''Lip Service'' is a game show that aired on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
from February 22, 1992,
[Flaim, Denise (February 21, 1992).]
Lip Synching for Fun, Not Profit
. ''Newsday
''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
''. p. 69. to January 3, 1993, and again from May 10, 1993, to December 17, 1994. It was hosted originally by
Jay Mohr, who was followed in the position by
John Ales. Both hosts were joined by a rap-style
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
, either
Spinderella (from
Salt 'N Pepa),
Monie Love, or ''
Yo! MTV Raps'' regular
T-Money.
In each episode, two three-member teams, representing different U.S. colleges and universities, competed in a three-round lip-sync contest. Three judges evaluated the teams' efforts, each focusing on a separate aspect: accuracy, body mechanics (later changed to "sass"), and overall performance.
Gameplay
Deadly Medley
Excerpts from three songs were played on a team's turn, with a different member performing each one. The teams were not informed of the songs or their order ahead of time. Judges scored the teams on a scale of 1-10, with a potential maximum score of 30, and the higher-scoring team won a prize.
Flip-Sync
Each team was assigned a song and given its lyrics shortly before the start of this round. The video for the song was played, with the vocal track muted, and the three members took turns singing. The Deadly Medley scoring rules were used, and the team with the higher score from this round won a prize.
Scratch Factor
Each team put on a lip-sync performance to a song chosen for them to rehearse and choreograph ahead of time. As the song played, the DJ would try to sabotage their performance in various ways (scratching the record, changing the playback speed, running the record backwards, etc.) and the team had to react to these changes. Judges assigned scores on a scale of 1-20 (later 10-20) for a maximum of 60 points.
The team with the higher total score after this round won the day's grand prize, usually a trip, and advanced in a season-long tournament whose winner would be featured in an MTV music video.
See also
* ''Great Pretenders''
* ''
Lip Sync Battle
''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John ...
''
* ''
Puttin' on the Hits''
References
{{MTVNetwork Shows
Musical game shows
MTV game shows
1990s American game shows
1992 American television series debuts
1994 American television series endings