Bad Lip Reading
 Bad Lip Reading logo | |
| Industry | YouTube Channel |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Website |
www |
Bad Lip Reading (abbreviated as BLR) is a YouTube channel, run by an anonymous individual[1] in the music production business, that spoofs clips from films, TV shows, songs, sports and political news stories by overdubbing humorous vocal work that matches the lip movements of the targets. Rolling Stone described the channel as "the breakout hit" of the 2012 United States presidential cycle.[1] As of November 2016, the Bad Lip Reading YouTube channel had amassed over 5.5 million subscribers and over 700 million views across its videos. The identity of the creator is unknown.[2]
Background
The "Bad Lip Reader" behind the channel is an anonymous music and video producer from Texas.[3] The first Bad Lip Reading video released was a spoof of Rebecca Black's song "Friday", titled "Gang Fight". New music and lyrics were matched to Black's video to make it appear as though she were singing about gang warfare. The "Gang Fight" YouTube video, released in March 2011, earned BLR a million hits and thousands of subscribers.[1]
More spoof videos followed, including interpretations of The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" (a viral video[4] called "Everybody Poops"), Taylor Swift's "Our Song" and Michael Bublé's "Haven't Met You Yet". The latter was transformed into the "electronica-inspired" "Russian Unicorn",[1] which Bublé himself praised as his "new favorite song"[5] and "one of the coolest things I've ever seen".[6]
In September 2011, BLR branched out from pop singers to politicians with a "bad lip-reading" of Texas governor and US Presidential hopeful Rick Perry. BLR replaced clips of Perry with invented dialogue matched to his lip movements. After airing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the video was featured by news and media outlets across the United States, leading to a sudden surge in Bad Lip Reading's popularity. Following the Perry spoof, BLR released bad lip-readings of President Obama,[7] Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann,[8] Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.
The channel found even more success in November 2012 when it began overdubbing popular movie and televisions shows. BLR's version of Twilight quickly went viral, followed by parodies of The Hunger Games, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. The videos have been well-received not only by the public, but also by the cast and creators of the properties being spoofed. In her online blog, Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer Lawrence's co-star in The Hunger Games, said, "Bad Lip Reading is awesome. I was introduced to it by none other than Jennifer Lawrence. Yup — she saw this, people. And she laughed. And so did I. A lot." Lawrence's co-star Josh Hutcherson also praised the video, tweeting it to his fans. The cast and creators of The Walking Dead have publicly praised the Bad Lip Reading "Walking Dead" videos on several occasions.
Expanding his scope yet again, in January 2013 BLR released a "bad lip-reading" of National Football League players, coaches and referees, which would go on to become the channel's most popular video. A second NFL video followed in 2014,[9][10] and a third was released in 2015.[11]
In a Rolling Stone interview, the producer behind the Bad Lip Reading videos said that he first encountered the technique of lip reading when his mother, then in her 40s, lost her hearing due to unknown causes. While she excelled at lip reading, he was unable to pick up the skill despite trying: "I was terrible at it."[1]
In 2013, Bad Lip Reading won the Webby Awards' People's Voice Award for "Comedy: Long Form or Series". In April 2014, BLR won the American Comedy Award for Best Viral Video for its "NFL: A Bad Lip Reading" video. Sir Patrick Stewart accepted the award on BLR's behalf during the televised ceremony on NBC.
On June 8, 2014 the BLR Facebook page announced the release of the full version of "Modify" by Kniles, a song that has been used in multiple BLR productions. The fact that this song was used without previous attribution, as well as stylistic similarities to other BLR-produced songs, have prompted speculation that Kniles is another pseudonym for the individual behind Bad Lip Reading.[12]
A Bad Lip Reading of the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical premiered as a half-hour special on July 11, 2016 on Disney XD.
Copyright dispute
One of Bad Lip Reading's works, "Dirty Spaceman", a redubbing of "Check It Out" by Will.i.am featuring Nicki Minaj, was taken down due to a claim of copyright infringement. It is unclear if Universal Music issued a formal DMCA takedown request or if YouTube's Content ID Match system detected the work and removed it automatically.[13] Also, in March 2012, the video "Beard With Glue," a bad lip reading of "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt, was taken down by Warner Music Group on a copyright claim. Unlike "Dirty Spaceman", the claim was soon released, and the video was returned. Likewise, "Gang Fight" was taken down in 2011, but returned. UMG has also taken down "Rockin' All Nite Long", the Taylor Swift spoof that also features Wiz Khalifa.
Videos
Based on songs
| Artist | Featuring | Original song(s) | Release date(s) | BLR song | Upload date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebecca Black | "Friday" | Mar 14, 2011 | "Gang Fight" | Mar 21, 2011 | |
| Justin Bieber | Rascal Flatts | "That Should Be Me" | Mar 19, 2010 | "Asian Baby" | Mar 24, 2011 |
| Black Eyed Peas | "Boom Boom Pow" | Mar 30, 2009 | "Everybody Poops" | Mar 29, 2011 | |
| Miley Cyrus | Snoop Dogg | "Party in the U.S.A.", "Boom" | Aug 11, 2009; Mar 8, 2011 | "Black Umbrella (The Right Stuff)" | Apr 7, 2011 |
| Ludacris | The Bee Gees | "My Chick Bad", "Too Much Heaven" | Feb 23, 2010; Oct 24, 1978 | "Magic Man" | Apr 18, 2011 |
| Justin Bieber | Rascal Flatts | "That Should Be Me" | Mar 19, 2010 | "Hot Jumping Beans" | May 1, 2011 |
| Taylor Swift | "Our Song" | Aug 22, 2007 | "(Rockin') All Nite Long" | May 29, 2011 | |
| Michael Bublé | "Haven't Met You Yet" | Aug 31, 2009 | "Russian Unicorn" | Jul 11, 2011 | |
| Bruno Mars | Lady Gaga, Jay-Z | "The Lazy Song", "Alejandro", "Empire State of Mind", "Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)" | Feb 15, 2011; Apr 20, 2010; Oct 20, 2009; Dec 14, 1999 | "Morning Dew" | Aug 8, 2011 |
| Barack Obama | N/A | N/A | "Trick the Bridesmaid" | Sep 19, 2011 | |
| Nicki Minaj | will.i.am | "Check It Out" | Sept 3, 2010 | "Dirty Spaceman" | Oct 1, 2011 |
| James Blunt | "You're Beautiful" | May 30, 2005 | "Beard with Glue" | Oct 28, 2011 | |
| Gotye | Kimbra | "Somebody That I Used to Know" | Jul 5, 2011 | "Kicked Your Monkey" | May 3, 2012 |
| Double Take | "Hot Problems" | Apr 15, 2012 | "Time to Rock" | May 16, 2012 | |
| Coldplay | "In My Place" | Aug 5, 2002 | "Yeti" | Jul 24, 2012 | |
| One Direction | "Gotta Be You" | Nov 11, 2011 | "SHADOW PICO Trailer" | Dec 27, 2012 | |
| Beyoncé | "The Star-Spangled Banner" | Jan 21, 2013 | "La Fway" | Jan 26, 2013 | |
| Carl Grimes | N/A | N/A | "Carl Poppa" | Oct 2, 2014 | |
| Obi-Wan Kenobi | Luke Skywalker, R2-D2 | N/A | N/A | "Bushes of Love" | Jan 1, 2016 |
| N/A | Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, Chewbacca, R2-D2 | N/A | N/A | "Not The Future" | Feb 9, 2016 |
| Yoda | Luke Skywalker, R2-D2 | N/A | N/A | "SEAGULLS! (Stop It Now)" | Nov 25, 2016 |
Based on movies and TV shows
| Film/TV show | Release date | BLR title(s) | Upload date(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| High School | Jun 1, 2012 | A BLR of a scene from "High School" | May 30, 2012 |
| Veep | Apr 22, 2012 | Selina Meyer- A BLR Sound Bite from "VEEP" | Jun 4, 2012 |
| Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Mar 16, 2012 | Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Jul 6, 2012 |
| Twilight | Nov 28, 2008 | Edward and Bella | Sept 4, 2012 |
| The Hunger Games | Mar 23, 2012 | The Hunger Games | Sept 20, 2012 |
| The Campaign | Aug 10, 2012 | Iraqi Gold | Oct 26, 2012 |
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Nov 20, 2009 | More Twilight | Nov 21, 2012 |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | Jul 3, 2012 | Peter and Gwen | Mar 4, 2013 |
| The Walking Dead | Oct 31, 2010 | The Walking (And Talking) Dead | May 2, 2013 |
| More Walking (And Talking) Dead: Part 1 | Sept 25, 2014 | ||
| More Walking (And Talking) Dead: Part 2 | Oct 10, 2014 | ||
| Game of Thrones | Apr 17, 2011 | Medieval Land Fun-Time World — Extended Trailer | Oct 16, 2013 |
| Game of Thrones | Apr 17, 2011 | Bonus and Extended Scenes — Medieval Land Fun-Time World | Oct 22, 2013 |
| The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | Jun 24, 2010 | Twilight III | Apr 24, 2014 |
| American Idol | Jun 11, 2002 | Sing-Song Contest of America | May 22, 2014 |
| The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | Nov 22, 2013 | More Hunger Games | Nov 27, 2014 |
| Obsidiots: Live From District 11 | Nov 27, 2014 | ||
| The Avengers | May 4, 2012 | Redneck Avengers: Tulsa Nights | May 23, 2015 |
| Star Wars | May 25, 1977 | Star Wars: A Bad Lip Reading | Dec 16, 2015 |
| The Empire Strikes Back | May 21, 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back: A Bad Lip Reading | Dec 16, 2015 |
| Return of the Jedi | May 25, 1983 | Return of the Jedi: A Bad Lip Reading | Dec 16, 2015 |
| High School Musical | Jan 20, 2006 | High School Musical: A Bad Lip Reading | Jul 11, 2016 |
Other videos
| BLR title | Featuring | Upload date |
|---|---|---|
| Rick Perry | Rick Perry | Sept 18, 2011 |
| Michele Bachmann | Michele Bachmann | Oct 3, 2011 |
| Mitt Romney | Mitt Romney | Oct 14, 2011 |
| Herman Cain | Herman Cain | Oct 28, 2011 |
| Ron Paul | Ron Paul | Dec 5, 2011 |
| Rick Santorum | Rick Santorum | Jan 31, 2012 |
| Newt Gingrich | Newt Gingrich | Feb 7, 2012 |
| Joe Biden | Joe Biden | Apr 16, 2012 |
| A Bad Lip Reading of Rick Perry's "Strong" Ad | Rick Perry | May 22, 2012 |
| Bush & Clinton | Bill Clinton, George W. Bush | June 28, 2012 |
| More Mitt | Mitt Romney | Aug 13, 2012 |
| Paul Ryan's Video Diary | Paul Ryan | Oct 2, 2012 |
| Eye of the Sparrow | Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Jim Lehrer | Oct 9, 2012 |
| 2012 Dance-off Highlights | Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Joe Biden, Paul Ryan, Martha Raddatz, Bob Schieffer | Nov 6, 2012 |
| The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading | Jan 15, 2013 | |
| Inauguration 2013: A Bad Lip Reading | Barack Obama, John Roberts, Beyoncé | Jan 24, 2013 |
| 2013 Independent Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay Nominees | Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Sam Rockwell, Olga Kurylenko, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Tilda Swinton, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth | Feb 26, 2013 |
| More NFL | Jan 24, 2014 | |
| NFL 2015 | Jan 22, 2015 | |
| First Republican Dance-off Highlights: 2015 | Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Scott Walker, Rand Paul | Aug 19, 2015 |
| First Democratic Dance-off Highlights: 2015 | Anderson Cooper, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Hillary Clinton, Jim Webb, Lincoln Chafee | Oct 28, 2015 |
| NFL 2016: Part One | Feb 2, 2016 | |
| NFL 2016: Part Two | Feb 5, 2016 | |
| Ted Cruz | Ted Cruz | Mar 1, 2016 |
| Bernie & Hillary | Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Wolf Blitzer | Apr 21, 2016 |
| Cruz Talks Trump[14] | Ted Cruz | Jul 25, 2016 |
| Democratic National Convention | Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Chelsea Clinton, Alicia Keys | Aug 19, 2016 |
| Dance-off Night! | Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Lester Holt | Oct 6, 2016 |
| Presidential Poetry Slam | Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Anderson Cooper, Martha Raddatz | Oct 21, 2016 |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Dickinson, Tim (October 7, 2011). "Exclusive: The Bad Lip Reader Speaks". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- ↑ Bell, Melissa (October 18, 2011). "Bad Lip Reading: behind the viral videos everyone's talking about". Washington Post. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- ↑ Pinto, Nick. "Bad Lip Reading: An Interview With the Man Behind The Beautiful Nonsense". Village Voice. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
- ↑ "Bad Lip Reading Translates Rick Perry, Gets It About Right". The Huffington Post. September 27, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Michael Bublé Live On Ustream". Ustream.tv. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
- ↑ Bublé, Michael (July 21, 2011). "Michael Bublé Video Reply: Russian Unicorn". YouTube. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
- ↑ Macarthur, Amber (September 30, 2011). "Why Bad Lip Reading is way more awesome than Auto-Tune The News". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
- ↑ Frauenfelder, Mark (October 4, 2011). "Michele Bachmann honored by Bad Lip Reading". Boing Boing. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Bad Lip Reading: The NFL Like You've Never Heard It". MTV. 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
- ↑ "'The NFL: A Bad Lip Reading' stars Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady and more (VIDEO)". Sporting News. 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
- ↑ http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/01/22/nfl-bad-lip-reading-2015-video
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/badlipreading/posts/813629791983055
- ↑ Masnick, Mike. "Universal Uses Copyright To Censor Bad Lip Reading Parody; Why Not Embrace It?". techdirt. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ↑ "CRUZ TALKS TRUMP" — A Bad Lip Reading of Ted Cruz on YouTube