Yu-Na Kim on Battle of the Blades

This might not be the best time to post this but for those of you who are interested or didn't see it yet, Yu-Na skated a short exhibition to 007 on Battle of the Blades (CBC, Canadian Television) last Monday. Kurt also interviews Brian Orser briefly at the beginning. Enjoy!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnc9jbJ6MGY

Why not the best time to post? I mean yes Mao is out of GPF but it's not Yuna's fault! Yuna looks great, happy even she fell on 2a I really like then she does her hair like that, I'm really tired to see all these buns

I know I know I was just worrying for nothing I guess. I think Yu-Na looks great too... Is it just me or is this rink a lot narrower than a normal one? You can't tell from the normal performances but Yu-Na just takes up so much space you worry she'll go into the crowd

Great program for an exhibition but IMHO, too overtly sexual for competition.

Maybe it's because I'm a big conservative prude.

I don't want to seem as if I'm stuck in the 1800s, but I do think the traditions of figure-skating should be kept, including keeping the suggestive gazes and gyrations out of competition.

There's no denying that Yu-Na is beautiful on the ice, though. She makes figure-skating fun

chiyori wrote:

I know I know I was just worrying for nothing I guess. I think Yu-Na looks great too... Is it just me or is this rink a lot narrower than a normal one? You can't tell from the normal performances but Yu-Na just takes up so much space you worry she'll go into the crowd

Yes, it was very, very small and narrow.

How do I know? Because I was there!

I drove up to Toronto to see her skate, and she was amazing on the ice. Wonderful basics and so much speed and flow even on that tiny rink; definitely more impressive than on TV. She was also really cute backstage and joking and laughing with everyone, not just the big stars on the show. I love how Mao and Yuna seem like such nice gals. Now I just need to see Mao in person and my life will be complete!

@ chineseteacup You know, it's weird. Seeing Yuna in person, she looked a lot younger and cuter to me than sexy. On TV she looks more mature. That said, I agree she could probably lose the move where she reaches down, goes up her leg, and then does a gun move, not because I think it's too sexy, but just because it's a little cheesy.

Liffey wrote:

Yes, it was very, very small and narrow.

How do I know? Because I was there!

I drove up to Toronto to see her skate, and she was amazing on the ice. Wonderful basics and so much speed and flow even on that tiny rink; definitely more impressive than on TV. She was also really cute backstage and joking and laughing with everyone, not just the big stars on the show. I love how Mao and Yuna seem like such nice gals. Now I just need to see Mao in person and my life will be complete!

Aaww lucky you! I didn't even know she was going to skate until I saw the show. Seems there's going to be a special guest every Monday... Do you know where I can go to know who it is?

Well, I think it might be on their website somewhere:

http://www.cbc.ca/battle/

But as I was there on Monday, they said Kristi Yamaguchi and someone else would be on next week! I think Kristi might skate, but I'm not sure! I would love to go up again and see her, but I don't think I'll be able to miss my grad class again.

I know a lot of people in the world are fascinated in the program, but I really hate the choreography.
It's like a fu*k-me erotic dance. No offense, it's just difference of sense of beauty.

I'm not a fan of that program either, but I love Yuna's skating so it doesn't really matter

Liffey, you're so lucky! Yuna looks great! Seeing her without the bun is even better. I like to see Mao without it, too.

Quote :

But as I was there on Monday, they said Kristi Yamaguchi and someone else would be on next week! I think Kristi might skate, but I'm not sure! I would love to go up again and see her, but I don't think I'll be able to miss my grad class again.

Kristi and her husband, who is a hockey player, will be ONE judge ahah, so they'll have to agree together on what score to give the pairs

Yu na has a lot of fans/viewers under 13 (like me), so i think she should have just limited that number to an ex. An 8yo would think even that outfit is gross

NarumiAyane wrote:

Yu na has a lot of fans/viewers under 13 (like me), so i think she should have just limited that number to an ex. An 8yo would think even that outfit is gross

I mean, figure-skating costumes are meant to be short, but this is

So she really is human this season after all, huh?

I think the atmosphere was really Bond-girl-esque. The lighting was pretty dark and the wall paneling, too. It was...uh...suggestive.

I just think that the whole theme of the program is a little
Maybe just tone it down a bit and focus the choreography on the dynamics of the music rather than the sensual parts.

Still, I really need to see Yu-Na live one day. I think I can truly appreciate her skating then.

oh, comon!!! she is not a tabledancer and the dress is ok.

The dress is ok... I think Yu-Na looks beautiful in it. I hate one-shouldered dresses though... I'm always worried the skater will have a "wardrobe malfunction", if you get my meaning... Laybacks and ina bauers are a killer for that

Liffey - you drove up to Toronto to see Yu-Na? Wow! (I guess you must not be too far away? East coast somewhere?)

I guess I should go and watch Yu-Na's programs from TEB at some point, but I'm just not feeling motivated.

Whenever I watch Yu-Na I'm always impressed by how she makes her entire program look incredibly smooth and put-together...but then she makes some over-the-top gesture, and I cringe. Can't say the girl doesn't deserve to win though!

Batsuchan wrote:

Liffey - you drove up to Toronto to see Yu-Na? Wow! (I guess you must not be too far away? East coast somewhere?)

I guess I should go and watch Yu-Na's programs from TEB at some point, but I'm just not feeling motivated.

Whenever I watch Yu-Na I'm always impressed by how she makes her entire program look incredibly smooth and put-together...but then she makes some over-the-top gesture, and I cringe. Can't say the girl doesn't deserve to win though!

I live in Buffalo, NY- I live less than 5 minutes from the Canadian border, and Toronto is usually only an hour and a half away. I usually go up there at least a couple times a month because I love the city (and it's much more multicultural than upstate NY!), so when I heard Yuna was performing and I finally had a chance to see her, it was a no brainer.

I'm also only 5 hours away from Lake Placid, so I'm going to see her at Skate America too.

I wish Mao wasn't always in Japan or Russia... she's too far away from me!!

ETA: If you don't like over-the-top gestures, maybe you shouldn't watch her SP. There's a lot of gun pointing and other interesting moves. I like most of it because I think it fits the campy character of a Bond girl, which is what she was going for, but it is a bit over the top.

chiyori wrote:

The dress is ok... I think Yu-Na looks beautiful in it. I hate one-shouldered dresses though... I'm always worried the skater will have a "wardrobe malfunction", if you get my meaning... Laybacks and ina bauers are a killer for that

I've always thought one-shouldered dresses have a distinctly Flintstone-ian look to them.

I've noticed that Mao's usualy covered up pretty well. It's definitely good for peventing "waldrobe malfunctions", as you stated, but it wouldn't hurt for Mao to have a bit of fun and show some skin

chineseteacup wrote:

I've always thought one-shouldered dresses have a distinctly Flintstone-ian look to them.

I've noticed that Mao's usualy covered up pretty well. It's definitely good for peventing "waldrobe malfunctions", as you stated, but it wouldn't hurt for Mao to have a bit of fun and show some skin

I agree on the Flintstone bit!
But for some reason, I am loving the long sleeves + gloves effect. It looks so sophisticated and elegant, especially on Mao. Long sleeves create this very classic yet elegant look that totally suits Mao.

@ Liffey! Ah, Buffalo! I have a friend from Toronto and she often flies to Buffalo and gets her brother to drive her to Toronto, so makes sense!

And I did *finally* watch Yu-Na's SP. Thank you for warning me about the faces in advance!

@ chineseteacup
It might be nice for Mao to show some skin, but I wonder if she stays covered up so she can stay warm?

@ will_power
I do like Mao in long sleeves, and I also like her in sleeveless dresses (Nocturne dress was classic), but I'm having trouble with the gloves. When she's doing her EX and it's dark, you can't see her hands at all, and I feel a little bit like this even when she's skating in full light in the competition.

My favorite costume of Mao's remains the costume she borrowed from Mai for 2007 Nationals (it's coconut's avatar). Too pretty!

Someone should start an individual thread about Mao's costumes , if there isn't one already.
The gloves and long sleeves are really growing on me...

@ Batsuchan. Speaking of Mao's Ex, she should change her last of the three spiral positions into just a (not sure what its called) normal spiral and not a kerrigan-spiral. In the Cor Ex, her hand slipped while holding onto the fan and her leg during the Kerrigan spiral...

I know I'm getting really off topic over here, but everytime she fans herself, I that the stupid fan won't slip from her grasp...even though I'm pretty sure theres a loop or something