Maddie Ziegler might well be the coolest 12 year old currently peppering the earth’s crust with footsteps.
Ever since our much beloved Sia picked her out of the crowd to be her de facto face, Ziegler’s made appearances and performances on a litany of TV programs, award shows, stages, and just about everything in between.
And, to reiterate, she is but a mere 12 years old. And honestly, is there anything more embarrassingly affronting than someone acres younger than you slaying the world? You thought Tavi Gevinson parted the red seas of global media domination at a young age. Compared to Ziegler, Tavi’s practically a dinosaur.
Weird, hangover-induced Good Friday ranting about successful youth aside, Ziegler’s partnership with Sia is easily one of the more interesting artistic experiments of the past few years, particularly in terms of its visibility and reach alone.
After pairing up to be the ersatz Sia in a pair of wildly successful film clips, Sia and Ziegler now complete the rule of three with the release of the video for “Big Girls Cry,” another excellent cut from the even excellenter album 1,000 Forms of Fear.
In the clip, Ziegler – in full, now traditional, Sia getup – embraces the psychotic impulses within and slips rapidly into insanity, allowing the voices in the head to control and dominate, losing any last remaining grasp of her own mental stability.
It’s a remarkable piece of physical work from anyone, let alone someone of such youth.
That’s three knocked clean out of the park in a row from Sia and Ziegler. Here’s hoping it’s an artistic partnership that continues well into the future.
