Alysa Liu performed at the Southern California stop of Stars On Ice in Anaheim, California, reprising her Olympic short program to Laufey's "Promise." The 20-year-old from Oakland, still in college, skated the routine she used at the 2026 Winter Olympics and drew the loudest reaction of the night.
Thousands of fans at the Anaheim stop reacted more loudly to Liu than to any other skater on the bill. Evan Bates, one of the tour’s veteran performers, said that the attention reaches beyond the usual audience. "We've had a couple of people who we met at the show who said, ‘never watched figure skating before, but I saw Alysa at Olympics, and I got ticket stars on ice,’" he said. "That's the kind of stuff that I think we are so grateful for, to reach into new audiences and reach people who've never seen the sport before."
"She's connected with so many millions of people, and we're so proud of her," Bates added, later describing Liu this way: "She's such a unique person. She hasn't changed one bit, and she won't," a remark that underlined how the tour saw her as both a star and a colleague.
Stars On Ice is an exhibition tour that has been running since the mid-1980s; it is not a competition. The Anaheim stop featured a roster of elite skaters including Ilia Malinin, Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito, Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Danny O'Shea, Ellie Kam, Andrew Torgashev, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko. Even among that field of established names, Liu was the strongest crowd draw at the Southern California performance.
Liu’s presence on the tour comes after a dramatic stretch of public visibility. She returned from retirement and won Olympic gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics. After the Games she appeared on late-night talk shows, was featured in a Laufey music video and attended the Met Gala, all moves that helped push her profile well beyond the skating rink.
The Anaheim show began late — delayed because it was up against a Dodgers/Angels game across the street — but Liu’s segment did not lose its pull. Before stepping onto the ice she uttered a single-word nod to the music she would skate to: "Promise." On the ice she said the run had been meaningful. "It's been really cool. I'm so grateful for so many of the opportunities I got to do," Liu told the crowd, and later: "It's kind of crazy to me, but I'm happy to get them into it because I think the sport is so cool, and I think the athletes are so strong and lowkey underrated," underscoring how she views her post-Olympic visibility as a chance to expand skating’s audience.
There is a tension beneath the applause. Liu acknowledged the cost of sudden fame even as she leans into the role of ambassador. "I'm scared it won't feel like home anymore, because all of a sudden everyone's gonna know me," she said, a candid line that landed in contrast with the stadium-sized cheers.
At 20 years old, balancing college and a skyrocketing public profile, Liu now occupies a rare place in the sport: an Olympic gold medalist who also brings new viewers to an exhibition tour that has existed for more than 20 years. If Stars On Ice has long been a stage for elite skaters to perform without the pressure of competition, the Anaheim stop suggested the tour may now also be a platform for converting mainstream attention into new, lasting fans. Liu left Anaheim with the loudest ovation — and a reminder that her next moves will shape how many people decide to watch figure skating at all.
