Lip Sync Battle is an American musicalreality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable networkSpike, later known asParamount Network. The show is based on an idea byStephen Merchant andJohn Krasinski, in which celebrities battle each other withlip sync performances. The idea was introduced as a recurring segment onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon and laterThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, before being developed into a separate show.

Lip Sync Battle
Logo for the first three seasons
Genre	Reality competition
Created by	John Krasinski Stephen Merchant
Directed by	Beth McCarthy-Miller
Presented by	LL Cool J Chrissy Teigen
Theme music composer	Marc Bolan Robert Ginyard
Opening theme	"20th Century Boy" performed byT. Rex (seasons 1–3) "It Takes Two" performed byRob Base & DJ E-Z Rock (season 4–5)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	91(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	John Krasinski Jimmy Fallon David Larzelere Stephen Merchant Casey Patterson Jay Peterson Rick Schwartz
Producer	LL Cool J
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	23 minutes
Production companies	Eight Million Plus Productions Matador Content Sunday Night Productions Four Eyes Entertainment Casey Patterson Entertainment
Original release
Network	Paramount Network[1]
Release	April 2, 2015 (2015-04-02) – June 27, 2019 (2019-06-27)
Related
Lip Sync Battle Shorties

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.

On September 22, 2020, it was announced that the series would move to anotherViacomCBS network as part of the Paramount Network's now-scrapped planned shift to films.^[2] However, no new home for the program was ever announced.

Lip Sync Battle debuted onSpike on April 2, 2015.^[3] The game pits two celebrities against each other in alip syncing battle, where each contestant performs two songs. The host then asks the audience who won, with the winner being the contestant that gets the most and loudest cheering. The winner then receives a Lip Sync Battle belt reminiscent of theWCW Television Championship title belt.

It is produced byJohn Krasinski andStephen Merchant and hosted by rapper and actorLL Cool J.^[4][5] ModelChrissy Teigen serves ascolor commentator.

The show is aspin-off of a segment first introduced onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon. Merchant, Krasinski andEmily Blunt, were brainstorming ideas for Krasinski's upcoming appearance onLate Night when the idea took shape.^[6]Jimmy Fallon then developed it into a recurring segment on his show.

In 2014, Merchant, Krasinski and Fallon pitched the show to NBC, who passed on it, despite the attention the Late Night segment got, particularly whenEmma Stone lip synchedDJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win".^[6] NBC's cable channelsUSA Network andBravo also passed.^[6] The competition series was eventually picked up bySpike, which was then rebranding. "Part of what I wanted to do withLip Sync Battle is increase co-viewing, but also add diversity to the network," said network presidentKevin Kay.^[7]

Lip Sync Battle has been a major success for Spike. Its series premiere drew 2.2 million viewers, the channel's highest-rated non-scripted premiere.^[8] Kay described the show as "a television and viral rock star for Spike."^[9] The show was renewed for a second season of 20 episodes on April 22, 2015.^[9]

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," Kay said.^[10] This season notably featured a contest betweenZendaya andTom Holland, then rumored to be a couple, with Holland winning by appearing asRihanna, lip synching to her songUmbrella.^[11][12]

In July 2016, the show received aPrimetime Emmy Award nomination in theOutstanding Structured Reality Program category.^[13]

In 2017, it was announced that the show would air a live hour-long special (Lip Sync Battle Live: A Michael Jackson Celebration) on January 18, 2018, to coincide with the relaunch of Spike as theParamount Network.Neil Patrick Harris,Taraji P. Henson andHailee Steinfeld were announced as the first set of performers for theMichael Jackson-themed special, which originated from theDolby Theatre and included a presentation fromCirque du Soleil's Las Vegas residencyMichael Jackson: One.^[14]

On August 22, 2018, the show was renewed for a fifth season consisting of 12 episodes that premiered on January 17, 2019.^[15]

Josef Adalian inVulture said thatLip 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."^[16] Amy Amatangelo ofThe Hollywood Reporter said that the debut of the show "had moments of great fun," although she added that the series "still seems like it is better suited as an interlude onThe Tonight Show," and that "some things are better in small doses."^[17] Adelle Platon ofVibe 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 makes it a fun-for-all".^[18] Emily Yahr fromThe 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 anAmerican Idol group medley,Lip Sync Battle will probably wear out its welcome soon."^[19]

The series premiere ofLip Sync Battle delivered 2.2 million total viewers viaNielsen 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.^[20][21] 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.^[16]

In Australia, the series premiere scored 1.124 million viewers in preliminary overnight viewership, making it the fourth most-watched program on free-to-air television for the evening.^[22][23] The second episode the following week scored 1.087 million preliminary overnight viewers and was ranked the fifth-highest-rated program on free-to-air television of the night.^[24] This success has led to suggestions by commentators that a local adaption could be imminent.^[25]

A one-hour special, hosted bySarah Hyland, aired onNickelodeon on December 11, 2016 (followed by a repeat airing on Spike on December 14).^[43] In March 2017, a series order was announced for the kid-centeredspinoff.^[44] In August 2017, it was announced thatNick Cannon would be replacing Sarah Hyland as the host and thatJoJo Siwa would be joining him as his sidekick onLip Sync Battle Shorties, which premiered in early 2018.^[45] It ended in 2019.

• Great Pretenders
• Lip Service
• Your Face Sounds Familiar

• Official website
• Lip Sync Battle atIMDb
• Lip Sync Battle atTV Guide