For the second time at the 2018 Winter Olympics, German figure skater Paul Fentz helped to ensure the men’s figure skating competition got off to a jazzy start.
Fentz skated to a swing jazz version of the popular Oasis song, “Wonderwall,” performed by Canadian-American singer Paul Anka, during his performance Friday morning (Thursday night stateside). The routine was good enough for a score of 74.73, placing him in 9th place in the program before Team USA juggernauts Adam Rippon and Nathan Chen took to the ice.
The 25-year-old’s performance went much better than his showing last week when he fell twice during his routine—scoring a paltry 66.32. But today, just like Friday, Fentz stole the show on social media, where thousands commented in awe and confusion to the skater’s choice of music.
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These Olympics aren’t the first time 25-year-old Fentz has skated to the tune, as he performed to it during the European Championships earlier this year.
The 1995 Britpop song from Oasis recently had a resurgence of the years, thanks in part to a few memes that have been made at the song’s expense (i.e. the, ‘Anyway, Here’s Wonderwall’ meme.) For all those who saw Fentz’s performance for the first time Thursday night, the existence of a jazz version of the famous song came as a bit of a shock.
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Some commenters on Twitter even said they preferred Anka’s version of “Wonderwall” over the original:
Fentz wasn’t the only one with a lot on the line—and a lot to prove—in Friday morning’s competition, because he was not the only male skater to fall on the ice last week in Pyeongchang.
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Team USA’s star figure skater, 18-year-old Nathan Chen, was a favorite to help bring home gold coming into the event. But during his first showing on the ice last Friday, Chen put on a performance that NBC commentator Tara Lipinski called “disastrous” after he fell trying to land his fifth jump.
Chen’s first performance wasn’t a total disappointment though: he landed the first-ever quad flip in the Olympic games. Chen is world famous for becoming the first male figure skater to land five quadruple jumps in competition.
The Olympics are airing live on NBC. To learn more, visit teamusa.org.