http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/show...s-victory.html

Are they completely delusional - since when was anyone on SCD an A lister or even a B lister?

Real A list celebs wouldn't be seen dead within kicking or flicking distance of SCD.

Kelly Brook (claim to fame getting the chop from The Big Breakfast Show) and Penny Lancaster (known only for being Rod's wife) - big stars?

Ah well a good laugh always cheers up my Sundays.

I love Strictly to bits, but in all honesty, A listers don't need to do a reality show for up to 3 months to improve their profiles. You'll get your Corrie/Enders/Bill/Hollyoaks actors. A couple of past their prime sports stars, a couple of presenters and occasionally, someone actually famous. They get some good exposure and a chance to showcase themselves without having to be humiliated doing a "task" like in the Jungle or the BB house.

As much as we'd love to have genuinely famous people on Strictly, the nature of these programmes ensures they won't.

I'd probably lose interest if they started getting A List celebs on. It's great to sit and wonder which has-been will be first to use the SCD experience to their advantage to release a new single after 10 years away, or to become a presenter or whatever.

Well personally I think representing your country in sport puts you right up there...

They do need to keep a decent standard of c'leb on there though. I did find it odd that 'model and entrepreneur Jo Wood' was of a high enough celebrity calibre to be asked to do SCD.

I agree, but sadly I had never heard of Jade before Strictly.

I actually agree with you, because I'm a huge sports fan but I do understand that even international athletes are not necessarily household names for those who don't follow sport. However I must admit I always find it a big strange when some maintain soap stars or presenters have a bigger claim to fame than an international athlete.

I always start by supporting the sportsmen/women in the hope that they can deliver on the dance floor as well as on the field of sport.

Hence my hope that Jade and Ian lift that glitter ball.

I know the professional dancers this year better than the so-called celebs. I never heard of Jade or the Rolling Stone Wife Jo. The only headlines I have ever read about her was that she was getting divorced as her ex-husband had run of with a younger girl!!! Not exactly earth shattering news in Showbusiness is it???. It is a shame that Strictly seems to be scrapping the barrel for celebs this year. I knew Linda from Loose Women and Natalie from EastEnders. The others??? Nope, never heard of them. I read that people like Richard (from Richard and Judy) and Sharon Osbourne were not interested, although approached to do Strictly, due to the small fee (in their opinion) but who knows if that is true or not.????

Ah - well the pay cap explains the slightly dodgy celebs this year.

However - I don't actually think it matters. I stopped watching Series 2 on the grounds that Jill Halfpenny & Denise Lewis were sorta d list. More fool me - I missed out on some great dancing.

Whether a celeb can dance has no bearing on how famous they are & in the end dance is what the show is about.

I'd never heard of Alesha, Ramps, Darren Gough, Gethin, Matt D'Angelo, Ricky G, Ricky W...

The idea that an A lister is going to be anymore interesting or entertaining than someone less well known is rubbish anyway.

Take Chris Hollins, for example.

I didn't have a clue who he was prior to Strictly, but I've really enjoyed getting to know him - he's such a character. His level of fame is irrelevant to me.

Well after Aleshia's comments to Craig I doubt if any established star would go on Strictly to be humiliated before millions by the judges. Personally I think she was ghastly to him especially as he had his family there and seems such a nice guy. Was it really necessary to bring up the fact that Zoe had left the show and Aleshia had to watch his. (according to her) dreadful performance this week. I though Craig was very gracious after her comments. I do not think I would have been able to control myself if she had talk to me like that. Really appalling and totally unnecessary.

That article reeks of BS even more strongly than the average dollop of red-top hysteria.

Just for a kick-off the media started reporting on a Strictly salary cap several series ago.

Ho hum. Another tabloid story knocking SCD.

News International +James Murdoch = I hate the BBC

Hand on heart, I can honestly say that I don't care if I don't know who the 'celebrities' are I didn't have a clue who Chris, Ricky W were I and I only recognised Laila when I actually saw her, her name meant nothing to me () but it has never, ever stopped my enjoyment of watching them dance.

I particularly like Chris now because he has such a happy, cheery face and personality and his partnership with Ola is TV magic - from where you least expect it!

There's no doubting now that some of the dancers are bigger 'stars' than their partners - but it doesn't spoil my enjoyment in the slightest.

nevermind B list - some are Z list

I'm with Icequeen.
I'd have been glad of B-listers. I think the only ones I knew were Garry Hobbs-Ricky and Chris Hollins.

It's a shame - I really enjoyed SCD as light entertainment but without known names, it's really going to sink. Bet this is the last series.

With rating that are holding well against those of last year, and in recent weeks being slightly up (yesterday's was 8.68 million, 37.7% audience share, many producers would kill for Saturday ratings like that), I bet you it's not.

Gee, how do they explain the cast lists for Dancing With The Stars, which have often been described as "scraping the bottom of the barrel...HARD..."?

Doesn't seem to affect ABC's ratings much.

Another made up story with no names of any BBC bosses only the usual con of 'sources'.

I would consider Martina Hingis as a top international player a top name. Also Phil Tufnell and Jade Johnson are both England sports internationals in their sports, known all around the world. Zoe and Laila are also well known from the very popular Footballer's wives as is Natalie form Eastenders.

I don't want A listers on and ruining the show by being too dominant.

I think it would be interesting to see if there's more 'unknowns' this year when compared to previous years. I'm thinking that in general, if you're not into soaps and sport, the answer's probably going to be no!

A listers still working can't do the show. A listers who are retired or just looking for something interesting to do don't get votes. People looking to get a higher profile risk a public vote that can make the popular look unpopular which isn't good for the CV . The people who would be very good are disqualified because they can dance too well already. They have aready been through the list and creamed off the best for a long time. The BBC audience and the SCD audience wouldn't know a lot of famous people from other tV channels, reality TV or the stage even if they came on. They also seem not to want to pick up people who have done other shows which means that Dancing On Ice has fished a similar pond and there's lots of good people they won't use again. People who have done Dancing on Ice with the exception of Alesha and Jill seem to have done better too and they can't match IAC for fees.

All in all you can see why they get who they do.

Surely that story should read:

"Desperate producers try to make up excuses to preserve their jobs after losing the stupidly chosen ratings war with commercial broadcasters"

What exactly is their criteria for A list??

The A-listers that they mention are Kelly Brook and Penny Lancaster....I had never heard of these people prior to Strictly, and I still don't really know what they do.

In contrast I have heard of :-
Grand slam tennis winner Martina Hingis
Desert Orchid's partner Richard Dunwoody
an England test star Phil Tufnell
Olympic long jumper Jade Johnson
Craig Kelly who is on TV nearly every night on the top soap
Ali Bastian who is also in a high profile prime time drama
And I would know Ricky G if I watched another soap watched by millions.


So exactly which A list are we talking about?

I agree with all this.


As has been pointed out, A listers (top stars in film/ TV / music) simply wouldn't have the time or inclination to spend over 3 months of their life on this. Or, you'd have to pay them serious money - running into millions, potentially - to do so.

Sure, throw enough money at them, and everyone's for sale - but raising the cap from £50k to (say) £100K would be irrelevant. You'd have to set it at - at least £1M to attract the mega-names.

And I can imagine the fuss the red-tops would make if the Beeb were to spend millions on the celeb talent.

But, my point is, this doesn't feel like a typical anti-Beeb rant. It feels like the production team are trying out excuses for screwing up with the scheduling and damaging the SCD brand - they know they'll be held to account at the end of the series for any failures, so they're trying to get their excuses in first.