Brow Beat

Sia’s “Chandelier” Has Maybe the Best Video of the Year

Australian singer Sia is perhaps best known for penning Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts” (and dozens of other hits), and for her featured turns with David Guetta and Flo Rida. But her new video for “Chandelier,” the bouncy lead single from her next album 1000 Forms of Fear, will likely remind those who haven’t listened in a while to “Breathe Me” (which memorably scored the final scene of Six Feet Under) that she’s a pop star in her own right—even though she has chosen not to appear in the video herself.

Instead, 11-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler—who reality TV enthusiasts will recognize from Lifetime’s Dance Moms—takes center stage. Apropos of the song’s theme of childlike abandon, Ziegler, sporting a blond wig that resembles Sia’s own hair, frolics around an apartment. And demonstrating just how communicative dance can be, she interprets Ryan Heffington’s mesmerizing choreography with impressive skill. It’s one of the best videos I’ve seen so far this year.