Watch Jay Leno perform Ballroom Blitz in Lip Sync Battle against Craig Ferguson
By Hector Cruz
Former late-night hosts Jay Leno and Craig Ferguson face off on Spike’s Lip Sync Battle.
Jay Leno had an icy relationship with most of the other late-night hosts during his tenure as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show –particularly David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien — but one of his contemporaries that he did get along with was Craig Ferguson, appearing on his final episode of The Late Late Show in 2014. Now, the retired hosts are returning to the stage to battle it out on Spike’s Lip Sync Battle Thursday night.
As customary, the network has released two preview clips for the episode, including one where Leno is seen performing The Sweet’s fast-paced rock song “The Ballroom Blitz,” while wearing a leather jacket. Ferguson can be seen in the background dancing alongside host LL Cool J, who is thoroughly entertained by the Scottish comic, showing off some of his moves from his punk rock days.
Ferguson takes a much more over-the-top approach for his rendition of ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me,” donning a blonde wig, makeup and a white dress with a cat on it, while surrounded by female dancers. While it’s clear that the former Late Late Show host has a leg up over his big-chinned competition given his musician background, it’s not yet known what Leno’s second performance entails, though we get a brief glimpse of him dressed in a white suit for the round where costumes, guest stars, dancers and an elaborate set are allowed.
Both Leno and Ferguson have kept busy with new shows since departing their respective late-night gigs, with the former hosting his own car show on CNBC, appropriately titled Jay Leno’s Garage, while the latter presided over the History talk show Join or Die and the syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game, which was cancelled last month. Ferguson also recently teased a return to late-night in a pair of tweets:
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The pair is the first current or former late-night hosts to perform on the series since Jimmy Fallon battled it out against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on show’s inaugural episode. The concept for Lip Sync Battle was first introduced on Fallon’s Late Night by John Krasinski, and was later carried over as a recurring segment on The Tonight Show, before being spun-off into its own series.
Lip Sync Battle airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on Spike.