Sia, ‘Chandelier’ vs. Adele, ‘Rolling in the Deep’ — Greatest Pop Video of the Modern Era [First Round]
Last year, we ran a super-sized competition to determine the greatest pop song in modern history, from the 80s to today. Now, we’re back—and this time, it’s all about honoring the best and boldest in music videos!
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Sia‘s video for her controversial single “Chandelier” served as our first introduction to her innovative album campaign for 1000 Forms of Fear—where she refused to show her face and instead opted to show either just a platinum blonde wig or another young female wearing it and performing as her stand-in. “Chandelier” features then-11-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler delivering some fierce and flawless choreography (which many media outlets highly praised after the video’s release) in a rather stark and depressing living space as the lyrics describe Sia’s presumed battle with alcoholism: “1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink / Throw ’em back ’til I lose count.” Sia declares that she’s “gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist,” and Ziegler gives us all the life we need!
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Adele‘s “Rolling in the Deep” stands as the singer’s commercial breakthrough in the U.S. market and as the largest crossover hit in the past 25 years. So, although Adele addresses a scorned lover in the song’s lyrics, she nonetheless owes him a great deal of thanks! Visually, the video is quite simple, with most of the shots focusing on Adele dressed to the nines as she casually sits on a chair in a house the looks like it’s undergoing renovations. How fitting, considering Adele goes through some pretty dramatic personal renovations during the song as she realizes, “We could have had it all,” and declares that he lost his chance because he played her heart “to the beat.” Ultimately, the video for “Rolling in the Deep” proved that Adele meant (and still means) business when it comes to all matters of the heart.
So, now the choice is yours—our devoted readers! Who will win our first round in our 2010s edition of PopCrush’s search for the Greatest Pop Video of the Modern Era: the enigmatic Sia or the heartbroken but not broken-down Adele? Cast your votes once per hour until the poll closes on December 1 at 5 PM ET.
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