, and skaters usually want their music to have a rousing, triumphant-sounding ending.

There are many lovely pieces of music that can't be easily adapted for skating because their structure and length doesn't fit within the rules and requirements. Sometimes skaters try to compromise by using combinations and snippets of different pieces of such music. This is fine when it works, but just as often skaters seem to wind up merging pieces that make no sense together, either musically or thematically.

In the worst cases of mixing, skaters use music that hasn't been only cut, it's been totally butchered. Fans still cringe at the memory of a mangled version of The Blue Danube that one U.S. pair team used a few years ago, complete with jarring repeats and transitions between musical phrases.

Some skaters go out of their way to choose unusual or new music for their programs. Michelle Kwan, for one, is notoriously picky about music and is fortunate that her choreographer, Lori Nichol, has a wider understanding of classical music than most people in the sport.

For many skaters, coaches, and choreographers, however, it might be time to realize their own limitations and begin hiring professional music consultants.

Another option, rarely pursued until now, is for skaters to commission a composer or arranger to produce music for them. This is obviously not within the means of every skater, but those pros who can afford it should make an effort to use professionally-produced music.