Ryan Seacrest's interview with Yuna Kim | Golden Skate

Ryan Seacrest's interview with Yuna Kim

Joined
Aug 16, 2009
What a lovely video. It shows her charm and her importance to skating and to Korea.

I don't know how many of you outside the U.S. know Ryan Seacrest, but he's one of the better known TV personalities here. Not only is he the host of American Idol, but he has a radio show, and he does a lot of other appearances on other shows. He has a reputation of making the other person look good--in other words, he doesn't try to steal the spotlight. So I think whether he understands skating or not, he tried to get nonskating fans to see what it is that makes YuNa such a phenomenon, without going into the technical aspects of her skating.

YuNa's English is wonderful. She has no accent and is completely clear and easy to understand, and she puts words together effectively. Seeing this video makes me think that whether one is a fan of hers or not, one can easily see that she has been a tremendous asset to skating. You can't tell me that all of her Asian fans will just leave the sport when she retires. Many of them will continue to be interested, and I suspect that YuNa also will continue to promote the sport in her country and wherever else she has a voice. This can only help skating, because it brings in fans--not just in Asia, but in Asian communities across the rest of the world, in Australia, North America, and elsewhere. (And dare I hope for her to continue to influence the general environment in non-Asian countries? She'll certainly always hold my interest.)

Also, the superiority of her actual skating will stand in the annals of skating throughout the future, just as Gordeyeva/Grinkov are still counted as among the greatest in their field even after 25 years. It will serve as an inspiration to upcoming skaters.

I'm glad to be a fan of hers, but you could just be a fan of skating and get what it is she's contributed to us all.
 

amc987

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Cool video. Refreshing that Seacrest did his research (although Kim could've placed top 3 at Worlds and still gotten 3 spots for Korea in Sochi) and really seemed to respect Yuna.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Thanks for posting this.

Did the video stop and start repeatedly for anyone else? I thought it might be my computer, but tried to replay and did the same thing always in the same spots. So I think it might be encoding problems.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Yes, mine stopped and "rebuilt" many times. But I did get the complete sequence, so I can't complain too much. We didn't lose any of the dialogue, I think.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
How did Ryan get involved in sports?

Not a direct answer to your question, but IIRC, Seacrest's portfolio expanded far beyond entertainment years ago.

Among his many hats has been one as a sort of correspondent-at-large for NBC (whether for all of NBC News or only the Today show, I don't remember). One totally random Today show interview of his that I recall was with a major author of children's literature (don't remember her name).

And if I am not mistaken, he had a significant role in NBC's coverage of the London Olympics.

Plus he has anchored a radio show for ages, hasn't he? (Dating back well before American Idol, AFAIK.) I do not know the nature of it -- is it talk radio? Does it have a broad scope of general-interest/news stuff, or is it focused only on music, or ???
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Not a direct answer to your question, but IIRC, Seacrest's portfolio expanded far beyond entertainment years ago.

Among his many hats has been one as a sort of correspondent-at-large for NBC (whether for all of NBC News or only the Today show, I don't remember). One totally random Today show interview of his that I recall was with a major author of children's literature (don't remember her name).

And if I am not mistaken, he had a significant role in NBC's coverage of the London Olympics.

Plus he has anchored a radio show for ages, hasn't he? (Dating back well before American Idol, AFAIK.) I do not know the nature of it -- is it talk radio? Does it have a broad scope of general-interest/news stuff, or is it focused only on music, or ???

Supposedly Seacrest is considered one of the hardest-working men in show business. He considered Dick Clark a mentor and role model, and Clark had his finger in so many pies that it was a wonder he got any sleep. Seacrest is following that path. A good interviewer can generally figure out how to interview someone from any field. Research is part of it, but there's an extra requirement: to be able to shape a narrative that brings out the character of the person being interviewed, one that's true to the person but that also makes an audience understand why that person is worth learning about. I think Seacrest has that extra skill.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I blame Ryan for the downfall of American Civilization for bringing us "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", which he produces.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Well since we are going down this road and Olys haven't started. Mr. Seacrest good or bad brought us 1980's hilights to hair, more fake and bake and more metrosexuality than Johnny Weir has designer bags!
 

breathesgelatin

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 12, 2013
This was a nice piece. Seacrest is such an American phenomenon, sometimes he makes me groan, but he does have a way of bringing good things out of people.

For me this piece highlighted Kim's psychological strength. Honestly, from a mental standpoint, she may be the greatest skater ever, to cope with the pressure put upon her and still perform.
 

bebevia

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
I blame Ryan for the downfall of American Civilization for bringing us "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", which he produces.
"Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane" and "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood" were trendsetters of the kind, and a few more before that. America was falling since way before. Where have you been when Snooki was eating pickles?
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
NBC mentioned Yuna 3 times during the opening ceremonies last night, including her interview with Seacrest once. She wasn't even there!

Also had her prominent in the video montage at the beginning.
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Cool video. Refreshing that Seacrest did his research (although Kim could've placed top 3 at Worlds and still gotten 3 spots for Korea in Sochi) and really seemed to respect Yuna.

IIRC, she needed to place 1st or 2nd to earn the 3 spots.
 
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