Pochette de l'album PRIMA, ADÉLA (Capitol Records)
A year ago, nobody outside the American reality-TV music world had heard of ADÉLA. Today, the Slovak singer has her song “Nicole Kidman” sitting near the top of the Billboard Hot 100, an unprecedented feat for an artist from her country. The track, taken from her debut album Prima, got its title from a gala night where the young singer says she felt “exactly like Nicole Kidman” — flawless hair, corset laced so tight she could barely breathe.
Who is ADÉLA?
Adéla Jergová first broke through on “The Debut: Dream Academy,” the reality competition that also produced the global girl group KATSEYE. Rather than join the group, she opted to go solo. Her debut single, “Ain’t In LA,” already made her the first Slovak artist to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100. Her album Prima, released in early September 2026 on Capitol Records, backed up the promise with a strong Billboard 200 debut in its first week, moving tens of thousands of units.
The story behind the song’s title traces back to a red-carpet night: squeezed into a formal gown and a corset so tight she could barely breathe, the singer says she felt “exactly like Nicole Kidman,” a nod to the actress’s disciplined, glamorous red-carpet presence. The idea for a tribute song took shape the very next day, in the studio.
“Nicole Kidman”: a pop tribute turned viral phenomenon
The second track on Prima, “Nicole Kidman” is packed with nods to the Australian actress’s career: the chorus references Moulin Rouge! and Babygirl, and the video, directed by Hannah Lux Davis, re-enacts several of her most iconic roles, from Eyes Wide Shut to Birth, before closing on a parody of her famous AMC theatres ad.
Far from taking offense, Nicole Kidman has followed the whole saga with good humor. Asked about the song, the actress said she knows exactly who ADÉLA is and plans to catch her live in Nashville. Online, the track has become a format of its own: celebrities including Dua Lipa, Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig have all been filmed covering or reacting to it, fuelling its spread across TikTok.
A chart run backed by the numbers
Week after week, “Nicole Kidman” has climbed the international charts. The key figures, per recent Billboard and Spotify tallies:
- Entered the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100, then kept climbing toward the top 10
- Peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Global 200
- No. 1 on sales and streaming in Greece and Singapore
- Top 10 in the UK, Australia, Canada and Ireland
From Dream Academy to outstreaming KATSEYE
The most striking detail may be the comparison with the group the show eventually produced. According to Spotify’s monthly listener figures, ADÉLA now outpaces KATSEYE, even though the group was billed as “The Debut”‘s flagship project. It’s reignited the debate over how much these industry-engineered competitions actually matter, when it’s the contestant who struck out alone who ends up with the better numbers.
whatlisten already ran a full review of Prima, the album “Nicole Kidman” is taken from, and covered KATSEYE’s formation when that same show wrapped. Two companion reads for anyone trying to understand how a reality-show contestant became, in just a few months, one of pop’s most-streamed voices.
