Pre-Season Spotlight On Rashad Jennings & Emma Slater

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!

With one week to go before the big season premiere, we're taking a look at NFL free agent running back Rashad Jennings!

Rashad began playing football in high school in his home state of Virginia, and ended up continuing his pursuit of the sport at the University of Pittsburgh and later, Liberty University. Soon after, he was recruited to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2009, the team he played for until 2013, when he signed with the Oakville Raiders.

In 2014, Rashad signed to play for the New York Giants for four years. Once his contract was finished in 2017, the team released him, and he is currently a free agent.

Rashad's Dancing With the Stars partner is Emma Slater, who has competed on six seasons of the show as a professional and was in the troupe for a few seasons before that. Prior to joining DWTS, Emma danced on Broadway and was a cast member in the 200 film adaptation of the musical Mamma Mia!

Some highlights of Emma's time on DWTS so far include:

@TheBentleyNinja: I’m not too sure why, but this is the first time I am really looking forward to a football player being on Dancing With the Stars. I’m not a big football fan myself, but the fact that it seems like Rashad will be Emma’s best partner she’s ever had as well as the fact that they seem to have a great friendship by the looks of their social media pages, I am all on board with this team. (Not to mention that this team was my first pick for my fantasy draft.) I thought it was weird that Rashad was chosen to dance on DWTS considering that he doesn’t even have a football team at the moment due to his contract with the New York Giants, but then I realized that he was probably signed up for the show before getting let go, so it kind of makes sense. And I do feel bad for him about being let go, but at least now he is able to take on a whole new animal with a dancing reality competition show!

Apparently Rashad isn’t considered to be an immediate “ringer” on the show, but I beg to differ. To state the obvious, he is an athlete, and since he is a running back, that gives him more of an advantage than if he were someone like a quarterback because of the higher level of athleticism needed for his position. And as I said in the fantasy draft post, it already looks like Rashad has some moves with his dancing on the football field, so I think that it will translate really well to the dance floor.

This is the season for Emma that we’ve all been waiting for. She is finally dancing with a partner who immediately seems capable enough for some tough choreography and tricks that require a lot of strength and skill. Emma seems like a really fun person to hang out with, and if that really is the case, then it should also apply to dancing.

@dwtsdreams: Emma and Rashad; writing these two names made me smile ear to ear. I am so ecstatic to see this partnership on the dance floor. Rashad has become one of my favorite celebrities this season even though I didn't really know who he was before he signed on to do the show. His infectious energy and his willingness to learn has made me love him. He seems like an incredible guy and I am so happy that America will get to know him.

Emma seems flabbergasted that Rashad is her partner in some sense. He is athletic, capable, is hip, has a good fan base; everything Emma hasn't had (besides maybe a little part of it with Hayes). I think they are going to be an incredible team and I wouldn't be surprised if they made it to the Finals! In fact, I definitely think they have a huge chance!

Rashad is the whole package and in my opinion a total ringer! He has a drive to win, is competing, is hip and modern, has a great personality, is kind, like c’mon people!

This season is Emma’s season to shine! She has a partner who can lift her and who is athletic. I am so excited to see Emma’s full potential as a choreographer because I don't even think she has been allowed to touch the surface with her previous partnerships. I am so ready to see her creative juices flow and kill this season!

@juliadelbel: I agree with pretty much everything Dreams and Bentley said and while I'm very excited about this partnership and am enjoying everything they've been posting on social media so far I have surprisingly little to say about them right now.

Rashad's fanbase is questionable at the moment with him being a free agent, but the most important thing on this show is the ability to win over the general audience and I think this team has it. Rashad seems to be a hardworking and a good dancer, and likeable (he even has his own charity!) and I think the fact that Emma has not had a lot of capable partners in the past may work in their favor because I am sure she has so many tricks up her sleeve she has not been able to use until now! Plus, Rashad not exactly being a ringer will probably give the anti-ringer crowd a good candidate to root for.

This is another team I'm strongly considering making my winner pick but I still haven't made up my mind quite yet.

TOMORROW: This birthday girl has quite a few gold medals (and some #GoldenGiggles to boot!)

Pre-Season Spotlight On Normani Kordei & Valentin Chmerkovskiy

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!

Our star of the day is Fifth Harmony's own Normani Kordei!

Normani was born on May 31, 1996, and grew up in New Orleans and Houston. She began recording music at the age of 13, and auditioned for Season 2 of The X Factor USA in 2012. During the second round of auditions, the judges placed her into a group with four other girls to advance to the next stage of the competition.

The group eventually settled on the name "Fifth Harmony" and went on to finish the competition in third place.

Soon after The X Factor, Fifth Harmony began releasing original music of their own...

...and have now been doing so for several years!

Recently, one member, Camila Cabello, split from the group, but Normani and the other remaining members have resolved to continue to perform and work on new music together. However, it should be noted that all of them are currently working on projects outside of Fifth Harmony as well. For example, Normani has appeared in a few music videos for other artists.

Normani's partner for Dancing With the Stars is Valentin Chmerkovskiy. Val is a Ukranian-born dancer who later moved to the U.S. and later ended up being part of the first American dance team to win a world junior championship title. In 2011, Val joined the cast of Dancing With the Stars and has now completed eleven seasons as a pro dancer on the show, winning two of them with Rumer Willis and Laurie Hernandez, respectively.

Some highlight's of Val's time on DWTS so far include:

Oh, and between his time competiting in ballroom competitions and joining DWTS, Val also had a brief rap career. (I couldn't resist. XD)

@TheBentleyNinja: It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a celebrity on this show as popular as Normani. I think the only other celebrity in recent seasons that I can compare her to fan-wise preseason is Janel Parrish. And I think Normani is probably more relevant than most contestants, who are usually either past their most famous years or just don’t have much of a fan base in general. And from the looks of it, it seems like Normani is one of the more popular members of Fifth Harmony, which will be great for her once when we get deep into the season. I am personally not a fan of Fifth Harmony, but I do kind of like like that song Worth It by them. And that’s pretty much all my knowledge about Normani and her band.

I’ve really come to appreciate Val’s choreography a lot in recent seasons, and he is probably my favorite male pro this season, so I think Normani is in good hands with him. Sure, Val usually does get partners who are finale material right off the bat, but you know what? He is really good at what he does, and I really like to see the progression of his partners every season. I know that a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but I honestly don’t understand a lot of the hate that is thrown towards Val. But like him or not, Val and Normani are dancing together, and I think they will do really well. I think they could even take home the Mirrorball Trophy!

@dwstdreams: Believe it or not, I am not the biggest Fifth Harmony fan, and at first I was a little apprehensive towards Normani. After watching their sound bites, I am IN LOVE. I am so excited for this partnership!!!

Normani seems very hardworking and hungry to win. She seems respectful to Val and very articulate. She also has dance experience so I think she knows how to take criticism and apply corrections. In addition to this, Normani is always very aware with her body when dancing, which is a key factor in this competition.

Being on The X Factor allows Normani to have an edge over some of the other contestants because she is used to live performance and the pressure of competitions. She also has an active fan base which should get her and Val lots of votes.

Val seems eager to teach her and I think this is overall going to be a great partnership. The more inspired Val is than better and more creative his routines are. His dances are a by product of his love. Val often gets paired with the younger stars just starting their careers and I love the mentoring role he takes on. The stronger their connect is the better they will do. Love and family is everything to Val and that shows during the season.

The only thing I think will hurt her is her schedule. It worries me that she is doing a WORLD tour in ASIA while training for the show. It is going to be very hard for her to get training time which is a disadvantage. However, I still think she does have a chance to win.

@juliadelbel: I was familiar with some of Fifth Harmony's music and their passionate fanbase, but before Normani joined DWTS I didn't know any of their names or most other details of the group.

Dreams and Bentley already touched on a lot of stuff I'm thinking, so I'll mostly focus on what they didn't bring up, but as Dreams mentioned Normani is going to be touring Asia for part of this season and I'm thinking that may end up pushing the limit of contestant travel. (Until next season when we get an astronaut contestant who has a space mission during the timespan of the show. XD) She and Val are going to be making several huge time jumps back and forth and will probably experience some jet lag, and I'm seriously concerned how that will affect their season.

The travel thing seems to be this couple's main roadblock right now. Normani already has a lot of very passionate supporters who will probably take her far if they vote for her (being vocal but not actually voting tends to be a problem for stars with young fanbases). She's also lucky to have Val, who also has a lot of fans who vote for him no matter what every season (and as Bentley touched on, Val tends to get celebrities with dance experience pretty much every season and while it's getting pretty annoying I don't mind so much this time since Normani obviously requested him).

However, at some point pre-DWTS fanbases won't be enough to get a couple the win, which means they're going to have to win over a decent portion of the general audience. Can they do it? So far they seem to have a FANTASTIC dynamic and in my opinion Normani seems very nice, but some others are calling her "too sassy" and claiming she has attitude problems. I'm not really sure where that's coming from (and if it's racism then shame on all those people) but if that ends up being how the general public views her she and Val may not make it to the end.

At this point, I do think think they'll be well liked (what they also have working in their favor is the fact that Normani's ringer-ness probably won't be as noticeable in this particular group of celebrities as much as it usually would, so the bulk of the "dance experience" backlash will probably go to others) and while I don't currently have a prediction as to which spot in the top three they'll come in, I believe they're the couple most likely to make the Finals right now.

MONDAY: This man has mastered poetry, guitar, and, of course, football, but how will this free agent fare on the dance floor?

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.

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

Pre-Season Spotlight On Nancy Kerrigan & Artem Chigvintsev

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!

Our next spotlight is on Olympic medallist Nancy Kerrigan!

Nancy Kerrigan was born in Massachusetts and began skating at a young age. Some early career achievements included several high placements in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships: fourth in 1987 (junior version), third in 1991, and second in 1992.

That same year, Nancy won Bronze in the Olympic Winter Games and Silver in the World Championships.

Shortly before the 1994 Olympics, Nancy was clubbed in the knee with a police baton in an attack planned by the ex-husband of her skating rival, Tonya Harding.

Despite this, Nancy managed to win Silver in the Olympics seven weeks later!

Since the 1994 Olympics, Nancy has skated in various ice shows.

Nancy's dance partner for the season will be Artem Chigvintsev, who was born in Russia (then known as the Soviet Union) and moved to the U.S. in 2003. Shortly after arriving, Artem competed on the first season of So You Think You Can Dance. He later went on to join the cast of Strictly Come Dancing as a pro, appearing on four seasons and winning his first with celebrity partner Kara Tointon. In 2014, Artem joined Dancing With the Stars as a troupe member, and is now entered his fifth season as a professional partner.

Some highlights of Artem's television dance career include:

@TheBentleyNinja: Nancy Kerrigan is a name that is always connected to her controversy with Tonya Harding, so maybe Dancing With the Stars can make herself become more than just a name that everyone knows because of a negative reason. While I think it’s a cop-out that Dancing With the Stars probably only casted her because of her previous controversy, I think that Nancy will be able to dance as her own, just like as she does on ice. And of course, being that she is an Olympic figure skater, she has a clear advantage in the competition. But by this point, is that really a big deal anymore? I’ve come to the point while watching this show that I don’t care about who does what and who’s with whom and all that jazz, so having a (possibly unfair) advantage in the competition is just another thing to add to the entertainment of the show. Sure, maybe she’ll make it to the finals with less work required than most others, but that’s good for her (after all, she was the one contacted by the show, and clearly seemed like she badly wanted to be a part in it), and she should be able to use her advantages if she wants to. It’s just a fun show, and I don’t like to look too far into it...although I want do want her to go far because she is part of my fantasy team!).

Artem is definitely going to have a good time dancing with Nancy and all of her different capabilities! This might just be his best partner yet, and frankly, it’s quite refreshing to see! These two will undoubtedly receive high marks for their dances, but I have this random feeling that they will either not do so well with votes and/or be scored too harshly by the judges. Maybe it’s nothing, though.

I want to like Nancy, but I haven't had the best impressions of her yet. At the moment, she is just a figure skater who made it on DWTS. But maybe she and Artem will bring out some early characterization through their dances and rehearsal packages that will win me over!

Oh, and apparently tabloids have been saying that Nancy is a “diva”, but I’ve been seeing that about more than one celebrity this season, and I don’t really trust celebrity news articles anyway.

@juliadelbel: This pairing was pretty predictable to me (I don't know why though lol) but that may be a good thing since I think they'll have great chemistry on the dance floor! This is a partnership I'm keeping a close eye on because it's one of several this season where that stakes are extra-high for both the celebrity and the pro. Nancy has a lot to live up to, as two out of three female figure skater contestants have won Dancing With the Stars (and the one that didn't was a dropout) and Artem has not yet won a disco ball-esque trophy on this side of the pond and Nancy is the biggest ringer he's had over here so far. I'm sure both Nancy and Artem will be eager to impress, and I think they are capable of doing great things.

In most seasons, even in the more competitive ones we've seen recently, Nancy would be one of if not the biggest ringer in the cast, but with this group she'd probably be generally considered to be a relatively low-level ringer. However, this may play out to her advantage, because the anti-ringer mentality seems to be mainly directed at other contestants and that may allow her to sneak in and surprise people and/or get by without a lot of negativity thrown her way.

Despite the clear potential here, I do have a few concerns about Nancy and Artem's partnership. Right now Nancy seems pretty excited and confident, but I do wonder if that confidence might falter at some point because as of right now she seems to be the most likely candidate to be this season's "neurotic nostalgic female" and in the past Artem hasn't been the type of pro who is very good at dealing with those kinds of issues. I'm hoping they can continue the fun and relaxed dynamic they have going so far but I guess time will tell.

(Oh, and Bentley: the source of that rumor isn't a very good one so I'm not buying into it. Yet, anyway. :P)

TOMORROW: Do good things come in small packages?

Pre-Season Spotlight On Bonner Bolton & Sharna Burgess

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!

It’s time for another spotlight of the day, and this one is on bullrider and model Bonner Bolton!

Bonner was born in Texas on June 1, 1987, and has been bullriding for a good portion of his life. (He even went to college on bullriding scholarships!) Some of his achievements in this field include the 2007 CBR World Championship, 2011 CBR Las Vegas Championship, and 2013 CBR Hobbs Championship.

At the beginning of 2016, Bonner suffered an accident during a ride, resulting in a splintered C-2 vertebra and (what turned out to be temporary) paralyzation. He was initially told he would never walk again, but he miraculously managed to recover and signed a contract to work with IMG Models soon after.

Bonner’s Dancing With the Stars partner is Sharna Burgess, who grew up in Australia and joined the show back in 2012. After being part of the troupe for two seasons, Sharna became a pro in Season 16 and is now starting her ninth season with a celebrity partner.

Some highlights from Sharna’s time on DWTS include…

@TheBentleyNinja: I can’t really get much of a good read on Bolton, so by the time premiere night happens, I’m going to be in for a wild ride. . . a wild bull ride, that is. Y’know, I’m not much of a fan of people using bulls like that as entertainment, but to each their own, I guess. Bonner doesn’t seem to be too famous (I mean, he only has about four thousand followers on a verified Twitter account after his reveal on Good Morning America), but then again, that’s not too uncommon on this show. Average people live Noah Galloway and Alek Skarlatos have made it to the finals purely based off of their progress on the show and their amazing backstories, and I can already tell that Bonner will have an incredible story to tell for Most Memorable Year Night from when he broke his neck that will probably win the audience over if he hadn’t gotten won over already by then.

I don’t think there is much to argue against the fact that Sharna is an amazing professional dancer and always has her partners’ needs in mind as a priority, so no matter who dances with her, she is always going to be a good partner to have. I see quite a bit of potential with these two together in terms of both connection and dancing ability. I have a feeling that Bonner might be a little bit stiff at first, but I know that Sharna can fix things like that in a just a couple of weeks. I think Bonner might have an advantage physically because he seems to have the strength to be able to do some extraordinary things, but he also looks like he will be able to endure more in dances such as the Quickstep and the Jive because his strength is more focused in his biceps while he has what looks to be more flexibility in his core. And that can go a long way.

I have no doubt that Bonner has the potential to get some good scores, but as I have said before, the votes are really going to matter this season. But who knows? He might just surprise me like James Hinchcliffe…

@juliadelbel: So far Bonner isn’t really standing out in any interviews or rehearsal footage, and is probably the least well-known person in the cast. However, I think his story and possible showmance with Sharna will probably get him some votes, along with the fact that he’s a country boy and that a lot of people are hungry for a Sharna win. Bonner not being a ringer should help too since there are a lot of those this season and a good portion of the audience that inherently doesn’t root for people with a lot of dance experience. The main thing that might work against them is the fact that Bonner is a bullrider, and there is a lot of controversy surrounding that type of sport. Will the sweet old ladies in the main demographic of this show get behind a regular participant in an activity that is often harmful to animals? I think some might be turned off by it, but the other assets I mentioned might be enough to make up for it.

This team seems to be getting along quite nicely so far and already have so much going for them that I would not be surprised to see them in the finals or even winning. In fact, there’s a very strong chance they will be my winner pick, but I’m not going to lock that in until closer to the premiere.

@dwtsdreams: Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess are a match made in dancing heaven according to some dwts super fans. As a result of their insane chemistry , the producers are going to eat up their showmance. The producers logic is: they are both single, both cute, good chemistry= showmance. I watched their ET interview today and their chemistry was through the roof.

Bonner is athletic, has a great story, a cowboy personality, and GQ called him “ America’s Favorite Cowboy.” Bonner has the whole package and with Sharna’s help I think they can be a kick- ass team. Bonner does seem a tad bit shy but I think he will open up with Sharna as his partner. I am very excited to see where this partnership goes.

I love Sharna to death and I believe that she is very hungry to win. Bonner seems super pumped to dance with Sharna and is eager to learn. I think Sharna will do everything in her power to get Bonner to the finals and I think that is a capable plan.

TOMORROW: Will this team skate their way to victory, or are they on thin ice?