Watch Jimmy Fallon Lip Sync Battle With Joseph Gordon-Levitt And Stephen Merchant

Lip syncing isn't always a good thing. Most people don't want to shell out money to see a famous celebrity belt out pre-recorded greatest hits, for example, but done right, it can be a real art form and the source of humor and entertainment. Take for example, last night's episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Of course we know Fallon can sing, and he's known to some pretty great musician impressions, but during last night's episode of the NBC late night talk show, Fallon took to the stage with two of his guests -- Don Jon's' Joseph Gordon Levitt and Hello Ladies star Stephen Merchant -- to do a bit of lip-syncing with a game Merchant says he made up with his pals John Krasinski and Emily Blunt.

The object of the battle is for the three men to take turns lip-syncing sections of well known songs, each trying to lip-sync better than the others. They don't know what songs the other ones have picked, so its all as much as show for the participants as it is for the audience. Merchant kicks off the battle with DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's "Boom! Shake the Room," which he actually kind of nails. Fallon attempts to follow that act with "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League. And then it's Gordon-Levitt's turn. He's another one known for his musical interests, and he gets his lip-sync on with Elton John's "Tiny Dancer." Not to be confused with Tony Danza. While I feel like Gordon-Levitt should get lots of points for his dancing and facial expressions, I think Merchant won Round 1 with his rap.

Merchant went without a microphone for Round 2, which is an expert move and not something amateur lip syncers should even consider attempting at home. Merchant needed his hands free for his enthusiastic performance of Beyonce's "Single Ladies." Fallon followed that with A-ha's "Take on Me." He used a microphone, but I actually think his 80s dance moves topped Merchant's Beyonce impersonation. Gordon-Levitt brought the whole show home -- without microphone -- with a lip sync performance of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass," a song he calls a contemporary pop classic. It's a hugely ambitious song to tackle, especially sans mic, but between his lip syncing and the dancing, I agree with Fallon that Joseph Gordon-Levitt won this battle.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.