Nick Cannon has a new hosting gig at the helm of Nickelodeon’s “Lip Sync Battle Shorties.”
The rapper, TV personality, producer and actor will introduce the upcoming spinoff of Spike’s Emmy-nominated global phenomenon, “Lip Sync Battle,” it was announced Tuesday.
The former “America’s Got Talent” host will be joined by social media star JoJo Siwa for the 10-episode series, which features kids lip-syncing pop songs by their favorite artists.
“I’m excited to host the first season of ‘Lip Sync Battle Shorties.’ It’s always a pleasure to work with my family at Nickelodeon,” Cannon said via a statement from Nickelodeon. “It’s going to be a lot of fun watching the kids lip-sync their favorite songs and perform like their favorites artists.”
“Lip Sync Battle Shorties” will premiere in early 2018, with Halloween and holiday specials set to air later this year.
“Nick Cannon grew up on Nickelodeon and into one of the best hosts and comedic actors on TV. Along with his passion for music, he brings with him such an amazing understanding and enthusiasm for kid performers. We feel very lucky to have Nick at the helm of Shorties, we’re ready to rock,” executive producers Casey Patterson and Jay Peterson said about the new host.
Bronwen O’Keefe, Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Live Action and Movies added: “With Nick Cannon at the helm, every episode of ‘Lip Sync Battle Shorties’ will be an over-the-top Nickelodeon event, with real kids in the driver’s seat, battling head-to-head in the ultimate competition show.”
This isn’t Cannon’s first adventure with Nickelodeon. He previously hosted Nickelodeon’s “Friday Night Slimetime” special, and hosted the Nickelodeon HALO Awards along with Justin Timberlake, Hayden Panettiere, LeBron James, Kelly Rowland and Alicia Keys.
Nickelodeon initially premiered an hour-long “Lip Sync Battle Shorties” special in December 2016, which posted double-and triple digit gains with kids and drew more than two million total viewers (Live+7).
Created and executive produced by Casey Patterson Entertainment and Matador Content, “Lip Sync Battle Shorties” lets three talented real-life kid participants personalize their performances, allowing them to make decisions on all creative elements, from song and costume selection, to choreography and staging. Each episode will also feature the Shorties Dance Crew, a 10-person, in-house backup crew who has mastered all styles of dance from breakdancing to ballroom, and conclude with a special celebrity appearance and final performance from all the kids.
Based on the pop culture phenomenon of lip-sync battling, the original Spike “Lip Sync Battle” series features celebrities going head-to-head lip-syncing the song of their choice — battling for the coolest bragging rights on the planet. The series is a ratings and multi-platform superstar for Spike and is the most-watched original series in the network’s history. The award-winning and Emmy-nominated series is executive produced by Casey Patterson, Jay Peterson of Matador Content, John Krasinski, Stephen Merchant and Eight Million Plus Productions.