They are viral videos that have taken over the internet by storm. We are talking about Channing Tatum channeling Beyoncé, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Janet Jackson, Anne Hathaway as Miley Cyrus and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Taylor Swift in their performances on Spike's hit TV series Lip Sync Battle.
And now just in time for the premiere of season three of of the series, every day users can now battle it out to bring home the belt and bragging rights as the Lip Sync Battle champion.
Spike announced on Wednesday, Oct. 12 the launch of the Lip Sync Battle app, which allows fans to get in on the action themselves.
"Our audience interacts [on the show] as if it were live. They are so social, and so engaged and so noisy and so passionate. Every week when we release these videos, the fans go crazy for them and they share them around the world," Lip Sync Battle executive producer Casey Patterson told Tech Times. "Not being live, all they can do is comment on the show. So we wanted to build the app as an extension of the brand so that our fans could truly interact with the show and have the same experience you would if you were coming on to perform."
Developed by Spike and the music tech engine Wurrly and Casey Patterson Entertainment, the Lip Sync Battle app is the stage where users can create their own performances and duke it against friends to see who is most creative. The user starts with their own performance and sends a request to their friend to battle with them. The opponent receives this invite via text message, email or social media. An open request can even be left on Facebook so that others can join in on the fun.
"The app is your chance now to be on the show," Wurrly's CEO and founder Nadine Levitt told Tech Times. "If you like to be creative, you can use the different effects, you can use props and you can do a whole choreography. It's just a very creative, positive tool and all encased in this wonderful world of Lip Sync Battle that's already been created by Spike."
Running on Wurrly's engine, which has been expanded to include features like facial technology and masks to provide fun filters, the app brings together all the tools needed to nail a perfect performance.
"The app was built to replicate the experiences people have on the show," Patterson said. "You sign up, you choose between different musical genres, you pick your song, you perform your heart out, you can add hair, makeup, wardrobe pyro effects the same way the show does, and then you can send it out socially to battle it out with your friends."
All songs are licensed from music labels including the major ones like Universal Music Group to include tracks like John Legend's "All of Me," *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye," Justin Bieber's "What Do You Mean" and Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."
Users tap on "Create" to select their songs, which are broken into categories like Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, Love Songs, Alternative, Country, Classic and Latin. Users can also watch battles as seen on the show for inspiration.
New songs will be added to the app constantly to always bring new content. The same goes for the filters.
Once the user taps "Record" after their song choice, they can add masks like makeup, cat ears and glasses. More filters could also roll out with connections to the holidays or to a music release from a particular artists.
Levitt called it a "creative way to partner with artists," similarly to how Ariana Grande used the bunny ears filter in Snapchat with the promotion for her album Dangerous Woman. This can serve as a great way for artists to promote their content and engage with fans.
In the app, the user adds the filter and then holds the button to record or slide it to lock to record. Then just read along with the words and lip sync away.
"I think the app, in the way that it's been built, has that very much in mind where it brings to party to your phone," Levitt said.
After users battle it out, the app users can then vote in the app for which performance is better, and they have 48 hours to do so. The votes are then counted and the champion wins the LSB championship belt.
And since the app is the user's chance to star on the show, chances are it will be a hit.
Lip Sync Battle has helped renew the interest in this genre of entertainment, while being created so that each performance could stand alone and travel as its own viral video.
"At the time, everyone was trying to conquer the viral meets linear discussion and how you could have a successful television property that was equally successful online so that the two would succeed one another versus compete for viewership."
This is what LSB was able to succeed at, much with the influence of Jimmy Fallon and his Tonight Show viral pool of content format, Patterson revealed.
Now instead of sharing the clip from a celebrity, users can play that role themselves.
"People are sharing other people's content, Channing and Beyonce, they are sharing these other performances," Patterson added. "And I think there is something really appealing about being able to share their own content and just the battle nature of the show makes it really interactive and fun."
Hosted by LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen, season three of Lip Sync Battle premieres tonight on Spike at 9 p.m. with Sir Ben Kingsley vs. John Cho.
The Lip Sync Battle app is available to download for free for iOS.
