Spike TV is making Jimmy Fallon’s popular “Lip Sync Battle” sketches an even bigger deal by giving them their own TV show. This week, Dwayne Johnson posted an epic video of himself attempting to cover Taylor Swift on the upcoming Spike series. Give the short video a watch, below.
I honestly would never have expected to see a Taylor Swift cover be a part of Dwayne Johnson’s repertoire. In the past, the man’s shown more of a preference for classic rock music—especially Elvis Presley. We’ve seen the actor cover Elvis songs in The Game Plan, and more recently he channeled his inner Elvis on Live with Michael and Kelly. However, he really gets into “Shake it Off,” and the image of the huge former WWE star attempting feminine hip-shaking moves is simply hysterical. (It ranks right up there with Paul McCartney playing the song with Taylor Swift.)
The clip is part of a larger segment from the recent Lip Sync Battle preview, which explains how Lip Sync Battle will be similar to and different than the “Lip Sync Battle” sketches that Fallon’s team has created for late night. Along with the Swift cover, the segment features Stephen Merchant channeling his inner pop star with a pretty revealing outfit. If you stick around until the 12-second mark, you can also catch Dwayne Johnson dancing around in a spectacular white suit. You can take a look at a lot more you can expect from the new series, below.
Lip Sync Battle was picked up to series four months ago, with Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Merchant and John Krasinski all producing the competition show. They are definitely involved with the everyday production, as well, as they all pop up in the preview for the new show. Lip Sync Battle is expected to hit the schedule on April 2 and each episode will follow celebrities squaring off to compete, just as they have in the past on The Tonight Show sketches. This time around, it looks as if there will be a little more production value, as well as plenty of costume gimmicks. Now, throw in a little Emma Stone and I am sold.
