What does Yu-Na Kim think of Caroline Zhang?

[feraina]

Tell me if I understood it right what you mean = Yu Na is better at "interpretation", because she has great face language, energetic movements, great footwork. A great temperament on ice.

Yes, exactly.

OTH Zhang has the soft balletic movements. So she is better at "artistry"... I didn't like her interpretation of her SP nor of her LP. It seemed that she didn't even like the music, it seemed it was forced, without feelings, without personality.

Not just "soft" movements, but smooth and flowing, as though no ounce of energy is wasted. The best ballet dancers, after years of intense training, can sometimes achieve this effect: making their movements efficient and smooth, so as to minimize jerkiness and energy expenditure. Ever wondered how some ballet dancers manage to perform onstage for an hour at a time without apparent fatigue? Ever noticed how Caroline, despite her tiny frame, gets through an LP without a single mistake, and still looks like she could do it all over again? She's naturally gifted in this respect.

The greatest ballerinas, of course, can express strong feelings, as well as making their movements look polished, smooth, beautiful. Partly Caroline will benefit from more dramatic music -- neither her SP nor LP music was anywhere close to the drama of Yu-na's SP last year. Partly I think she needs to find out how to express her emotions, or the emotions of a character that she'd like to portray, through her skating.

I've heard that Caroline actually really likes to skate to soft, balletic music. Maybe thus far she's only wanted to portray a sweet princess on ice, which you can't blame coming from a 13-year-old. Her coach said in interviews that they do plan to explore more varied music in the future, in particular away from only soft, sweet music.

 

[blue dog]

I love both skaters because they're both great skaters, but at the current time, none of them stand out as someone with any sort of personality. They really seem to be using similar themes and similar ways of interpretation that have already been seen!

The first time I saw Yeon-Ah's Lark Ascending, I thought of Lyra Angelica mixed in with Lucinda Ruh's Harp Concerto. When I saw Caroline's Medidation I thought of Oksana's Meditation from 1995! Mao's Czardas in a way, reminded me of Sasha's Dark Eyes. Kimmie and Joannie's music both sounded like they cut from the same CD. I won't get into Yukari Nakano's use of the exact same cut of Cinderella that Midori used in 1996. Or, Mira Leung's free skate which attempted to look like Chen Lu's Last Emperor.

This was the year the girls raided their older sisters' closets for their prom dresses, so to speak. So, while I really like both skaters, they, along with others, need to find their OWN style, hopefully before Vancouver.

 

[feraina]

This was the year the girls raided their older sisters' closets for their prom dresses, so to speak. So, while I really like both skaters, they, along with others, need to find their OWN style, hopefully before Vancouver.

Figure skating is dominated by a group of unusually young girls at the current time. Kimmie, at 17, is almost old -- compared to Mao, Yu-na, Caroline, Ashley, Mirai... You can hardly blame them for skating like their idols who inspired them to get into FS. I trust that in time they will mature in their own personalities and their on-ice presence.

 

[champs]

Ok I'm sorry I called Yuna ignorant, I was in a tense mood and I didnt really read the article thoroughly. I've always viewed Yuna as a very sweet girl with no intention to really "attack" another skater. To be honest she's my 2nd favorite skater (1st being Caroline of course).

Nice try. I love your excuse.

 

[Tinymavy15]

Yu-Na Kim, despite the hype, I don't like her at all. Her SP score was hugely inflated. She has rarely skated a clean long program. With 2 falls, she did not deserve the score she got at worlds.

With such arrogant attitude and injuries, I doubt she will go very far. She is just flash in the pan.

I have to agree that besides her easy lloking triple triple i did not see anything amazing in her SP at worlds last year. yes, perhaps it should have been first, but the best ever? i find myself scraching my head. Howver she seems like a sweet down to earth shy girl and i think that her comments were not meant to sound as catty as they did. I am sure that she is no fool and knows that Caroline could be a threat, but does not want to admit her own failings. Caroline lacks a triple triple, somthing both she and Kostner have planned, but Fumie does not.... so marking fumie higher than caroline might be mistake.

 

[Zuranthium]

Well Fumie is a 3-time World Medalist and a top-5 finisher at both Olympic games in recent history. Judges are much more likely to give her more respect than C. Zhang.

~Z

 

[R.D.]

Zhang hasn't even competed yet. Who knows? There's typically an adjusting period but that didn't seem to prevent Asada and Yu-Na from busting out onto the scene. Maybe Zhang could have done that earlier but I think there's too much competition (esp. from Asia) out there now to allow that to happen right now.

 

[feraina]

Well, it will be exciting to see what these girls have in store for us come the new season. I'm going to be looking out for the following:

Yu-na -- can she produce a perfect LP along with her SP, and improve her layback spin and stretch more on her spirals?

Caroline -- can she live up to the hype and add the 3/3 while keeping her consistency, and dance to more upbeat/dramatic/varied music?

Carolina -- how about putting two clean programs together?

Fumie -- can she put the last season behind her and come back strong?

And beyond CoC:
Mao -- two axels including a combination, and maybe a quad loop?! More musical/artistic maturity would be welcome too.

Ando -- can she retain the consistency she showed at WC, as well as improving on her posture, spirals, spins, presentation in general?

Kimmie -- A clean 3/3, and maybe the 3-axel back? Continued artistic improvement?

 

[Zuranthium]

I'm looking forward to Yukari Nakano. She will probably never get on the World podium because of the lack of a 3/3 (which is the age we now live in), however, she is a wonderful performer with great consistency on the jumps she is capable of doing and has AMAZING spinning ability in the Camel position. It's such a shame that the Japanese women have to fight against each other just to get to Worlds because they are all so talented and deserve to be there.

~Z

 

[HCOSurfer]

Nice try. I love your excuse.

Explain to me how that's an excuse. Do you have any idea whats going on in my life? I said I was sorry and Yuna IS one of my favorite skaters even if you dont believe me.

 

[R.D.]

Why is this such a big to-do? We get much worse comments in the major sports and no one bats an eyelid. Just shows how catty FS can be IMHO.

 

[Lanie]

On FSU there are people saying the translation of the article into English is pretty shoddy. So calm down! Yu Na said Carolina et al seem more THREATENING than Caroline Zhang, not more talented.

 

[satorare]

Carolina et al seem more THREATENING than Caroline Zhang, not more talented.

If that's the case, Kim is dishonest.
She (and Koreans) should be very nervous about Zhang's "3-3" stories.
Zhang has great flexibility, five different triples, the orthodox image of Kwan's (which Kim craves for) and above all, the American nationality. Once Zhang could deliver 3-3s in a competition, Kim will surely lose. Losing to Kostner is not a big deal, but being beaten by a "junior-level" skater is a total nightmare.

 

[Zuranthium]

Once Zhang could deliver 3-3s in a competition, Kim will surely lose.

If, if, if. There's no garuntee Zhang will be able to master the 3-3. She also needs to fix her Flutz. Plus, she needs to mature. Yeah, she's a lovely skater and everything, but she doesn't have the same amount of soul Yu-Na does. No Junior skater ever does have that depth of performance ability, though. That's why they are still Juniors. The point, however, is that some skaters NEVER reach the top-tier level of performance ability. We simply have to wait and see how Zhang will progress. Only time can tell if she will turn into a dynamic skater.

~Z

 

[tagmats]

Thanks for reminding us that falling means everything! It's good to be as superficial as possible.

Kimmie lacks artistry, had a poor landing on her first Lutz, left out an entire Triple Toeloop, and underrotated the 3Toe she did attempt even more than usual (= negative GOE).

Yu-Na deserved to place ABOVE Kimmie in the LP and the only reason she didn't was because of a scoring error (she did a "4th" combination, which resulted in 0 points for her 3Sal...stupid things like this within the judging system need to be fixed).

~Z

I think you should learn CoP,especially PCS and should know that rules are NOT for Yu Na Kim but for all skaters.

 

[Lanie]

Caroline's jump technique is dodgy on those toe jumps and I don't think she'll be able to get 3/3s so quickly. Sure, she's an amazing little girl--but just that, alittle girl. We should not be putting so much pressure on her, no matter how talented and intelligent she may be! It is such an if, if, if situation like Zuranthium said.

Yu Na is a good skater. Caroline is also. But who's to say one of them won't be injured, Caroline won't get senior jitters, blah blah...

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

She also needs to fix her Flutz. Plus, she needs to mature. .~Z

Why? and Why? Would you have said that about bubble gum style of Lipinsky and the notorious flutz?

Joe

 

[Mathman]

She (and Koreans) should be very nervous about Zhang's "3-3" stories.

? Why should Koreans be more nervous than, say, Finns or Canadians?

 

[Sulphur]

The Korean Herald Whatever's crappy translation has been very much attacked by most of the Korean fans of figure skating. So FYI, I want to give everyone a more detailed version of the interview. (I'm not a professional translator but I think this would be better than a paper's tatters without any contexts..)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--What do you think about the assignments of Grand Prix circuit?
▲ Considering I'm training in Canada, I thought Canada, America or France would great for me. It's not the best results but I don't want to complain about it.


--Your first competition in 2008 is in China, what do you think?
▲ I'm quite familiar with China because I've once competed at JGP there. The quality of ice is different to countries but I don't think it's difficult to get used to it.


--What do you think about other competitors at CoC?
▲ In general, quite most of the top skaters are heading to China next year. Especially Kostner and Suguri are top-level skaters in the world. Also Susanna Poykio from Finland and Caroline Zhang from USA can get to the podium.


--What do you think about Caroline Zhang who won this year's Junior Worlds?
▲ It's not appropriate to estimate her especially. I haven't competed with her, but I watched her through videos, and I thought she was a junior skater yet. I don't want to be too cautious of her especially.


--Do you think CoR would be easier?
▲ Comparing to CoC, CoR would be somewhat easier than that. However, Suguri will compete against me again and Nagano Yukari from Japan and Joannie Rochette from Canada are also great skaters.


--What do you think the important things to prepare Grand Prix series?
▲ Since China and Russia are very far from where I'm training, I'm somewhat worrying about the jet lags and the long flights.
However Russia is where I won GPF last year and I've been China in my junior days so I'm not worrying too much.
Thing is, that I could stay in good condition because CoR is held just two weeks after CoC.


--What is your plan from now on?
▲ I'm thinking the season has virtually started from now because the schedule for Grand Prix circuit has announced.
I'll devote myself thoroughly to my new SP and FS programmes and I'll do my best to do the training so that I can achieve more strength.

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In my opinion, it is better to let skaters do what they do during off-season because time will tell everything. Fans are fine with her own photos from Toronto, so the media's overacting is just unnecessary(seeing all the pictures of her and the English tutor.. I've got nothing to say :-/).

 

[zephyrskates]

above all, the American nationality.

whoah. let's not blatantly display our superiority complex. (and yes, i'm being sarcastic)