'Dancing With the Stars' recap: Normani Kordei continues to shine; Bonner Bolton goes home

— -- On Monday night's "Dancing With the Stars," the pressure continued to build for week 8 after last week's double elimination. This week, with only five stars left, each had two performances. The dance pros chose the song for the first round, and in the second round couples were joined by a second dance pro selected by the judges. Scores were tallied for each round and combined.

NFL star Rashad Jennings and his partner, Emma Slater, kicked things off with a jive to the R&B classic "Shake a Tail Feather." He has been consistently strong and tackles every dance with panache but has been criticized by the judges for his footwork, and tonight was no different.

The night belonged to Fifth Harmony stunner Normani Kordei. She continued to shine, bringing in her second perfect score with her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, in a contemporary dance to "Freedom" by Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton. The judges were resoundingly positive in their critiques, with Len Goodman commenting, "Throughout that dance, you could have heard a pin drop from this whole audience. They were spellbound, and so was I."

Bonner Bolton gave his all, but his Argentine tango failed to impress the judges, and his trio jazz number with Sharna Burgess and Britt Stewart also brought in a low score. Len Goodman was borderline cruel when he told the rodeo star, "You've gone a bridge too far" but said he admired Bolton's guts.

Simone Biles and David Ross both earned a place in next week's semifinals, along with the nearly flawless Kordei. Biles faced down judges' criticism that she wasn't showing enough of herself by pointing out that she has spent 14 of her 20 years training to be a gymnast and finds it difficult to do what she doesn't know.

The elimination was down to, surprisingly, Rashad Jennings and the low-scoring Bolton. Jennings was spared, and Bolton was voted off. He later said that he was surprised by how far he went and he was thankful for the journey.

Monday night's standout moment:

Without a doubt, it was all about Kordei. In a taped segment before her first dance, she shared an emotional story of being bullied and harassed on social media. "We all want to be loved, and we all want to feel accepted. When that doesn't happen, it just breaks you," she said.

She made lemonade and dazzled viewers with her performances. Judge Bruno Tonioli said, "No one will ever break you."

Judges' scores:

Normani Kordei and Val Chmerkovskiy – 40 in the first round/39 in the second round, total: 79

Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater – 36/39, total: 75 (in jeopardy)

Simone Biles and Sasha Farber – 36/36, total: 72

David Ross and Lindsay Arnold – 36/29, total: 65

Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess – 30/28, total: 58 (eliminated)

"Dancing With the Stars" returns next Monday on ABC.