E3 Group

Listening to Michael Ball’s Sunday Brunch this week, I couldn’t help but notice a brief mention he made of the impact of the credit crunch on celebrity booking fees. Michael himself humorously quipped that his fee has always been the same, four pounds and a portion of chips, but he did raise an interesting point. Has the credit crunch impacted on how much it costs to hire a celebrity? Paul Daniels has reportedly dropped his fee from a respectable £10,000 to a more modest £6,000, Ken Clarke, current Shadow Business Secretary once charged up to£ 10,000 for after dinner speeches but has dropped that to less than £5,000 and Craig Phillips, the inaugural Big Brother winner has hinted he would be happy to attend events for free, as long as there is a pint of beer waiting for him. Although Craig’s suggested fee is clearly tongue-in-cheek, the source of this info, the People Newspaper, may have failed to take into account some of the other factors which can, do and will have impacted on these and many other celebrity prices.

Undoubtedly, Britain is suffering in the current economic downturn and it would be foolish to deny that there are fewer jobs out there than before. This of course also extends into the celebrity sphere with event organisers looking to get more value from their budgets. Many of those who are planning events are trading celebrity entertainment for non-celebrity and specialty acts. However, at E3 Artists, we see celebrity fees fluctuate so much that we know it is not just the current climate that impacts upon them. As reports of the downturn began to emerge, the extremely popular vocalist Duffy’s fee was around £20,000. Now, as the credit crunch is at its full, rampaging height, Duffy can command upwards of £50,000 on the back of her hugely successful awards season. Leona Lewis, Girls Aloud, Lilly Allen and The Saturdays have also seen marked increases in their fees from last year. Those artists listed in the article and discussed on Sunday Brunch have had reduced press, television coverage and public interest in recent months. Not that they have any less value as artists, it’s just they’re a product of the cyclical nature of the media. One star turn, appearance of note or favourable story and you could see these fees reach levels even surpassing those seen before. Paul Daniels, for example, is gaining cult celebrity status on social networking phenomenon Twitter. It won’t belong before he can demand similar fees to days gone by, credit crunch or not. It is all these factors that make gauging the value of celebrity appearances extremely difficult. When doing so it is always useful to seek the advice of someone who keeps up to date with the fluctuating trends in this rapidly changing industry.

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As April begins and Easter draws near, many businesses have received their budgets for the coming months. As a result, there has been a number of enquiries coming through from anxious events planners looking to get that big, headlining act tied up for events just around the corner, and those later on in the year. To help with these decisions we’ve outlined some of our recommendations for April below.

We’re often asked to provide price guidelines for hiring celebrities and entertainers. As fees for acts vary considerably according to the specifics of an event, it’s only possible to offer an approximate guide on this. Major pop stars and celebrities can command over £20,000 for private and corporate event appearances. Other television and media stars have fees starting in the region of about £2,000. You can always give one of our agents a call for up to the minute prices for celebrities and entertainers but in the meantime, check out our list below for popular celebrity and entertainment choices for the Month of April.

1.    Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a force to be reckoned with on the pop music scene. When their members are not scaling mountains in the name of charity or judging talent shows in front of millions of viewers, they are topping the charts with hit after hit. For an indication of the cost to hire Girls Aloud, view Category A.

2.    Will Young
Will is the original Pop Idol and his longevity in what can be a fickle industry for stars of his ilk is testament to his talent. An extremely popular booking last year, Will is set to continue the trend this year, culminating with an eagerly anticipated tour. For an indication of the cost to hire Will Young, view Category A.

3.    Justin Lee Collins
With a brand new chat show and the continuing success of the Sunday Night Project, ‘The JLC’ is a hot ticket for 2009. For an indication of the cost to hire Justin Lee Collins, view Category A.

4.    Ferne Cotton
An expert presenter and regular team captain on ITV’s Celebrity Juice, Ferne is especially popular following her amazing efforts for Comic Relief. For an indication of the cost to hire Ferne Cotton, view Category B.

5.    Rachel Stevens
From S Club to Strictly, Rachel has proved to be a favourite amongst any audience, even the cynical find something to love in this beautiful and talented presenter and performer. For an indication of the cost to hire Rachel Stevens, view Category B.

6.    Paul Rankin
Paul is a Ready Steady Cook regular and makes many guest appearances on the UK’s most popular cooking shows. For an indication of the cost to hire Paul Rankin, view Category B.

7.    Signature
Favourites from Britain’s Got Talent, Signature have forged a hugely successful career as entertainers following their massive popularity on the show.  For an indication of the cost to hire Signature, view Category C.

8.    Swing Connection
This unbelievably talented and experienced function band is expert at Big Band and Swing favourites. Their highly trained and gifted musicians appear as an intimate four piece, right up to a full swing orchestra, complete with a scintillating brass section. For an indication of the cost to hire Swing Connection, view Category C.

9.    Simon Newton as Jack Sparrow
Exhibitions and live, themed events benefit hugely from interactive entertainment. Simon Newton’s expert portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow has proved extremely popular at these events. For an indication of the cost to hire Simon Newton, view Category D.

10.    Sam De LA Haye
Sam is a hugely experienced vocalist proving a smash hit with E3 Artists’ client London Clubs International at their casinos and exclusive private members clubs. For an indication of the cost to hire Sam De La Haye, view Category D.

Contact E3 Artists for a tailored quote for all these acts and many more. Subscribe to our blog for monthly updates!

• RT @totallytheatre: @thestage great how it’s license payers who complained and who pay the fine. Fair system? #news #
• RT @thestage: #news BBC fined £150,000 over Ross and Brand’s prank calls http://tinyurl.com/cfwacg #
• http://tinyurl.com/c3l8un Students looking to ban Twitter because they can’t get any work done! #
• http://tinyurl.com/c97w4y Should the Apprentice teams have taken some tips from Jamie Oliver, especially considering his G20 catering! #
• Pretty excited for the return of shooting stars. He’s a baby! http://tinyurl.com/cdsunn #
• Back from the RSVP event now. Quite a surreal experience. Serious business being conducted next to Vegas showgirls and cabaret acts! #
• watching some great entertainment at RSVP. the magicians have been exceptionally mind boggling #
• we just me Myleene Klass and guessed a rather fetching ladie’s age on 10 years younger! #
• E3 are at the RSVP exhibition today. entertainment everywhere! #
• RT @thestage: Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead trailer: http://tinyurl.com/cgdy5z I love this show, even for all its flaws! #
• http://tinyurl.com/cfcyoy Cant wait to start watching this gem! #
• Anyone else looking at the rather fetching door showing on the live feed of the Obama/ Brown press conference? #
• Happy Birthday @Schofe ! Watch out for all the dinosaurs just spotted in your area. #
• Can we trust anyones tweets today? #
• Is Simon Cowell on a mission to “evict” big Brother from our TV screens? http://tinyurl.com/d3qstr #
• Agadoo is named worst song of all time as it gets re-release. do you agree? What about that Crazy frog song?! http://tinyurl.com/d2hdb6 #
• Is Domic West right about UK televisions lack of good quality, modern drama? http://tinyurl.com/dbzz4u #
• Are there enough opportunities for young people in theatre these days? http://tinyurl.com/ccqsyf #
• Morning all! Anyone thinking about festivals this summer now the weather is perking up? http://tinyurl.com/culzcy #
• Just added specialty act Mat Ricardo to our website. His reverse table cloth trick is pretty nifty! http://tinyurl.com/2y626s #

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I couldn’t help but notice a news story today concerning Jessica Alba and her sudden ban on ‘white food’. It has been reported that any food white in hue such as sugar, milk and white bread has been banned from her household, dressing rooms and professional riders. While I’m sure that this is simply some sort of dietary concern that has been pounced upon by the media, it got me thinking about celebrity riders in general as E3 Artists deals with them on a regular basis. The popular conception of a celebrity rider is that of diva-esque stars making costly and outrageous demands on top of their fee in order to ensure their signature for a particular contract; a dowry or even bribery of sorts. Another popular idea is that all celebrities will make these demands, no matter their stature in the entertainment world.

Don’t get me wrong, some riders that have come through the E3 office have contained some choice items, including one hundred bottles of crystal champagne (costing more than the celebrity’s fee itself), Smarties with all colours except red removed from the bowl and an oxygen tank, but in some cases we have found that the celebrities themselves have not made these demands and are utterly shocked when these items materialise in their dressing rooms. Over-zealous managers can sometimes hear a celebrity making an off-hand comment like “I don’t know why, but I think I prefer the red smarties to all the others!” and from that moment, the rider request will read “the artist expects red smarties and only red smarties to be available for her in her dressing room. If these are not provided, the artist will not perform”. This may sound ridiculous, but it has happened many times before.

We find that riders differ drastically from celeb to celeb. Jennifer Lopez is famous in the industry for her demands which include: a suite painted and furnished completely in white, white lilies, white roses, white candles prominently placed, Egyptian cotton sheets with a thread count of at least two hundred and fifty and room temperature set at exactly twenty five and a half degrees Celsius. This is a stark contrast to stars of equal standing such as Sting, who requests an organic meal and some cough mixture, Lilly Allen who requests a bottle of Jack Daniels and twelve packets of monster munch or Oasis, who request Lots of Guinness, lots of beer, lots of red wine, lots of vodka, Monster Munch and Wotsits. What is it with celebs and Monster Munch?

When our clients choose to hire a celebrity through E3 Artists, they are safe in the knowledge that we will organise the rider for the celebrity and make all costs associated with it completely transparent. It is important to remember that celebrity riders will also include all technical equipment the celebrity needs to perform such as sound systems, lighting and venue space. These parts of the rider are often the most costly and create the expenses which are then wrongly attributed to the food or luxury items a celebrity has requested. It is always prudent to work with experts when booking a celebrity as all unnecessary surprises, like seemingly confusing riders, can be dealt with by someone well versed in managing these prickly lists.

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E3 Group attended the RSVP exhibition at the Business design centre in Islington today. On show were companies and services from the full spectrum of the events industry. Before attending, our delegates feared that the shadow of the G20 protests would loom heavily over the event, making potential attendees reluctant to travel through London. Fortunately, the atmosphere at the event was exceptional, with people totally unfazed by the potential for disruption attending in their thousands. E3 Group attended the event to determine exactly what kind of impact the current economic climate was having on the industry in general and to listen to the experiences of our suppliers and potential business partners. Although everyone admitted to the belt-tightening that is becoming compulsory for all businesses at the moment, no matter the sector, we were pleased to here that it is not all doom and gloom for the events industry, in fact, far from it.

The current downturn has become a common ground for the sector to unite over. Partnerships were springing up left, right and centre as business who previously may have been content to go it alone, looked to form new relationships and strengthen the old. Entertainers were out in force in an environment which truly represented the vibrant and exciting culture this industry enjoys. Walking down a typical aisle at RSVP you could expect to be serenaded by a crooner, baffled by a close up magician and relaxed by some ambient, classical strings, all the while being dazzled by the array of exhibiting styles the different stands had to offer. E3 Group found the event to be thoroughly enjoyable and beneficial as a networking opportunity, as a chance to promote your services and as an opportunity to have personal contact with the people who keep the industry fresh, innovative and successful. For your chance to get a glimpse of the event, stay tuned to Channel 4’s Ten Years Younger, hosted by the lovely Myleene Klass, as they were filming at RSVP today. If you watch closely, you may even catch a glimpse of E3’s own Callum Gill and Ryan Curtis who were asked by Myleene to pass judgement on one of the contestants, and were only too glad to oblige!

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Heathrow airport ran a survey recently to determine which celebrity their passengers would most like to have sat next to them on a flight. The answers they received were surprisingly varied and included such notable figures as, Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver, Russell Brand, Richard Branson, George Clooney and Stephen Fry. After some averaging out, the survey concluded that David Beckham was top choice for a large percentage of those surveyed. The sheer variety of names given prompted me to ask some of the E3 team who their top three celebrities to share a dinner with would be. The results, again, were varied and interesting. No two celebrities were duplicated with names such as Sharon Osborne, Barbra Windsor, Will Young and Beverly Knight rating highly for professional admiration. For sparkling conversation, luminaries such as David Attenborough, Will Self, Anthony Hopkins, Jonathon Pryce, and Richard Dawkins were requested. And some guilty pleasures such as Paul O’Grady, Tiffany Amber Thiessen and Pat Sharp appeared in the list. As you can see, no duplications and not hide nor hair of David Beckham.

What this serves to emphasise is just how diverse people’s desires can be when it comes to their ideal celebrity company. This is especially true when it comes to hiring entertainment for corporate events or private functions. As no two events are the same (even annual events strive to be different each year) it is imperative that E3 Artists tailor the type of celebrity or entertainment to each event based on in-depth consultation with the client. Events organisers sometimes find themselves in the awkward position of booking an act for an event that is unsuitable, simply because the act in question is available. E3 Artists adopt a “celebrity dinner party approach”. We make sure that there are a range of options to choose from, all offering something different, but all complimenting the event as a whole.

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