In her music video for “Nicole Kidman,” Adéla, a magenta-haired bombshell, smears cake all over herself as she rolls around on the floor, easily maneuvering into a split. Covered in icing and rainbow-flecked funfetti, she sings about her tits sitting right, her corset being tight and feeling like she’s in control— all loose references to Nicole Kidman roles.
The song went viral on TikTok and hit No. 1 on Spotify just in time for the actor herself to endorse it during a press tour. The dirty-hot aesthetics of the video, the strategic release of the track and the choice to dedicate a song to a star with a decades-long imprint on pop culture all suggest that the woman behind the song really knows what she’s doing.
Until now, Adéla was best known as a reject from the girl group Katseye, who was deemed too sexy and independent to fit the rank-and-file of a K-pop ensemble. The 22-year-old performer’s success suggests she was destined for solo success, anyway: “Nicole Kidman” and “Ain’t in LA” are currently unavoidable on the charts and TikTok alike, though Adéla only released her first album in September.
Adéla’s ballerina training, pink locks and unbridled sex appeal have made her an easily recognizable breakout star in the pop music landscape. Visually, she’s unlike anyone else making music right now — boy, there are a lot of brunettes with country twang — but her compelling backstory makes her unforgettable. As Katseye shows signs of strain, Adéla has begun to outshine them.
‘Pop loves an underdog’
Audiences first fell for Adéla on The Debut: Dream Academy, a reality show that pitted performers against each other in challenges where they’d perform songs and choreography for a spot in a global girl group. Fans voted on their favorites, whittling 20 hopefuls down to six group members. Adéla was eliminated in the first round after receiving the fewest votes.
The failure added even more character to Adéla’s backstory. She grew up in Slovakia and began taking intensive ballet lessons in Russia at age 3. For years, along with her intense dance education, she studied Britney Spears and Madonna and yearned to move to the U.S. to take a shot at superstardom.
Talia Kraines, the pop music editorial lead at Spotify, tells me that’s because “pop loves an underdog.”
She says Adéla’s “kind, nurturing personality” shone through on the show, though when she’s in performance mode, she channels an “untouchable diva energy.” Few artists are able to strike that balance while still being perceived as earnest, and thus deserving of success.
Alex and Vito, two Adéla stans in their early 30s who attended her sold-out Sept. 19 show in New York City, watched her on the show.Alex tells me that Adéla was “the big sister in Dream Academy [who] mentored the other girls and went home first because the label knew she’d be a solo artist.”
“She wasn’t gonna go along with whatever kiddie stuff they had planned for Katseye,” Vito adds. “Adéla sticks out to me because in a climate of pretty, polished pop stars, she’s not afraid to get ugly, dirty and release darker-themed music.”
Katseye is, of course, stacked with beautiful women in provocative outfits, but they’ve been widely criticized for their childish lyrics. The song “Gnarly,” for example, describes fried chicken, Tesla and boba tea as, well, “gnarly.” In contrast, in the song “Superscar” on Adéla’s debut EP The Provocateur, she sings about feeling like she has to sell her body and soul to the music industry.
Adéla isn’t just a Katseye reject — she’s a well-studied student of pop music who knew she needed creative freedom to make the splash she truly wanted to as an artist. In the process of finding her identity,Dream Academyexposed her to an army of K-pop fans, who are notoriously devoted and intense, without subjecting her to the strict demands for cohesion and image that groups often face within the K-pop machine.
A ‘high-spectacle triple threat’ who’s here to stay
Adéla might not be an underdog anymore, but her interesting backstory has given her depth that’s refreshing to see in pop music right now.
“Watching interviews with her talking about how hard she has worked and wanted to be a pop star made me emotional,” says Jordan, a 25-year-old fan from Chicago who’s seen Adéla in concert five times, including when she opened for Demi Lovato. “You can feel her emotion and want.”
In the age of nepotism and supposed industry plants, pop fans have a hunger for stars who rise from obscurity through genuine talent and grit. Recently, artists like Zara Larsson, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx have all broken into the mainstream pop pantheon after years of grinding away for their breakout moments.
In many ways, Adéla is emulating the hard work, intense choreography and sexy visuals that reference the golden era of pop stars in the 2000s, when Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and eventually Lady Gaga were at the top of their game.
“She’s really filling that classic pop star role of the full-package, high-spectacle triple threat with the hair, the dancing and the vocals,” Kraines says.
I asked fans on TikTok and X why they think Adéla is having such a moment right now, and I got a wide array of theories: One says she has a truly distinct hairstyle, so she’s easy to remember visually. Another tells me she makes high-energy “moodboard music” that sounds like it’s from 10 years ago, so people feel instantly nostalgic. A third says she’s sexy and edgy in a time when pop stars have been trending in a different direction. But far and away, fans agreed that she’s good at everything.
Allan Gregorio, a fan and digital artist who creates viral TikTok filters, pays close attention to what content the app rewards. He says it makes perfect sense that Adéla is the algorithm’s favorite artist right now.
“She is breaking out because she arrived complete,” he tells me. “She has the look, and the pink hair is part of it. She has strong visuals, a style people like and real music talent. Most artists have one or two of these. She has all of them.”
In a time when so many of her 20-something peers are terrified of being seen trying, Adéla is working harder than ever. Recently, she became the first Slovakian artist to score an entry on the Billboard Hot 100. All she had to do was work insanely hard for her entire life and excel in every facet of stardom — but it’s always nice to see that rewarded.
