Historically, Saturday Night Live hasn’t always been the most welcoming venue for pop magic. Besides the confines of the comedy club-like atmosphere inside the studio venue at 30 Rock, SNL has a history of making examples of pop stars and even hosts who break convention, including legends like Elvis Costello.

However, during the recent Kevin Hart-hosted instalment of the iconic US sketch program, our very own Sia managed to deliver two incredible and avant-garde performances of hits from her runaway sixth album, 1000 Forms of Fear, ‘Elastic Heart’, the video for which recently generated controversy, and the international smash ‘Chandelier’.

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Before an enraptured studio audience, and with her face obscured by a black veil for the entire performance, Sia belted out the notes of the bittersweet ‘Elastic Heart’ as her two dancers, 12-year-old Maddie Ziegler and an older, unidentified male dancer, both clad in the clip’s famous skin tone bodysuits, reacted the ‘Elastic Heart’ video.

For her second performance of the evening, Sia delivered a beautiful, orchestral rendition of ‘Chandelier’. Accompanying the performance was a mime adorned in melancholy face paint, who acted out the lyrics of the song. Sia, face still obscured by the black veil, delivered a rousing and powerful performance of the hit that propelled her to superstardom.

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