Lucifer musical episode songs ranked: who's really singing?
Find out which Lucifer cast members can actually sing and which should stick to the day job.
It's been well over a year since word first got out that Tom Ellis and his co-stars would be bursting into song for an all-out musical episode in Lucifer season 5 part 2 – and now, it's finally here.
While die-hard fans will no doubt delight in seeing the Lucifer cast test out their vocal abilities, more casual viewers might be a little apprehensive about the all-singing all-dancing chapter in the series.
The end result is a mixed bag, with some nice renditions and some more questionable attempts, so to brace you for what awaits we've ranked every song in "Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam" (season 5, episode 10) from worst to best.
Read on for the good, the bad and everything in-between.
Does Tom Ellis sing in Lucifer?
Yes! Ellis performs his own vocals on Lucifer – in real life, the actor both sings and can play guitar. Quite the talented little devil!
Here he is performing a cover of Ed Sheeran's 2011 song, The A Team.
Lucifer musical episode songs ranked
8th (worst) – I Dreamed A Dream by Tom Ellis and Dennis Haysbert
How did this make it into the episode? The lyrics of I Dreamed A Dream are so tenuously connected to the plot that I can only assume Tom Ellis really likes Les Misérables and wanted an excuse to sing one of its biggest numbers. Unfortunately, some performances are best kept between yourself and a shampoo bottle. Ellis really struggles to hit those challenging high notes and co-star Dennis Haysbert is way out of his depth, which is perhaps why he spends most of the song frowning like a sad puppy.
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7th – Another One Bites the Dust by Lucifer cast
Oh boy. The episode reaches peak cringe a mere six minutes in when the cast team up to crucify one of Queen's most beloved songs. The vocals are subpar and the attempts at humour are lame, but this does at least have the most ambitious staging of any performance in this episode. It must have taken a decent amount of rehearsal time to synchronise such a large group of dancers, so the Lucifer team deserve some props for that. Of course, you won't be able to appreciate their hard work if you're watching through your fingers.
6th – Wicked Game by Tom Ellis
This is the kind of musical performance we've been seeing on Lucifer for years. Every now and then, the writers plonk Tom Ellis in front of a piano to belt out a straightforward cover for no apparent reason. To be fair, he hasn't got a bad voice, but I'm just not sure it's good enough to subject us to this multiple times per season. Anyway, as an episode opener, Wicked Game effectively sets the tone and Ellis certainly manages these high notes better than the ones in I Dreamed A Dream.
5th – Every Breath You Take by Tom Ellis and Debbie Gibson
This one jumps up the pack thanks to the involvement of a professional singer, with the Lucifer producers wrangling '90s pop star Debbie Gibson to duet with Tom Ellis. That easily makes Every Breath You Take one of the strongest songs in the episode vocally, but the staging is little more than Ellis and Gibson wandering aimlessly around a police interrogation room. A few clever camera angles aside, this is remarkably unambitious stuff and makes you wonder why the show went to the trouble of doing a musical episode in the first place.
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4th – Just The Two of Us by Rachael Harris and DB Woodside
I'm not very knowledgeable about '90s R&B so I briefly thought the writers had penned an original rap verse for DB Woodside, which would have earned them a solid 'A for Effort'. Upon learning that this is actually a cover of Will Smith's Just The Two of Us, those bonus marks were stripped away – although I have to say, Woodside delivers his verse well. Rachael Harris also gives a pleasant enough rendition of the rest of the song, it's just a shame the choreography lets them both down. There's a reason why people don't dance with prams: it just looks daft.
3rd – Bad to the Bone/No Scrubs medley by Lesley Ann-Brandt and Aimee Garcia
Lucifer's Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam attempts a medley about halfway through, mixing George Thorogood & The Destroyer's Bad to the Bone with TLC's No Scrubs. It sounds like it shouldn't work but it does – kind of. The splicing together of these two distinct tracks is basic to put it politely, but Lesley-Ann Brandt and Aimee Garcia's amusing on-screen chemistry does a lot to sell the performance. Also, there's some genuine effort put into the choreography which is more than you can say for some of these musical numbers.
2nd – Smile by Scarlett Estevez
Shamefully, this one was able to evoke an "aww" from even my cold dead heart. The ongoing storyline sets up this number effectively, with Scarlett Estevez's Trixie being the perfect choice to perform it. It's a shame that the accompanying montage is rather dull and the decision to include clips of Lucifer and Chloe getting off seems wholly inappropriate. Nevertheless, nice song!
1st (best) – Hell by Kevin Alejandro
Bravo, Kevin Alejandro! Our Detective Dan Espinoza is not the most gifted vocalist in the cast, but he throws himself into this number with total commitment and it pays off. Set in Lucifer's extravagant nightclub Lux, this rendition of Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers packs fire, sparklers and a fun dance routine that you almost want to attempt yourself. It also helps that this song has the best narrative hook, playing nicely with the farcical existential dread Dan has been burdened with since he discovered that God exists – and that he inadvertently slept with his wife.
Read more:
- Lucifer season 5 part 2 ending explained: Who becomes the new God?
- What is Azrael’s Blade and when did it first appear in Lucifer?
Lucifer season 5 part 2 is available to stream on Netflix - read our spoiler-free Lucifer review. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix or the best movies on Netflix.
You can also read more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
