Spike TV’s newest television show “Lip Sync Battle,” produced by John Krasinski and Stephen Merchant, has been a major hit since the show premiered on April 2, 2015. The show’s popularity dominated Spike TV’s network ratings on day one, and continues to dominate to this day.
Many celebrities have lip synced for entertainment purposes before, as shown on “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon,” but Krasinski and Merchant came up with the genius idea to combine these lip syncs and have celebrities compete against one another.
“Lip Sync Battle” is hosted by LL Cool J, with the help of Chrissy Teigen, who LL Cool J introduces as the “colorful commentator.” Honestly, I do not understand why the show includes Teigen. All she does on the show is run across the stage when she is introduced, make her opinion about each performance known, dance for a few seconds while the cameras are on her, and present the lip sync battle champion with the champion belt. LL Cool J could handle that by himself…there is no need for Teigen’s unnecessary opinions.
Each episode of “Lip Sync Battle” features two celebrities going head-to-head with their own lip sync performances. Participants must perform two songs: the first performance is based purely off of their lip sync abilities, without putting outfits, back up dancers, or props to use. The second performance can include whatever the artist wants to include. For Anne Hathaway, a wrecking ball was included. For Jimmy Fallon, a church choir was included. The sky is the limit.
Celebrities whose battles have already aired are Jimmy Fallon versus Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock), Common versus John Legend, Anne Hathaway versus Emily Blunt, Krasinski (yes, the producer of the show performed) versus Anna Kendrick, and Terry Crews versus Mike Tyson.
Most of these battles were HILARIOUS, and if you are looking to get yourself in a better mood, I highly recommend you watch Hathaway’s second performance, Fallon’s second performance, Johnson’s first performance, Crews’ second performance, and/or both of Krasinski’s performances. Those were my absolute favorites.
Upcoming artists who will battle against each other this season are Michael Strahan versus Hoda Kotb, Malin Akerman versus Merchant (the other producer of the series), and Derek Hough versus his sister Julianne Hough.
“Lip Sync Battle” has been renewed for a second season, and I hope the second season will be as big of a hit as the first. You cannot watch Krasinski dancing in a dress or Johnson singing to a Taylor Swift song without bursting out in laughter.
Have you seen any episodes of “Lip Sync Battle” yet? Which performances were your favorite? Which did you hate? Tell us in the comments below, or tweet us at @Falconers_Voice!