Do you think Rachel Bloom looked up from her air flute at any point while shooting this week’s Lip Sync Battle and thought, “Goddamn it, if only we did covers?” From the looks of this video, the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star’s performance of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” depicts a sort of a parallel universe version of Rebecca Bunch, one that’s filled with the kind of raw, sexual, band-geek energy our American scientists need to do more research to explain. Who were those confident nerds? Did their conviction in their own romantic destinies make them follow their ex-boyfriends to small-town California, and if so, where are all their CW shows?
Meanwhile, Michael Shannon, someone you would never imagine in a thousand years would actually partake in a silly musical reality competition, went all-out for R.E.M.’s jukebox staple “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” Maybe it’s his crazed dance moves or post-apocalyptic outfit, but this might be his most enjoyable role in years. (Just kidding.) Michael Stipe, give this man a call. Form a duo. Anything. Call yourselves “The Michaels.” It’ll be grand.
