Since it started telecasting locally, “Lip Sync Battle” (LSB) has struck us as an inherently limited program format.
After you convince a nonsinging show biz star to pretend to sing in an outrageous way and in even more ridiculous costumes, what else and more can you do that won’t eventually end up as predictable and redundant?
True enough, after Dennis Trillo put on a “naked” body suit one week, other stars did pretty much the same thing soon after.
Well, looking back after May 14’s telecast of LSB, we should have thanked our lucky stars that experienced show biz luminaries like Dennis gave the show a go. Because, that Saturday, the lip-sync tilt inexplicably made sports stars Alvin Patrimonio and Jerry Codiñera compete. What were they thinking?
Show biz performers may have their limitations, but at least they know how to perform and hold the attention of a live or TV audience.
Alas, many sports heroes aren’t trained to be and do that, so Alvin and Jerry came up falling short of the entertaining mark.
At first, they looked “game” enough and fully prepared to have a good time by laughing at themselves and their ineluctable ineptness.
After a while, however, they began to realize that this was getting to be embarrassing—and that there were many more minutes left before the cringe-worthy experience would finally, blessedly end.
But, what could they do, they were in for the long haul—so, they were forced to just soldier on until its conclusion.
For his part, program host Michael V. must have sensed from the get-go that it was a baaaaad idea—but what could he do?
Well, he could pretend that it was indeed a “fun” treat for everyone, so he upped the hosting ante to the max, almost busting his gut from sheer “enjoyment” and “delight”!
Despite his most heroically perfervid efforts, however, there was little that could be done to salvage the situation, so he just manfully saw the whole mess through, as professionally as he could.
But, we trust that cautionary lessons have been learned—the first one being: not to feature non-entertainers as lip-sync exponents.
It’s possible that a nonpro could get by with one short and simple spoof number. But, to do a whole show with multiple numbers to “entertainingly” tackle—no way can that daunting assignment be successfully achieved by nonpros.
To be fair, Alvin’s “Gangnam Style” spoof was fairly bemusing from time to time—but it took way too long to play and pan out, so the surcease it provided was temporary.
We should also compliment Jerry for being more dynamic and less nervous than Alvin, and for remembering to actually lip-sync. But, again, these are minimally upbeat notes on a generally downbeat show.
Summing up, as we watched May 14’s “Lip Sync Battle,” our feelings were—syncing, syncing, sunk.