- Alysa Liu will debut a revamped Lady Gaga free skate at the U.S. figure skating championships.
- The new program features different songs and a new platinum, sparkly costume.
- Her performance will help determine which program she uses for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
ST. LOUIS — With the 2026 Winter Olympics less than a month away, Alysa Liu will be using the U.S. figure skating championships to see what will be in her arsenal when she arrives in Milano Cortina.
For the free skate at the nationals on Friday, Jan. 9, the reigning world champion will be using her revamped Lady Gaga medley, bringing back a program figure skating fans have been eagerly awaiting to see.
‘It’s a totally new free skate, so I’m excited,’ Liu told reporters on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
It’s been a work in progress for several months for Liu, last performing it at the 2025 CS Lombardia Trophy in September. It wasn’t the strongest showing, so she and choreographer Massimo Scali decided it was ‘not right yet’ and needed to be re-worked. In the meantime, she went back to her ‘MacArthur Park Suite’ free skate.
Since then, there’s been wonder when the Lady Gaga free skate would come back. At Skate America in November, Liu said her team was still tinkering with the music and choreography, working on it ‘behind the scenes and in training.’
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Ahead of the U.S. figure skating championships, Liu said the program had been officially reworked and would be ready to go in St. Louis.
There are some changes, notably in the song choices. ‘Bloody Mary’ is no longer in the mix, and instead Liu is using the songs ‘Chromatica’ and ‘Paparazzi,’ with ‘Bad Romance’ remaining as the closer.
There’s also a new costume. Instead of the fiery red dress, Liu is wearing a platinum, sparkly dress that looks inspired by Lady Gaga’s VMA performance in 2009, something she’s been excited to reveal.
‘I really like the dress, so I hope you guys like it too,’ Liu said.
Liu mentioned there won’t be a triple axel in the program, adding that’s mostly her fault because she didn’t realize how close the competition was and ‘it didn’t cross my mind’ to train for it. However, it could be included if she decides to keep it after the U.S. championships going into the Winter Olympics.
The performance will be a key moment for Liu as she has the two free skates in her inventory and could decide to go back to her old one for Milano Cortina, as it is widely expected she will be on the Olympic roster when it is announced on Sunday, Jan. 11. A solid performance could lead to keeping it with some tweaks, while issues could lead to ‘MacArthur Park Suite’ coming back.
Liu heads into the final performance of the nationals in second place after a stunning short program that landed her a season-best 81.11, a U.S. championship record. However, it was shortly broken when Amber Glenn’s program netted her an 83.05 score to jump ahead in first place.
Liu’s free skate will take place roughly around 10:35 p.m. ET as she tries to win her first U.S. title since 2020 after finishing in second place – behind Glenn – last year.