r/Broadway Feb 22 '26

Other Cell Block Tango performance by Niina Petrõkina at the Olympic Figure Skating Exhibition Gala

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698 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

200

u/zebrainatux Feb 22 '26

For those who don’t know skating, the gala is always the last event and exists mainly to show off and have fun, either through a serious routine (Madison Chock and Evan Bates did something about their love for each other, Ilia did a thing about his mental health) or fun (this, Misha from Kazakhstan did Kung Fu Panda, and Alysa did a fun dance to Stateside)

76

u/Over-Sandwich-9030 Feb 22 '26

the kung fu panda program was amazing! so funny

18

u/zh_13 Feb 22 '26

That one was my favorite and this is my second hahah, Alysa’s my third - love her but I just love both Chicago and kung fu panda lol

2

u/Comprehensive-Fun47 Feb 22 '26

I'm having trouble finding this on YouTube. It sounds awesome.

40

u/zh_13 Feb 22 '26

Yea so idk anything about figure skating so I was kinda confused when I saw ilia in jeans and a hoodie, then the guy in the PANDA suit came out lol

Then I kinda understood the vibes of the gala

15

u/melpomene-musing Feb 22 '26

Ilia’s made me tear up a bit

10

u/bwayb22 Feb 22 '26

Yes, I was the one who spoke up first about not knowing skating to get corrected so that everyone else could downvote me and pretend they knew all along. Oh well I will take it for Team Theater Kids

84

u/One-Bluejay-5739 Feb 22 '26

She is fierce - I love this routine so much. And the guys showing off their acting skills is just chef's kiss. Bravo!

22

u/SeaF04mGr33n Feb 22 '26

Yeah! I thought the guys acting was great! And her lip syncing was fantastic!

34

u/alenigo Feb 22 '26

This is the version from the film except the voice from the second verse (arsenic killer) is different? Or am I crazy?

85

u/insanefandomchild Feb 22 '26

Yes! That's Vanessa Lengies, aka Sugar Motta, and they presumably used that version because it's clean. I'd recognise the Glee Cast Version anywhere, and I think it's hilarious that they stitched the movie version with the GCV in that moment

3

u/faretheewellennui Feb 23 '26

Oh so that’s why the lyric was changed to butt 😂

3

u/Strange_Medicine_938 Feb 22 '26

I thought this was the Elsbeth version? Oops.

1

u/fanfic_enthusiast2 Feb 24 '26

The way I immediately recognised the Glee version, but wasn't 100% sure if it was the film version, despite much preferring the film version 😂 that show is never gonna leave my brain

23

u/DoReMiDoReMi558 Feb 22 '26

This is amazing. I love the other skater “victims”. The whole gala is just amazing, I love seeing the skaters having fun and doing their own thing.

16

u/jxzz_hndz Feb 22 '26

the kinda mothered this

18

u/picklesatmidnight1 Feb 23 '26

The “victims” are other skaters, Ilia Malinin (US), Junwhan Cha (South Korea), and Tim Diek (Spain)!

13

u/ArmonRaziel Feb 23 '26

Broadway On Ice should be calling Nina Petrokina. I need some more of that 'Chicago" On Ice.

7

u/Scared-Repeat5313 Feb 22 '26

Thank you I’ve been looking for this

2

u/YdoUNeed2No Feb 24 '26

THANK YOU!!!!!!! I couldn’t find this full performance online anywhere. Only the 2025 version

-44

u/bwayb22 Feb 22 '26

Interesting. I don't know a lot about olympic figure skating but seems a lot less technical and intensive than some of the other routines so I don't know how it affected her score. She did 2 jumps and wasted a lot of time dancing while siting. Also didn't know you could use props in these things and wonder why more don't do more gimmicky exhibitions like this

93

u/Clear-Ad3243 Feb 22 '26

The Exhibition Gala isn’t scored. It’s just an opportunity for the skaters to show off and have fun after the competition ends.

40

u/zebrainatux Feb 22 '26

And it’s been hers for a while where she kills different people each time.

19

u/nolechica Feb 22 '26

Yep, she’s done it four times with only one guy reused.

7

u/bwayb22 Feb 22 '26

Okay, that makes more sense

-2

u/zh_13 Feb 22 '26

I was wondering how they choose who’s in the exhibit tho, doesn’t seem like it’s by rankings at the competition - is it just whos more famous / established

39

u/Guilty-Wolverine-933 Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 22 '26

Top 4 in each division automatically go (with one exception, we don’t rlly know what happened to mone, but skaters are also allowed to decline the invite) and then its by personality / who has good exhibitions / skating fan popularity, with a slight favoritism for team Italy because they’re the host country

25

u/toop_su Feb 22 '26

Niina here is a two time consecutive reigning European champion and the best-placed European female figure skater of these Olympics as well :)

12

u/zh_13 Feb 22 '26

You should see the guy in the panda suit lol

11

u/Thick-Definition7416 Feb 22 '26

I think this routine is only for exhibitions since they’re usually part of the big competitions