'You were on, man': Duluth's Daniel Durant advances on 'Dancing with the Stars'

DULUTH — Daniel Durant threw Broadway poses and gleeful grins into his foxtrot on Monday helping Duluth actor and his partner Britt Stewart again advance to the next round of "Dancing with the Stars."

The duo, dressed in shiny light colors, danced to "Feeling Good" by Michael Bublé whose songs were the soundtrack the whole night. The Canadian singer also performed and added token high scores from the judges' table. Bublé, in his critique, described Durant as his hero — and confessed to a new crush.

"That is a rich, deep and powerful song," Bublé said. "And you captured the essence so beautifully. You were on, man."

Country musician Jesse James Decker was eliminated from the competition. Charli D'Amelio, who is consistently among the top weekly finishers, earned a perfect score. Next week's episode has a Halloween theme.

Rehearsal footage showed Stewart offering a new approach to the night's choreography — treating the moves as though they were scripted. She and Durant went through the lyrics word-by-word, pulling out the emotions behind the songs. The judges noticed.

"You always emote so beautifully — you always draw us in," Derek Hough said.

"That was such a special way to end such a special night," said Carrie Ann Inaba. "You are deaf and you are interpreting this music in such a brilliantly passionate way."

Durant danced twice last week, starting with a contemporary dance to "Both Sides Now," that incorporated American Sign Language. They followed by his pink-suited prom flashback, a cha-cha to "SexyBack." The cha-cha fared well with judges, but the duo dropped in the standings when they were pulled first from the dance marathon and lost out on a slew of points.