Bristol and Mark To Dance the Rumba on DWTS Tonight

Bristol posted this comment on Facebook last night:

I can’t wait for tomorrow! Rumbaaaaa :P

She is approaching 8000 followers on her official Facebook page and should reach that mark by showtime tonight.  In addition to her DWTS rehearsals, Bristol was quite busy with appearances last week. (See Ron Devito’s previous report.)  Here are some excerpts of articles linked to at Bristol’s fan page at Dance Bristol Dance (a big hat tip to Tracey and Kenton!)

Janne Myrdal wrote an inspiring article at RegularGuyRant.com about  Bristol’s speech on Thursday night at the Perry Center in Fargo,  North Dakota:

I had the honor of attending the fund raiser for the Perry Center of Fargo, ND where Bristol Palin spoke to a crowd of one thousand people. The banquet hall overflowed with people who were there to hear Bristol and to support her pro life and abstinence message. Just to let you all know, to get a crowd of a thousand people to an event in our state during harvest season is a great feat. The crowd in Fargo was bigger than the crowd at her speech last week in California (just saying!).

I was privileged to be at the early meet and greet with Bristol and came away with that same sense all people seem to have when meeting a Palin; gracious, classy, sincere and real. It was an honor and a blessing to meet a young lady who is willing to stand for life and values.

Bristol did a phenomenal job sharing her personal story. She is charming, honest, funny, but also straight to the point. Bristol’s journey has been a difficult one and she makes no excuses for it, yet she is unafraid of reaching out with her message in order to help others. She took a good stab at the LSM (Lame Street Media), as she well should, by saying they are the ones out of touch with 99% of Americans. She vowed that she will not quit telling her story. She has that Palin defiance, if you will, that we all so herald. She told stories of her family, her upbringing and also the tough day she had to tell her mom and dad that their little girl was expecting.

Bistol’s love and honor towards her family shone through so clearly and it touched my heart deeply. Her sincerity, passion and unwavering commitment for the rights of the unborn greatly impressed me. She spoke clearly about the tragedy of Roe v Wade and referenced several of President Reagan’s pro life statements. She said she gets “sick to my stomach” when she thinks of all the unborn babies who have been aborted. She also spoke of her “handsome little man” Tripp, who is alive and healthy and may someday play hockey for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux (smile). For many in that room tonight, who have fought the pro life battle for so many years, it was such a delight to see someone of Bristol’s age so clearly and passionately defend the rights of the unborn.

Read more here.

R. J. Richards added these observations:

I had read where Sarah Palin had come to the Mall of America during her book tour and that she signed books for every single fan in attendance. Not one third, not one half, but every single person that came out to see her. A noted liberal radio host from St Paul even conceded that it was nice to see a “celebrity” treat people the right way. Sean Hannity is another one that I’ve witnessed doing this kind of thing.

Now I’m not saying that Bristol put out “celebrity vibes”, because she did not. Just like Janne mentioned in an earlier post, Bristol came off as a regular person. You can actually picture her having a healthy serving of pancakes and sausage in the morning instead of how you might picture Paris Hilton dining on a quail egg and piece of lettuce. Bristol is a regular person and it’s refreshing.

If there were one thousand people in attendance in Fargo then I would say that half of them wanted to either get a picture with Bristol or shake her hand. Do you want to know how Bristol handled this? She stayed until the last person in attendance had the opportunity to speak with her (I know since the last person was my own wife). She was kind and she was very touched by the emotion of the evening. That in turn touched a lot of people.

So for all of the “haters” out there who make it sport to bad mouth Bristol Palin, all I can say is that you needed to be there. People don’t forget when others treat them with kindness and with respect. It’s just the right thing to do. It shows that Bristol Palin has a heart and I appreciate it. Thank you Bristol.

On Wednesday, Mark wrote in his DWTS Journal at USA Today:

What a nerve-shattering night! It really sucked to be saved last tonight. But then I remembered I won the string duel and it made everything better. Seriously though, I thought the judges were a little low on our score based on other dances from Monday and our overall progression from the previous weeks. But everything happens for a reason and Bristol is extremely motivated for this week’s dance, which is the Rumba.Bristol’s not a dancer, but she really is a natural as she picks up the new dance steps rather quickly. We’re working on her facial expressions and selling the dance with her whole body, just like (judge) Bruno (Tonioli ) was advising. We’re going to work harder than ever to prove that we’re contenders. I’m sure no other team will have seven hours of rehearsal in by noon on Wednesday! We certainly were the only team working tonight.After we met with the press after Tuesday’s results show, we grabbed a bite to eat and immediately started the choreography. Bristol’s traveling to Fargo, N.D., Wednesday afternoon, so it was important that we started right away to get the base of the routine down. Thanks to technology, we record the dance on our phones so she can study all the time, just like pro athletes do studying film. She’ll study and learn it at the airport, on the plane and in her hotel room. She’ll study until she’s dreaming of our routine!

In an article at the Alaska Daily News, K. T. McKee writes about local support for Bristol on DWTS:

Political persuasions aside, the Valley’s dance community is casting votes and posting signs for “Bristol the pistol” Palin in her bid to win television’s “Dancing with the Stars” competition in Hollywood.

About 100 red and white signs declaring “Dance Bristol Dance” have popped up all over Mat-Su since the ABC show began a few weeks ago, the biggest of which is a large banner in front of the Babcock Arts Building off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway in Wasilla.

“Bristol’s a girl who did something outside the box and her sister Piper and cousin McKinley come here for dance lessons, so we wanted to show our support for her,” Sonja Babcock, of Sonja’s Studio of Dance, said Thursday before leaving for Hollywood to see Monday’s show in person. “This has nothing to do with politics at all. It’s all about supporting the arts in our community, and Bristol is making us proud.”

Bristol and Mark will be dancing the rumba tonight on Week 4 of DWTS.   Be sure to tune in at 8 PM EST on ABC to watch their performance and VOTE!

As a reminder, you can vote by phone by calling 1-800-868-3407 or by texting 3407.  Voting online can be done at the Dancing With the Starts Voting Page. 

Voting by phone is open from the start of the show until 30 minutes after.  Online voting is open from 8 PM EST on Monday night until 11 AM EST Tuesday morning.   You can use your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and personal e-mail accounts to vote.  There is more information about voting at VOTING — HOW IT WORKS. 

As you know, our votes are factored in with the judge’s scores.  We know Bristol and Mark’s performance will be outstanding, so let’s do our part by voting and help them win Round 4 of Dancing with the Stars!