Trending Today: Sia, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots

This is What’s Trending Today. If you have not heard of Sia Furler, you have now, thanks to “Iko Iko” and Jimmy Fallon of the Tonight Show. Sia Furler is an Australian singer and songwriter. Known as Sia, she is famous for her songs “Chandelier,” “Titanium,” “Breathe Me,” and “Elastic Heart.” She also wrote songs for Christina Aguilera, Rihanna and Adele. She appeared on the late-night TV show “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” earlier this week to promote her new record “This is Acting.” Fallon, The Roots, actress Natalie Portman and Sia sang the folk song “Iko Iko” together. It is a song with roots in African and Creole cultures from New Orleans. The video shows all the performers dressed in black and white, wearing blonde and black wigs. Sia is known for being a little shy. She does not like to show her face when she performs. Because of this, she wears costumes or even uses stand-ins – like dancers or mimes – when she performs. In this video, she wears a wig with extra-long bangs that obscure her face. She also wears a short, white dress, and a big, white bow in her hair. See if you can count all the unique percussion instruments in the “Iko Iko” video, especially one band member using cups to provide the beat. People played the video almost 1.5 million times since it came out Wednesday night. And Sia’s new album already is No. 1 in many countries. And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Dan Friedell.   Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. What do you think of the way Sia presents herself? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   bangs – n. the front section of a person's hair when it is cut short and worn over the forehead blond – adj. of a yellow or very light brown color chandelier – n. a large, decorated light that hangs from a ceiling and has branches for holding many light bulbs or candles creole – n. people descended from the colonial settlers of Louisiana huge – adj. very great in size, amount, or degree mime – n. a form of entertainment in which a performer plays a character or tells a story without words by using body movements and facial expressions percussion – n. musical instruments (such as drums, cymbals, or xylophones) that you play by hitting or shaking shy – adj. feeling nervous and uncomfortable about meeting and talking to people unique – adj. very special or unusual wig – n. artificial hair that you wear on your head because you are bald or in order to change your appearance

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