2021: The Floor Music of the Tokyo Olympics

This post throws off the chronological order of this website. I know, it bothers me, too.

Nevertheless, I feel like it’s important to document the floor music of this year’s Olympics. FX music tells us a lot about the general cultural zeitgeist in the world, as well as what is (and isn’t) allowed by the FIG.

Here are a few trends this year:

• A fair amount of Queen (Boyer, Voss, Mori, Castro)
• “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish (Van Pol, Daries, Savranbasi)
• A few attempts to do something Japan- or Tokyo-related
  • Rooskrantz’s “Hit the Road” by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
  • Biles’s “Tokyo Drift”
  • Thorsdottir’s “Big in Japan”
  • Moreno’s song from Demon Slayer (Japanese anime)
• Oh, and there was Christmas music
  • Mokošová’s “Carol of the Bells” by Lindsey Stirling
  • Lee’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum”
  • Haemmerle’s “Favorite Things”

So, here’s a long list of (almost) all the floor music used. I probably missed a few gymnasts and songs along the way. (Sorry, it wasn’t done intentionally. Feel free to tweet me corrections or additions.)

Note: There are a few songs that aren’t on Spotify.

Argentina

Magistrati, Abigail

“Phantom of the Opera Overture” by Prague Cello Quartet

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Australia

Whitehead, Emily

“The Change” by Cirque Du Soleil (VOLTA)

Godwin, Georgia

“No Twerk” by Panther
Fact: She did not twerk in the routine, so the name is accurate.

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Austria

Haemmerle, Elisa

“My Favorite Things” by Pentatonix

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Azerbaijan

Nekrasova, Marina

“Garabagh” by Natig Shirinov

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Belgium

Brassart, Maellyse

“Paganini 5” by Edvin Marton
“каприз No 24” by виктор зинчук

Verkest, Jutta

“Cinco Salsas (First Movement of the No. 5 Symphony)” by Sverre Indris Joner

Derwael, Nina

“The Four Seasons, Op 8: Winter: Allegro non molto” by Vivaldi

Vaelen, Lisa

“La valse à mille temps” by Paul Mauriat

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Belarus

Traukova, Hanna

“Pump It” by Black Eyed Peas

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Brazil

Saraiva, Flávia

“Girl from Ipanema” (Remix)

Andrade, Rebeca

“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by J.S. Bach
“Baile de Favela” by MC João
“Nord Electro” by Player & Remady

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Canada

Stewart, Ava

“Surrender” by Drehz

Olsen, Shallon

“Shot Me Down” by David Guetta

Black, Elsabeth

“Guerilleros” by Maxime Rodriguez

Moors, Brooklyn

“The Last Romantic” by Mikael Tariverdiev

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Cayman Islands

Rutty, Raegan

“Drums” by Basic J
“Samba de Liberdade” by Lex Empress

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Chile

Castro, Simona

“Somebody to Love” by Assia Ahhatt (Queen)

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China

Zhang Jin

“Butterfly Dance” by Bijan Mortazavi

Lu Yufei

“Shape of You” by Ladi Smigura (Ed Sheeran)

Tang Xijing

“Jiu’er” (from Red Sorghum, a movie set during the Second Sino-Japanese War.)

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Costa Rica

Alvarado, Luciana

“Pretty Woman” by James Last
“Havana” by Kenny G
“Credits” by Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

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Croatia

Derek, Ana

“Groovin’ Daddy” by Smooth Jazz
“Please Don’t Tease” by Club des Belugas, Anna Luca

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Czech Republic

Holasová, Aneta

“Prodigy” by Nathan Lanier

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Egypt

Mohamed, Mandy

“Tango to Evora” by Loreena McKennitt

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Spain

Bechdeju, Laura

“El sol sueño (Hommage a Astor Piazzolla)” by Gidon Kremer

González, Marina

“Malagueña” by Plácido Domingo

Petisco, Alba

“I Wanna Dance” by Artem Uzunov

Popa, Roxana

“Mirage” by Lindsey Stirling Feat. Raja Kumari

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France

Heduit, Carolann

“Thunderstruck” by David Garrett (AC/DC)

Friess, Aline

“Time Is Money” by Guy Skornik and Elisabeth Skornik

De Jesus dos Santos, Mélanie

“I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown
“Show Me How You Burlesque” by Christina Aguilera

Boyer, Marine

“Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen

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Great Britain

Kinsella, Alice

“Russian Playing Style” by Christophe Beck

Gadirova, Jennifer

“Rock This Joint” by Yanivi

Gadirova, Jessica

“Stereotypes” by Black Violin

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Germany

Seitz, Elisabeth

“Bella Ciao” (Remix)

Voss, Sarah

“The Show Must Go On” by Queen
Thanks to the many folks on Twitter for helping me identify this one.

Schaefer-Betz, Pauline

“Harlem Nocturne” by Earl Bostic
“Call of the Wild” by Dam Swindle

Bui, Kim

“Bad Liar” by Imagine Dragons

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Hungary

Kovács, Zsófia

“Pompeii” by E.S. Posthumus

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India

Nayak, Pranati

“Mashallah” by Shreya Ghoshal

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Ireland

Ryan, Megan

“My Sexy Tango” by Comis
“Bora Bora” by Magán and Rodriguez

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Israel

Raz, Lihie

“Nostradamus” by Maksim

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Italy

D’Amato, Asia

“Survivor” by 2WEI

Ferrari, Vanessa

“Con Te Partirò (Time to Say Goodbye)” by Andrea Bocelli

D’Amato, Alice

“I Wanna Dance” by Artem Uzunov

Mori, Lara

“Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen
“Under Pressure” by Queen
“Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen

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Japan

Hatakeda Hitomi

“Mirko” by Cirque du Soleil (Alegria)

Sugihara Aiko

“Dr. No / The James Bond Theme” by Jetta
“NA” by Nissy

Murakami Mai

“Supa Freak” by Terry feat. Trouble
“Hydro (84)” by Wazgogg

Hiraiwa Yuna

“Renegade” by KO

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South Korea

Lee Yunseo

“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” by Pentatonix

Yeo Seojeong

“Run Boy Run” by Woodkid
“Hit the Road Jack” by Throttle

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Malaysia

Abdul Hadi, Farah Ann

“Miserlou” by Caroline Campbell and William Joseph

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Mexico

Moreno, Alexa

“Zenitsu Theme (from Demon Slayer)” by Samuel Kim

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Netherlands

Van Pol, Vera

“Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish

Wevers, Lieke

“The Path of the Fossils (Day 6)” by Ludovico Einaudi, Federico Mecozzi, and Redi Hasa

Thorsdottir, Eythora

“Big In Japan” by Alphaville
Reminder: Thorsdottir sang her own vocals

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Peru

Orrego, Ariana

“Miserlou” by Caroline Campbell and William Joseph

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Poland

Sansal, Gabriela

“The Live! With Murray Franklin Theme (From Joker)” by Ellis Drane and His Jazz Orchestra

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Russian Olympic Committee

Urazova, Vladislava

“Winter Symphony” by Jennifer Thomas
“Paint It Black” by David Garrett (Originally Rolling Stones)

Listunova, Viktoria

“Swan Lake: Russian Dance” by Tchaikovsky
“Barinya”
“Барыня №2” by МГК

Melnikova, Angelina

“Heaven Knows” by The Pretty Reckless
“Military Lapdance” by Stahlmann
“Wanna Be” by Peter Cincotti
“Puño de Hierro” by Tony Palmer

Akhaimova, Lilia

“Quest for Souls” by Reliable Source Music
“South of the River” by Tom Misch
“Butterflies and Hurricanes” by William Joseph

Gerasimova, Elena

“The Illusionist” by Maxime Rodriguez

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Romania

Holbură, Maria

“Kairos” by Derek Hough

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South Africa

Rooskrantz, Caitlin

“Hit the Road Jack” by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Daries, Naveen

“Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish

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Singapore

Tan Sze En

“Weasel Interrogation” by Tyler Bates (Deadpool 2)
“Comic Book” by Daniel Pemberton
“Quantum Physics” by Daniel Pemberton

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Sri Lanka

Elpitiya Badalge Dona, Milka Gehani

“Mucho Mambo” by Shaft

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Switzerland

Steingruber, Giulia

“Expedition 13” by Edgar Hopp
“Harvest” by Nightwish

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Slovakia

Mokošová, Barbora

“Carol of the Bells” by Lindsey Stirling

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Turkey

Savranbasi, Nazli

“Bad Guy (Moses Remix)” – Billie Eilish

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Ukraine

Varinska, Diana

“Sweet Dreams” by Escala (Eurythmics) 

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United States

McCallum, Grace

“Matador” by Marnik, Miami Blue, Marano

Lee, Sunisa

“Underground” by Lindsey Stirling

Chiles, Jordan

“Xap” by the Hit House
Spiderman Theme

Biles, Simone

“Tokyo Drift” by Teriyaki Boys (The Fast and the Furious)
“Jokers (Bass Edit)” by DJ Crazyhouse

Skinner, Mykayla

“Brać” by Donatan, Cleo, Enej

Carey, Jade

“Powerful” by Major Lazer, Ellie Goulding, Tarrus Riley

Back to the 1960s

Bringing this back to our 1960s chronology… It’s fun to look at the floor music across decades and realize that there are certain set patterns.

Take the 1962 World Championships as a point of comparison. At both the 1962 World Championships and the 2021 Olympics, there were similar FX patterns…

Classical: There will always be classical music on FX. In 1962, for example, there was Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A Minor” (Ikeda). In 2021, there was Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” (Derwael).

Contemporary: Lidia Ivanova performed used Mondungo’s “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” in 1962, and in 2021, there was a lot of Eilish’s”Bad Guy.”

40-year-ish Throwbacks: The nostalgia machine is always alive, trying to target audience members and judges in their 40s and 50s and beyond.

In 1962, Ivana Antic of Yugoslavia did floor to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924). In 2021, there was a lot of Queen. (Thanks to the movie Bohemian Rhapsody?)

Attempts at Host-Nation Appeal: From Betty-Jean Maycock’s Dvořák routine in Prague to Biles’s “Tokyo Drift” and Moreno’s Demon Slayer routine.

After the Olympics, we’ll jump back to the normal chronology, specifically the lead-up to the 1966 World Championships.