Lip Sync Battle is an American musical reality competitiontelevision series which premiered on April 2, 2015, on Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John Krasinski, in which celebrities battle each other with lip sync performances. The idea was first a recurring segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon before being developed into a separate show. The premiere episode was the highest-rated premiere in Spike's history. Lip Sync Battle has been a hit show for the network. The series' success has led to the creation of various international adaptations. In August 2018, the show was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on January 17, 2019.
Overview
Lip Sync Battle debuted on the American cable network Spike, on Thursday April 2, 2015. It is produced by John Krasinski and Stephen Merchant and hosted by rapper and actor LL Cool J. Model Chrissy Teigen serves as color commentator. The show is a spin-off of a bit first introduced on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Merchant, Krasinski and Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt, were brainstorming ideas for Krasinski's upcoming appearance on Late Night when the idea took shape. Jimmy Fallon then developed it into a recurring segment on his show, the game pits two celebrities against each other in a lip syncing battle for two rounds with the crowd determining the winner of the battle after both rounds have been completed. The winner is presented with a Lip Sync Battle belt reminiscent of the WCW Television Championshiptitle belt. In 2014, Merchant, Krasinski and Fallon pitched the show to NBC. The network passed on the show because NBC felt that the pitch lacked sufficient development to merit a separate show. NBC's cable channels USA Network and Bravo also passed. The competition series was eventually picked up by Spike cable channel, which was in the process of rebranding. "Part of what I wanted to do with Lip Sync Battle is increase co-viewing, but also add diversity to the network," said Kevin Kay, the president of the network. Lip Sync Battle has been a major success for Spike. With 2.2 million viewers, its series premiere was the highest-rated non-scripted premiere in Spike's history. Kay described the show as "a television and viral rock star for Spike." The show was renewed for a second season on April 22, 2015, with the network ordering 20 new episodes. The show continued to deliver high ratings. In January 2016, the network renewed the series for a third season consisting of another 20 episodes. "Lip Sync Battle is a multiplatform pop-culture phenomenon that has played an integral role in delivering a new and broader audience to Spike," said Kevin Kay, the president of the network. In July 2016, the show received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding Structured Reality Program category. In 2017, it was announced that the show would air a live hour-long special on January 18, 2018, in honor of the relaunch of Spike as Paramount Network. Neil Patrick Harris, Taraji P. Henson and Hailee Steinfeld were announced as the first set of performers in January 2018 for the Michael Jackson-themed special, which originated from the Dolby Theatre and also included a presentation from Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas residency . On August 22, 2018, the show was renewed for a fifth season consisting of 12 episodes that premiered on January 17, 2019.
Episodes
Reception
Critical response
Josef Adalian writing for Vulture noted the show's success by saying that Lip Sync Battle is "looking like a legitimate hit, both on TV and online." He also added that the show's creators "opted not to impose artificial demographic targets. They also went out of their way not to futz up the very simple premise that worked so well on Fallon’s late-night shows." Amy Amatangelo of The Hollywood Reporter said that the debut of the show "had moments of great fun," although added that the series "still seems like it is better suited as an interlude on The Tonight Show," and that "some things are better in small doses." Adelle Platon of Vibe wrote that the show "is a welcome break from other singing shows crowding primetime," also adding that "with the in-house crowd serving as judges, the spirit of competition between both parties make it a fun-for-all". Emily Yahr from The Washington Post was more negative towards the show by saying that "taking out all the spontaneity and replacing it with the cheesy-slick production values of an American Idol group medley, Lip Sync Battle will probably wear out its welcome soon."
Ratings
The series premiere of Lip Sync Battle delivered 2.2 million total viewers via Nielsen ratings, including a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic which is the most important to advertisers. The episode notched the largest viewership for an unscripted series debut in the network's history and the largest average audience in the slot in more than eight years. The total audience for the first several episodes of the show, including DVR replays and multiple reruns, has climbed past 15 million television viewers. Spike has also stated that various performance clips from the first three half-hour episodes of the show had already generated nearly 100 million online streams, as of April 2015. In Australia, the series premiere scored 1.124 million viewers in preliminary overnight viewers, making it the fourth most-watched program on free-to-air television of the evening. The second episode the following week scored 1.087 million preliminary overnight viewers and ranked the fifth-highest-rated program on free-to-air television of the night. This success has led to suggestions by commentators that a local adaption could be imminent.
International versions
Spin-off
A one-hour special hosted by Sarah Hyland aired on Nickelodeon on December 11, 2016. In March 2017, a series order was announced for the kid-centered spinoff. In August 2017, it was announced that Nick Cannon would be replacing Sarah Hyland as the host, and that JoJo Siwa would be joining him as his sidekick on Lip Sync Battle Shorties which was expected to premiere in early 2018.
