What is Lip Sync Battle’s target demographic group? It’s a question I find myself asking, as week to week, the show’s producers present an increasingly random assortment of celebrities, with last week’s matchup between fifth lead of The Expendables Randy Couture and Gabriel Iglesias scraping a new, exciting low. So it should come as no surprise that this week we’re hitting the tween demographic in an episode between Teen Wolf star Tyler Posey and model, Instagram star, and Zayn Malik’s girlfriend Gigi Hadid. They are two very good-looking young people who will probably rule the world one day. Until then, here they are in the divot of the Lip Sync Battle season.
Battle 1: Tyler Posey’s “Flag Pole Sitta†vs. Gigi Hadid’s “That’s Not My Nameâ€
Tyler Posey certainly looks the part of the angry white boy. What makes this performance completely competent and kind of boring is the fact that you don’t feel like he’s trying to be something that he’s not. The complicated part of any lip-sync performance is that there needs to be a gap between the performer and who they’re mimicking. (Negotiating that gap, I would argue, is what makes these things interesting.) Gigi Hadid’s performance of the Ting Tings song suffers from the same problem, although there is a sign of life at the end when she gets unexpectedly angry and smacks Tyler Posey in the face. That’s not her name, bruh!
Winner: This one is close. Gigi Hadid by a macramé crop top.
Battle 2: Tyler Posey’s “Take on Me†vs. Gigi Hadid’s “Larger Than Lifeâ€
Guess who really wanted to play Danny Zuko on Grease: Live. Here’s Tyler Posey, looking great in a tight white T-shirt and slicked-back hair doing his version of A-ha’s music video for “Take on Me.†It’s another instance where the choreography and production replaces the actual performance, and he forgets to actually, you know, lip sync. Gigi Hadid clearly had this in the bag. She did a great but lesser-known Backstreet Boys number, and brought in Nick Carter and A.J. McLean, who apparently are not above waiting in little suitcases onstage before popping out for their big moment. Beyoncé would never have done that, but that’s all just part of the magic, no?
Winner: Gigi Hadid, by a Backstreet Boy.
Overall: Gigi Hadid, come get your shiny belt, girl.
Meanwhile, Chrissy Teigen continues to be the actual winner of every episode.