Thursday, March 9, 2017

Pre-Season Spotlight On Chris Kattan & Witney Carson

Every weekday leading up to the big premiere we’ll be putting the spotlight on one of the Season 24 couples by introducing the celebrity to readers who may not be familiar with their work and sharing our personal thoughts on the pairing!


Today we're taking a look at the career of the one-and-only Chris Kattan!


The son of actor Kip King, Chris was born on Octobr 19, 1970, and grew up in California. He started his career by being a part of several sketch comedy troupes in the state, before moving to New York City in the 1990's to appear on Saturday Night Live.




In the midst of his run on the show, Chris starred in the movie A Night at the Roxbury with SNL co-star Will Ferrell. (I wonder what his dance skills are like now?)



Since leaving SNL, Chris has made guest appearances in several television programs and commercials.


Chris is partnered with professional dancer Witney Carson for this season of Dancing With the Stars. Witney won the Mirrorball back in Season 19 with Alfonso Ribero, and Chris will be her seventh celebrity partner on the show (she previously spent two seasons in the troupe). Before joining the cast of DWTS, Witney competed on Season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance back in 2012, finishing in the Top 6.

Some highlights of Witney's time dancing on TV thus far include:




@TheBentleyNinja: I find Chris Kattan absolutely hilarious. I really liked him in A Night at the Roxbury, and I liked him even more with some of his impressions on Saturday Night Live. Besides his natural humorous quality, I think that his purposeful awkwardness that really makes him stand out as a comedian. I think he will appeal to some of the voters of the main DWTS demographic, but I wonder if that’s really going to as much of an advantage as it usually is, considering the diversity of the cast this season.


Ever since the season 18 Switch-Up Challenge where Witney danced with Drew Carey, and then in season 19 where she won the Mirror Ball with Alfonso, I realized that she has a real talent with bringing out the best in contestants who are over the age of 40. I actually think that Witney does better with older contestants than younger contestants. There’s just a certain flavor in her style that she is able to implement into her routines that just works with bringing out the youth in slightly older partners. Chris is in for a fun time with Witney.


The only thing I’m worried about for Chris and Witney is whether or not they will be able to keep up with the rest of the cast score-wise. Chris Kattan is a performer, but he doesn’t seem like he would be the most natural dancer. I have seen many people say that they believe that Chris will be the first one eliminated this season, and I’m afraid to say that I think they are right. It’s a shame, though, because he is a fun person to watch on TV.


@juliadelbel: Even though these two were obviously matched because of the height factor, I was very happy to find out that Witney had someone over the age of 40 this season, and that he was a comedian! However, after seeing them interact I’m not seeing a great dynamic so far, and I’m not quite sure why. I also don’t think Chris is coming into this with a big fanbase and he’s probably not going to be one of the top contestants the general audience members who aren’t necessarily hardcore fans of any of the celebrities going into this gravitate towards and vote for.

Given that I think most of the other partnerships this season have at least one of the "big three" Dancing With the Stars assets going for them-strong dance skills, strong partnership, and strong audience appeal-I do think it's likely that they will be the first couple eliminated from the competition. While I can see them escaping the bottom of the leaderboard the first week (and really, it seems like the couple on the bottom after the first week end up suviving the first cut more often than not) I think others who may end up below them will probably make up for it with one of the other two strengths I mentioned.

@dwtsdreams: Chris Kattan. To some people this name brings nostalgia and a smile, and to others it makes them laugh. Before the cast reveal, I had never watched Chris in anything, so the cast reveal was my first preview of who Chris is. He seems like a very funny person, but his dance ability seems like it is very small. I feel so bad saying this but I definitely think Chris is the weakest link on Season 24 and will go first.

Like Julia said, these two were definitely matched for their height factor, and I think that is the only reason. I feel like Witney was the last pro left and just got handed him but they are such an unlikely pair. They don't seem to gel as well as other teams and Witney seems a little underwhelmed.

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TOMORROW: In our last spotlight article of the week, we take a look at a woman who is a real "Boss"!


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