Lip-syncing mania has been taking over social media that past few years and now is available for your viewing pleasure on TV.
On April 2, Lip Sync Battle premiered on Spike and the show had everyone singing, dancing, and laughing along.
The show is hosted/produced by LL Cool J and even has a “Color Commentator” who is none other than Chrissy Teigan. Here is a recap of last week’s two episodes.
Premise of the show- Two celebrities go head to head lip-syncing two songs. There are two rounds and whoever wins gets to take home the championship belt.
First Episode: Jimmy Fallon vs. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
The show opened up with an introduction of Dwayne Johnson and Jimmy Fallon. Fallon seemed very excited and began running across the stage.
First up was Johnson lip syncing to Taylor Swift’s (or as he called her “Tay Tay”) “Shake it Off”.
His performance was very tame with subtle movements here and there. He even did the signature move by brushing off his shoulders and jumping up and down. At one point he even flipped off Fallon and his reaction was priceless.
Next up was Fallon with a very lively performance of Harry Belafonte’s “Jump in the Line”. Right away, he was dancing across the stage and really getting into the performance. He then went over to the “Colorful Commentator” Chrissy Teigan and swapped his microphone for a maraca.
Fallon went into the crowd and started a conga line snaking his way through audience. Once his turn was up, LL Cool J asked Teigan for her opinion of both performances and she said that Fallon left her breathless (even though another word came out of her mouth).
Then it was on to round two. Fallon was up first with a rendition of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”. The performance started out calm with him walking around and playing around with the audience.
All of the sudden, Fallon puts on a church choir robe and then a huge church choir came to join him. It was then Johnson’s turn to close the show with his version of the Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive”.
The disco-themed performance included everything from a white suit to Johnson channeling his inner Tony Manero with the classic Saturday Night Fever strut. He had a disco ball, backup dancers, and some pretty interesting dance moves.
In the end, the championship belt went to Johnson.
Second Episode: Common vs. John Legend
The first celebrity to perform was Common. He performed the classic hit “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5. He danced their classic moves as he glided across the stage. Even LL Cool J and Legend were caught dancing along in the background.
Then it was Legend’s turn and his performance was far from what you would expect. He performed Juvenile’s “Slow Motion” and he even pulled out a grill and wore it during the performance. When he finished, Teigan said she was disturbed by his performance and LL Cool J was surprised as well.
Common kicked off round two with his rendition of “All Night Long (All Night)”. He channeled Lionel Richie with his hair, outfit and dance moves. His moves, as well as the backup dancers, came from the music video he told everyone after the performance.
Legend was up next with an amusing performance. He performed “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer and he delivered. He had everything from the iconic “hammer pants”, jacket, and of course, the dance moves.
He also wore glasses and a gold chain to complete his look. Even though his dance moves were a little scary, he seemed to enjoy the performance just as much as the audience.
Then it was time to announce the winner. Even though Legend did a good job, Common was given the championship belt.
Overall, this show delivered. It was comical, fun to watch, and entertaining. The show has come around at a good time since many people have been making videos of themselves lip syncing to popular songs.
Even Jimmy Fallon has a lip syncing battle segment occasionally on his show. Based on how entertaining the show was, it will probably be around for a while.
Elizabeth Granato
Features Editor
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