Yu-na set to wow local fans

Kim Yu-na, center, trains with participants of her ice show at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, Thursday. The ice show is scheduled to take place from Friday to Sunday.

Olympic champion Kim Yu-na will make a long-awaited appearance on ice in “E1 All That Skate Spring 2012,” scheduled from May 4 to 6 in Seoul. It’s her first appearance in nine-months.

“I feel nervous to perform after the long break, but I have trained hard for the show with other participants. Many world-renowned skaters are going to participate, including young ones. I hope this show makes audiences happy,” Kim said at the media conference in Seoul, Thursday.

The 21-year-old skater selected “All of me” and “Someone like you” for her new exhibition programs. “All of me” was originally written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons and re-made by a slew of artists including Canada’s three-time Grammy Awards winner Michael Buble. The other one is written and sung by English singer Adele who received six trophies including Album of the Year at the 2012 Grammy Awards. She also talked about the apparels that she is going to wear at the event.

“Because the song, “Someone like you,” itself is dark, it too will be gloomy if I wear a dark dress,” Kim said. “I’m planning on wearing men’s clothes, but not entirely so. Using accessories like a hat will be something new for the show as well.”

Other participants also expressed their excitement about the forthcoming contest. 2012 World champion Carolina Kostner said that it is her honor to be a part of the show for the first time and therefore her expectation is high. 2011 and 2012 World champion Patrick Chan said he feels new every time he comes to the event.

Evan Lysacek, the reigning Olympic champion in the men’s singles, is going to perform with other top-class skaters in front of Korean fans. He is going to perform with the song, “Tango de Roxanne,” which was demonstrated by Kim in 2007. He said Kim’s 2007 performance left an indelible mark on figure skating.

Choreographer David Wilson, who also attended the conference, said that he named the performance “paradise.” He added it is such a pleasure to have another show in front of enthusiastic Korean fans. <Korea Times/Jung Min-ho>

news@theasian.asia