Thursday 23 June 2016

Chandelier (song)


"Chandelier" is a song by Australian singer Sia from her sixth studio album, 1000 Forms of Fear (2014). Written by Sia and Jesse Shatkin and produced by Shatkin and Greg Kurstin, the song was released on 17 March 2014 as the lead single from the album. It is an electropop song, featuring electronica, R&B and reggae influences. Lyrically, the song has a melancholic theme, detailing the demoralisation and rationalisation of alcoholism through the typical thought process of a "party girl".

"Chandelier" received mainly favourable reviews from music critics, who praised Sia's songwriting and vocals. Commercially, the single attained widespread success, charting within the top five on record charts in 20 countries including France, Italy, Poland, Norway, Australia and New Zealand. In the United States, the single peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Sia's first single as a lead artist to appear on the Hot 100, as well as her first top ten single as a lead artist on the chart, and has sold over 2 million copies in the country. The song received nominations at the 57th Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, with its video receiving a nomination for Best Music Video.

A music video for the song, directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, and choreographed by Ryan Heffington, features dancer Maddie Ziegler. It was well received and has been viewed on YouTube more than 1.3 billion times, becoming one of the most viewed YouTube videos ever posted. In support of the single and 1000 Forms of Fear, Sia, often with Ziegler, performed "Chandelier" on a number of television shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Saturday Night Live, and at the Hollywood Bowl.

Sia performed "Chandelier" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 19 May 2014, with Ziegler recreating the choreography in the music video. Sia also performed the song on Late Night with Seth Meyers on 9 June 2014, with Girls star Lena Dunham performing new choreography.[68] In July 2014, Sia performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Ziegler taught host Jimmy Kimmel and his sidekick Guillermo some of the dance moves from the music video. In July 2014, Sia performed the song on the VH1's show "SoundClash", along with her songs "Elastic Heart" and "Big Girls Cry" from the album. Sia and Ziegler also performed the song on Dancing with the Stars and at the 2014 We Can Survive Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. In February 2015, Sia and Ziegler, together with actress Kristen Wiig, performed the song in a cluttered apartment set on the 2015 Grammy Awards telecast. For all of these performances, Sia sang the track with her back to the camera. She performed the song on Saturday Night Live in January 2015, veiled, with a sad-looking mime who performed the lyrics in American sign language.

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