All about Yu-Na Kim, For those who like watching her skating

Glad to hear that your favorite skater is Yu-Na Kim.



It is a fan-made montage with "Clair de lune(moonlight)".
The original music she skated to was "Once Upon A Dream" by Linda Edder.






Did you know there was a really sad, tearful stroy behind this gala program?



The story goes back to the year of 2007...

Plushy fans will remember the occasion when Plushy visited Korea again for annual Super Match, and how the show was cancelled because the arena got caught on fire and burnt down.



At that time, Yu-Na was one of the guest skaters who was invited to the show just as Plushenko, Yagudin or others were. A few hours after the fire, the show agent Sema and sponsor Hyundai Card did something very terrible to Yu-Na. All of a sudden, the name of the show changed from "Hyundai Card Super Match V 07 Superstars On Ice" to "Yu-Na Kim Ice Show". These nasty businessmen took it out on Yu-Na and forced her to make an apology at press conference as if it were Yu-Na's responsibility that the show was cancelled!



As you can see in the picture, there was no one but Yu-na alone at the press conference.

http://www.cbs.co.kr/nocut/show.asp?idx=617792

The cowardly producer, director and sponsor people were all hiding in the back, and this 16-year-old little girl had to make an apology for the fire and cancellation.



What's even worse, Sema and Hyundai Card did nothing at all. Yu-Na alone gave a free performance to the fans in compensation at the amusement park, which is "Once Upon A Dream", an exhibition program ever presented in front of audience only this time once. I cannnot watch this program without tears. So fragile to bear such burdens on her little shoulders... yet she seems so peaceful and transcendent in this video, almost ethereal.





(I recomment you to watch it in high quality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IlzLY_nhFw)





Actually, this public rink in the amusement park used to be Yu-Na's main training place because she never had her own rink to practice at in Korea. Imagine she had to go to a public rink where people take photos of her, and where there is no proper heating system that she would get injured frequently. 2008-2009 was the first season she's been completely injury-free as now she trains in Toronto.


Nonetheless,Yu-Na never forgets her hard old days, and a lot of the money she earns from starring in commercials goes to funding for young prospective figure skaters. This is one of the reasons why Koreans adore her so much - she's totally the underdog dream come true. No funding, no support, no sponsors...yet she made it through. I'm always in awe of her perfection, because I know all the difficulties she must have gone through to get there.




Yu-na Kim performing "Once Upon A Dream" 2007.9.16 Seoul Lotteworld Ice rink.







Edited by goldendove - 9/7/2009, 08:37