A video of Oscar award-winning actress Anne Hathaway swinging on a wrecking ball already has over 13 million views on YouTube. How did this happen, you might ask. Hathaway found herself on that wrecking ball as she competed in a fight to the death. Hathaway was involved in a lip sync battle.
On April 2, Spike unveiled its newest show: Lip Sync Battle. Hosted by LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen, Lip Sync Battle pins two celebrities against each other as they strive to be crowned the lip sync champion and win the gold belt that accompanies the title. But where did the lip sync battle originate and what does it take to be a true lip sync artist?
The lip sync battle is not for the faint of heart. It is a challenging and calculated art form. The more popular versions include each participant choosing their own songs before hand and performing it solo in front of a crowd as well as their competitors. These battles may include anything from back-up dancers, costume changes, props or even appearances by the original singers themselves. The lip sync battle takes skill, natural born talent and a burning passion for winning. Honestly, presidential candidates should have to compete in a lip sync battle to determine who may run this country. Just saying.
The lip sync battle made its first appearance in 2009 on television as a part of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a logo reality TV show which aims to find the next drag superstar. The two drag queens who performed the worst in that particular episode faced off in the dreaded “lip sync for your life.” They performed the same song (pre-chosen by RuPaul), at the same time on the same stage. RuPaul herself then chose which of the two queens deserved to stay in the competition and which must “sashay away.” Drag Race is currently on its seventh season and the “lip sync for your life” has become one of its most iconic attributes.
While RuPaul may have originated the idea, the concept would not become mainstream until five years later. In 2014, then Late Night host Jimmy Fallon was approached by British comedian and writer Stephen Merchant. Merchant, along with actors John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, created the concept for Fallon to incorporate into his show. Merchant, Fallon and Late Night guest for that night Joseph Gordon-Levitt competed in the first lip sync battle thrown by Fallon. The segment quickly became extremely popular and even carried over with Fallon to The Tonight Show that same year.
Which then brings us to LL Cool J and Lip Sync Battle. Seeing how popular the segment is on his show, Fallon believed the lip sync battle deserved its own show entirely. He pitched the idea to NBC, who declined since they already had The Voice and America’s Got Talent so there was no room for another music competition show. Spike was lucky enough to have picked up the show and is now reaping the benefits of its success. Lip Sync Battle has become so popular, celebrities are now contacting the show asking if they may perform on it.
May the art of the lip sync live on forever. May wars be fought not on battlefields, but on stages. May we fight with microphones rather than guns. May we determine who is fit to lead a nation with strategic song choice instead of with campaigning and slandering our opponents. May students not be defined by their SAT scores, but by their devotion to memorizing song lyrics. The lip sync battle shall revolutionize the world as we know it. And if it does not, then so be it. Call me a dreamer.
At least it will revolutionize my DVR.