Yu-na Marked Music Infects Fans
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
A quick glance at any random street block in Korea would be enough to feel the omnipresent iconic status of Kim Yu-na, whose face adorns everything from smoothie drinks and cosmetics store signs to cell phone devices.
Moreover, the figure skating champion has made a splash in the rather waning record industry, particularly the classical music genre.
The entire country seems to be captivated by the 19-year-old, and ``the Kim Yu-na experience'' is not complete without the thematic scores that accompany her graceful twists and turns and striking facial expression on ice.
This season she has showcased contemporary classics. On Wednesday, Kim, donning an edgy black sparkly suit and smoky eye make-up, ``shot down'' the audience, in seductive 007-style, to Norman's `` James Bond Theme.'' Friday, all eyes were glued to the screen as she glided in rhythm to the third movement of Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F-major, with her electric blue outfit matching the jazzy piece.
These songs, which have more ``attitude'' and catchy beats, marked a sharp turn from her 2008-2009 repertoire, which featured extremely dramatic classical numbers. She earned rave reviews from both fans and critics _ and rewrote figure skating history _ as she performed to Rimsky-Korsakov's red-hot ``Scheherazade'' and Saint-Saen's haunting ``Danse Macabre.''
In December 2008 as the national Yu-na fever gathered momentum, Universal Music Korea released a special album, ``Fairy on the Ice,'' featuring the background melodies Kim used since the 2003-2004 season.
Just 10,000 copies of the limited edition album were initially available and were sold out in less than two weeks due to pre-orders. Subsequent releases made the album a five-time platinum disc, with more than 50,000 copies sold over a course of three months.
The package had included three CDs containing Kim's skating background music, beginning with Bizet's ``Carmen'' from the 2003-2004 season all the way to this year's James Bond soundtrack.
Fans flocked to stores for the hard copy, rather than downloading tracks online, since the album included a 52-page photo album of the pretty skater. They were also eager to listen to pieces of classical music Kim loves listening to everyday, such as Liszt's ``Liebestraume'' No. 3.
In gala shows Kim has delighted followers by showcasing fun and beautiful skating sequences to pop tunes, from sweeping ballads like Mandy Moore's ``Only Hope'' to upbeat dance tracks like Rihanna's ``Don't Stop the Music.'' Universal Music took the opportunity to release the compilation album ``Fairy on the Ice - The Pop Album.''
EMI Classics released a new album in time for the Vancouver Winter Olympics. ``The World's Favorite Figure Skating Music'' is a 2-CD album featuring the James Bond theme song, Gershwin, Saint-Saens and Rimsky-Korsakov pieces that Kim's fans are familiar with, as well as other classical numbers chosen by famous skaters such as Michelle Kwan and Mao Asada.