This year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea marked the first time that figure skaters were allowed to perform to music with lyrics. The skaters themselves were ecstatic about this rule change, as it gave them the opportunity to better showcase their personalities to the world.

Nobody took advantage of this rule change more than French figure skaters Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres, who gave the world a sneak preview of the performance they had planned for the Olympics when they skated at the International Skating Union’s World Team Trophy 2017 competition in Japan. By the end of their routine, the entire stadium was on their feet cheering for the pair’s hauntingly beautiful performance.

James and Cipres performed to the heavy medal band Disturbed’s rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s classic “The Sound of Silence,” a rendition that went viral in 2015. James and Cipres explained that they chose the song because it perfectly matched their own moves and the emotion behind them.

To say that their performance was a success would be an understatement.

“I’ve watched skating competitions for years,” said commenter Nan Peaslee. “I’m talking back to the early 70’s….never, and I mean never, has a performance actually touched my soul as this one did.  The music is unbelievably incredible…the choreography – the interpretation – of that music by these two….. beyond perfection.  I am so grateful to still have my sight, my hearing,  as this allowed me to experience the phenomenal beauty of this performance.”

Video of the performance has since gone viral and been viewed over 6.1 million times on Youtube.

In the end, this performance beautifully showcases the beauty of figure skating and got fans all over the world excited for the Olympics. SHARE this story if this performance touched you as well!