Yet another dispute over pay..

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/strictly...-tour-pay.html


I wonder how much it would cost to see Bruce and Tess dance?

I would pay to not see Tess dance!

Personally I go to the tour to see the professionals dance, not the celebrities. They should get paid the same - or even more, since they do more dancing.

To be honest, I don't blame them. When it comes to the celebrities being announced each year, most people want to know who their favourite pro(s) will be dancing with this year (and the go and google the celeb ) and it's disgraceful that they do not get paid the same amount as the celebrites. It wouldn't be so bad if it was more than half but it isn't.

Five grand a week, boo hoo. Takes me half a year to earn that.
Is the tour actually run by the BBC? None of the pros are forced to take part, perhaps they should all strike for better pay if that's what they want. If the pros could organise their own tour earning them more that 5k a week then that's what they'd do.

Do profits from the Tour go to the BBC?

Must be very lucrative, with thousands of tickets sold, not to mention all the merchandise.

If so, the pros deserve their fair share along with the "celebs".

It's a lot by our standards, but not when measured against what the celebs earn.....and I wonder what the judges get?

I like most of the pros but no one is making them do this tour!

JUst say get lost to the BBC!

Why shouldn't the pros be paid the same as the celebs? They're quite right about that. Perhaps the celebs should be paid less, rather than paying the pros more, but regardless of which way it's done, their pay should be in line with each other. Or would all the people who object to that agree to getting paid less than a colleague who's doing the same or a lesser job than they are?

It looks like it is run by Stage Entertainments and Phil MacIntyre entertainments 'with BBCWorldwide. So we can assume that the BBC sold the rights for the tour to these companies. Of course there is profit in it or the tour wouldn't happen. Events like this are expensive to put on. Think of all the cost of the venues, staff, publicity, all the organisation, legal fees, insurance costs.
I would be interested to know how many tickets are actually available and what the potential revenue from the tour is.

do you think they will even have an audience?

Other than die hard fans of course.

I brought this up last year and got much the same comments:

'they dont have to do it'

'it gives them publicity for their own gigs elsewhere'

'i dont get £5,000 per week' etc etc

But the point still is that they are the professional dancers and without their choreography, support and ego massaging the celebs would look pretty stupid and there would not be a show.

This far into the Strictly franchise, most of the pro dancers have established fan bases in their own right and many people buy tickets to see them, regardless of who their partner is.

It is just being fair...

And dont even get me started on the judges pay!!!

And perhaps that provides you with another answer - the pros are benefiting from the exposure on SCD, and their shows now produce greater revenue for them.

And another thought - a tabloid story designed to muck-rake again?

Through their exposure on SCD, the professionals are now as much celebrities as their celebrity partners, perhaps more so in many cases and much more so in others. Parity of pay doesn't seem to be asking a lot. Indeed there is an argument that they should be paid more for doing more and doing something they are very good at.

Without the celebrities, the paying audience to watch the pros dance would be much, much smaller. Without the pros the paying audience to see the celebrities dance would be pretty much zero.

I don't think the argument about the pros having their own fanbases rings especially true, especially when you consider how the voting works - Matthew Cutler is incredibly popular on DS but he went out first this year. Sometimes this forum gives a skewed view of things, it doesn't really represent the whole audience as many posters on here assume.

Certain pro dancers have already voted with their feet for the celeb tour next year and have decided not to do it.

I think it's difficult (and perhaps even inappropriate) for us to comment on this, as we know nothing about it really. I certainly wouldn't believe figures and quotes from a tabloid article.

The situation in general isn't new. Dancers have been fighting for financial recognition for decades and I think the principle is much more important than the money in most cases. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the dancers aren't really arguing about the amount they are paid, but how the percentages have been worked out. If celeb payments and have been raised massively and the dancers' salaries have hardly changed then they are more than entitled to feel annoyed.

The pros put in just as much work on the tour - more in fact, as they do extra dances. Yes, Strictly has given their talent exposure which has led to money outside of the show, but that doesn't mean they are not entitled to a fair pay packet on the show itself. The professionals have become stars in their own right and a big draw for audiences. (Hence a Pro Tour being developed) They're not your average dancer either, these are top professionals from the world of ballroom. If everybody is getting a huge slice of the pie and they are not then I hope they do challenge the situation.

I'm with the Pro's.
Keeeeeep moaning!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...-profits-slump

Because the celebs have other options - such as jobs in their actual fields which can pay the equivalent whereas the SCD tour offers good pay for dancers. Its called market forces aka capitalism. And if the BBC paid way over the odds for the prof dancers then they should be criticised cos it is taxpayers money they would be chucking away.

The profs who go on to be celebs will be able to command higher fees. Will they then complain when they earn more than other dancers less in demand than them? Do footballers complain cos their colleague earns more or do they have to work to earn bigger rewards? The tour needs the prof dancers but not all of them are in as much demand so the BBC has the upper hand here - with most of them as SCD exposes their other businesses.

Well yes. I think that's a lot of money too.

It's certainly more than they get for SCD itself.

I can't bring myself to shed a tear for them.

Why on earth should the celebrities get paid more than the pro dancers??!

Absolutely bonkers!

No, the point is that the tour is a commercial operation which pays the going rate for staff.


Do you have evidence to back that up?

I totally agree!

That said, I'd sell the clothes off my back to see Ramps dance again!

to be fair they've got some popular celebs on this time round (Kelly, Austin, Mark etc..)
No doubt Kelly in particular demanded A LOT of money.

Crikey, the tickets cost an arm and a leg as it is.

Just last week someone was on here trying to shift tickets for some dance event that a couple of the SCD pros were putting on. If they can't even put bums on seats at a small niche club there is no way they are going to fill large crowd capacity arenas.

I don't doubt that some people will go only to see the pro dances, pretty much as some people only watch SCD for the pro dances, but at the end of the day those people are a small minority. Most of us watch the show for the joy of seeing the celebs perform and some will even shell out £35-£55 to see the show recreated live; I hear Julian Clary went down a storm this year.

So pro fans, please stop being precious. £5k is not a petty sum and if it werent for the celebs the pros would be lucky to earn a nth of that amount.