Question

Can Olympic Figure Skaters Win Over the Judges with Lyrical Music? by Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff Mirai Nagasu of the United States celebrates after making history by landing a triple axel in her routine in the team competition at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Figure Skating competition on February 11, 2018. Photo by: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images Image 1: Mirai Nagasu of the United States celebrates after making history by landing a triple axel in her routine in the team competition at the Pyeong Chang 2018 Winter Olympics Figure Skating competition on February 11, 2018. 1 GANGNEUNG, South Korea - Figure skating has always been a performance art. It is the only winter sport in which athletes in sequined costumes are scored partly on emotional expressions. 2 Now a new part of performance art will be added to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. For the first time in Olympic history, figure skaters can compete using music with words. 3 The hope is to have more people watching and more young people attracted to the sport. This will make sure there is a new generation of fans and would-be gold medalists. But how will Olympic judges like it? 4 U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon will challenge their tastes right away. When the men's event starts February 16, Rippon will perform to a lively, electro-dance hit that includes words. Judges, Audience Disagree On Hip-hop 5 New York native Jimmy Ma also made a bold move last month at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Ma competed to the hip-hop party song "Turn Down for What." He didn't make the Olympic team, but the audience went wild. Ma scored a major victory in posing an important question. Can ice skaters perform to DJ Snake and Lil Jon and other creators of music with words? 6 Four-time world champion and 1984 Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton thinks so. 7 "Of all the rule changes they've had in the last 20 years, this was one that was directly intended to please the skating audience," said Ham

Answer 1

Figure skaters at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics were allowed to perform to music with lyrics to attract audiences and a new generation of fans. While this change in music choice can enhance emotional expression, the scoring still heavily relies on technical execution and artistry. The physics behind spins in figure skating, like angular momentum, contribute to the complexity and scoring of the sport.

Step-by-step explanation:

Figure skaters can indeed try to win over judges with lyrical music, and this was showcased at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics where, for the first time, athletes could perform to music with lyrics. The integration of vocal music aimed to attract a wider audience and encourage a new generation of athletes and fans. Although there were debates regarding the use of hip-hop and other contemporary genres in the competitions, skaters like Adam Rippon embraced this change and challenged traditional tastes.

As for the judgment, the use of lyrical music can potentially enhance the emotional expression of a performance, which is a critical aspect of figure skating's scoring system. While adding lyrics to the music may resonate more with audiences and add to the overall performance quality, each judge has personal tastes and expectations. Even so, athletic components like jumps, spins, and footwork remain the technical foundation of a skater's score, with execution and artistry also playing significant roles.

When discussing the physics of spins in figure skating, this involves concepts like angular momentum and the conservation of angular momentum, where skaters can control their spin rate by changing their body position. To comprehend the intricacies of figure skating spins, one can refer to online resources that explain the scientific principles behind this captivating aspect of the sport.