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DULUTH — Daniel Durant advanced Monday night on the Disney+ reality competition show "Dancing with the Stars." Performing a winning foxtrot to the song "Feeling Good," the Duluth actor and his dance partner, Britt Stewart, avoided elimination to join nine couples remaining from an original roster of 16.
"I have a man crush," singer Michael Buble, a one-night addition to the judging panel, told Durant. "I love you, dude."
Buble came in for more praise than any of the dancers, on a night built around his music. "Thank you for your genius," said co-host Tyra Banks to the Canadian singer, who performed twice on the show.
"Everyone tonight was really inspired by Michael Buble," added judge Bruno Tonioli.
Leaning into Durant's acting prowess, "Team Sign to Shine" made a point of studying their song's lyrics and accentuating its themes in their performance. Written for a 1964 musical, "Feeling Good" was made famous through a recording by Nina Simone the following year.
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"Since I can't hear the song, I don't know how to interpret the emotion or the lyrics," said Durant, who is deaf, via ASL interpreter Gabriel Gomez. Stewart, continued Durant, "teaches me how the words sound and how to connect the emotion, and I want to put that in my performance and every dance move."
The judges praised Durant's continued improvement. Though he and Stewart earned solid scores for their two dances last week, they were the first couple eliminated from a dance marathon competition, resulting in a low total score.
"When I was growing up and having hard times, every day I had to think, 'It's a new day,'" said Durant in a rehearsal clip, citing a "Feeling Good" lyric. "I have to do this."
At the end of the night, country artist Jessie James Decker was eliminated. Durant and Stewart, along with the other eight remaining couples, will dance again Monday at 7 p.m. The theme, appropriately, will be Halloween.
