What sleight-of-hand goes on here? The Weeknd's appearance on The Late Show to perform new single Heartless takes the TV live performance to a new level. 

First off, Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) is not there when hem is introduced by host Stephen Colbert. He's slouching backstage with a drink, as if he stepped straight off the set of his music video for the song. And then he goes walkabout, though the corridors of the NBC Studios in New York.

And then things get really weird, as the everyday takes a surreal turn. Alex Lill's direction leads us to a rare but very real 'how did they do that?' moment.  

If Spike Jonze pushed the door open onto the possibilities of subverting a classic TV studio performance with his direction of Karen O and Danger Mouse's performance of Woman on The Late Show earlier this year, Lill and his team - including DoP Michael Ragen and production designer JC Molina - has taken it much further.