Carolina Kostner

[iluvtodd]

I thought Carolina was wonderful in her free skate, despite that very unfortunate fall @ the end. Congrats, Caro!

[vegarin]

She was just wonderful in her free skate. Even if it would've been even more fantastic without the fall, she really showed what she's made of, and her interpretation of Bolero was so fabulous. I think it may be one of my favorites ever. Seeing her skate and the way she captivates the crowd -- the GEO she gets is every bit justified, I think. She also seems to have a wonderfully warm and funny personality, if interviews are anything to go by, so I love her even more. Now I desperately want to see her medal next year! Not sure she can get gold, what with Yuna Kim around (and I think it will be awesome to see a consecutive Olympic champ in modern era, and Yuna probably is the best skater out there), but I think the way she skates, she can definitely be a great challenger to Yuna than other -- admittedly excellent -- skaters.

[demarinis5]

Welcome to GS vegarin! I have been a fan of Caro's it seems like forever, through the ups and downs of her career.
She has been skating senior level I believe since 2003 and if you look at her record it is pretty impressive.
She has quite a collection of medals and I think she will add one more in Sochi.

[vegarin]

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, I'm new -- finally I decided to stop lurking and chime in with how much I loved the ladies free this year, and that I've become Carolina's fan after her program. I remember seeing some of the shakier skates earlier in her career and thinking that she was quite uneven, but now, the confidence and the joy just come through in her skate -- she seems to skate with her everything, and it's awesome to watch even when she's not perfect or clean.

Man, demarinis5, you must be quite gratified to see her do so well! I agree that she is likely to add another medal to her collection next year. Doesn't matter which colour, because now I'm convinced that either way, clean or not, she will fight for every moment and give her skate every bit she has, and it would be wonderful to watch her. It was so lovely to see her smile on the podium on Saturday!

[Ilvskating]

I like her LP and thought it was very creative in choreography before I see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d9HL-X6q08 and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnut9tB78BE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNidMEj5Ios
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsSALaDJuN4

I guess I've found all the inspirations for the choreography

As much as I admire Caro's ability to generate speed so easily, I felt something was missing. After seeing these video I believe what Caro missed was a clear mood or character, or passion. She skated beautifully but seems without purpose.

[npavel]

I like her LP and thought it was very creative in choreography before I see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d9HL-X6q08 and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnut9tB78BE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNidMEj5Ios
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsSALaDJuN4

I guess I've found all the inspirations for the choreography

As much as I admire Caro's ability to generate speed so easily, I felt something was missing. After seeing these video I believe what Caro missed was a clear mood or character, or passion. She skated beautifully but seems without purpose.

She told in an interview that she watched a lot of records from Maurice Béjart and others to get inspired on how to express herself, so that's not new. She did the same last year with Mozart and you see she take inspiration in that. But how she bring herself on the ice, it's her own way to get her music out there and bring her skate to that level.