Daft Punk’s Music Soundtracks US Figure Skating Team’s Medal-Winning Routine At Winter Olympics
Daft Punk’s music made an unlikely appearance at the Winter Olympics yesterday, February 6.
A medley featuring a series of tracks from the former dance duo’s final album Random Access Memories was used to soundtrack a routine in the US figure skating Team Event in Beijing.
The team were sitting in third place at the Winter Olympics behind Japan in a battle for the silver medal before Madison Chock and Evan Bates performed their Daft Punk routine which included snippets of Within, Contact’ and Touch. As a result the team picked up the silver medal.
Daft Punk split last February after 28 years together. The Parisian duo confirmed the news in an eight-minute video called Epilogue, which featured footage from their 2006 sci-fi film Electroma.
Following the surprise news, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker likened it to the emotional impact of a death. Reflecting on their split, Parker told Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson how he first came across their music while watching TV as a child.
“I think I was sitting in front of the TV as a kid watching like Saturday morning video clips,” he said. “In fact, definitely. I think it was Da Funk. I almost remember the first time. I wasn’t really into that kind of music then, but it definitely stuck in my brain. I was like, what is this?”
He added: “I mean, I guess I wasn’t expecting to be as emotional as I was […] It was almost like when you hear about someone that’s died. I know it’s obviously not nearly as tragic as when someone dies, but that kind of shock.”
Streams of the duo’s music rose dramatically following the break-up announcement, while the likes of Nile Rodgers, The Weeknd and The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas all paid tribute to the pair.
Rodgers, who worked with Daft Punk on their 2013 mega-hit Get Lucky, said: “Daft Punk thanking me for the music, but the feeling’s mutual. I love their artistry, conviction and most of all their humanity. I will miss them.”
Since Daft Punk’s split, Thomas Bangalter has since scored a ballet called Mythologies at Bordeaux’s Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux last summer. It was performed by the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. The show was directed by Angelin Preljocal, the choreographer and founder of Ballet Preljocal.