Watch Anne Hathaway Swing Epic ‘Wrecking Ball’ on ‘Lip Sync Battle’
Anne Hathaway came in like a “Wrecking Ball” for Thursday’s Lip Sync Battle versus Emily Blunt. Borrowing Miley Cyrus‘ distinct video look of a tank-top and tighty whiteys, Hathaway mimes the lyrics with desperation, even slipping in an up-close diss to Blunt with the line “I guess I should’ve let you win.” But the grand finale – a swing on an actual wrecking ball – whips the crowd into a frenzy, leaving her opponent (and host LL Cool J) speechless on the sidelines.
To her credit, Blunt brings the soul-rock thunder with her performance of the Big Brother and the Holding Company version of “Piece of My Heart,” getting in character as a fur coat-wearing Janis Joplin. (“I feel like I was at the Woodstock after-party,” cracks LL.) But this round was an easy Hathaway K.O.
For her take on Mary J. Blige‘s “Love,” Hathaway scales back the theatrics for a sparser approach – and her mix of fake singing and rapping (and real high-kicks) is pretty impressive. Still, Blunt’s explosive fake belting of Blackstreet‘s 1996 New Jack Swing anthem “No Diggity” is the clear victor this round. (Hathaway, suffering the sting of defeat, refuses to let her competitor finish and seizes the mic with a Kanye-at-VMAs-styled interruption.)
Lip Sync Battle – a spinoff of The Tonight Show‘s popular recurring segment where celebrities mime their favorite hits – premiered last week on Spike, with Jimmy Fallon squaring off against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The late-night host recruited a robe-wearing choir for his version of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” but the actor-wrestler reigned supreme with a hilarious take on the Bee Gee’s disco classic “Stayin’ Alive” – Saturday Night Fever suit and all.