Sia has seriously put Dance Moms mini-diva Maddie Ziegler through the emotional ringer, from twirling away her demons inside an abandoned home for “Chandelier” to an epic cage battle against a shirtless Shia LaBeouf with “Elastic Heart.”
For the third and final part of her 1000 Forms Of Fear video trilogy — this time for album highlight and forthcoming UK single “Big Girls Cry” (or, in my world, “The 50 Shades Of Too Real Song”) — the Elusive Chanteuse has once again recruited the talented young performer to pour out her emotional anguish one last time…for now, anyway.
The Daniel Askill-directed visual sees the little dancer emoting in front of pure darkness, battling her thoughts and raging wildly in front of us using that signature, child-like Ryan Heffington sign language-meets-primal human choreography. With a special cameo from (maybe?) Sia’s hands at one point in an aggressive and terrifying struggle, Maddie grapples to maintain even a moment of peace.
And so concludes the Fear trilogy, a video series that has gone on to become a truly iconic part of pop culture over the past year. Where she’ll go next? Unclear…but don’t expect that wig to go away any time soon.
And if you haven’t yet, check out Sia’s fierce, fascinating spread and interview with the incredible Kristen Wiig over at Interview. A preview:
People say, “Enough of this shit where she doesn’t show her face,” and “It’s a gimmick.” For sure. I’m trying to do this differently, for serenity. And it’s a fun game for me as well. I have nothing to lose. But of course I want to be loved. So when people say, “Show your face, you’re not ugly.” I want to say, “I know. I’m not doing it because I think I’m ugly; I’m trying to have some control over my image. And I’m allowed to maintain some modicum of privacy.
“Big Girls Cry” will be released on May 18 in the UK. (iTunes)
