"She has a soft spot for Duffy the Disney Bear and her favorite food is chocolate. She does her homework before dinner but really loves skateboarding, playing video games and bouncing on her trampoline. If Mahiro Takano sounds like any 9-year-old, think again: The third grader from Niigata, a rice-growing region in Japan, stars in Sia's latest music video "Alive," the just-released single from the singer's upcoming album. In a backdrop of stark gray, the girl, wearing a white and black wig evocative of Sia's hairstyle, performs a dazzling routine with quick fists and kicks, and an adorably determined concentration of energy. Mahiro, a three-time Japan karate champion in her age group, found making a music video was quite fun, and agreed she would do it again, especially if Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift offers. The video shoot with Sia in a Tokyo suburb took about a week. She made a point to move to match the music, and "look cool," Mahiro said in an interview at her home, where she was gulping down her dinner of curry and boiled eggs before rushing to karate practice". – Yuri Kageyama via The Associated Press







In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group practices in Nagaoka, Niigata prefecture, north of Tokyo. Mahiro stars in singer Sia's latest music video "Alive", the just-released single from the singer's upcoming album. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, center, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group practices in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, center, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group wears a karate outfit at home before going to her karate practice in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group smiles during her karate practice in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, center, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group practices in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, center, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group practices in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, center, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group practices in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group, does her school homework's at home before going to her karate practice in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group does her homework of Japanese letters Kanji before going to her practice of karate at home in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group plays with a balance ball before going to her practice of karate at home in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)