From Dream Academy to PRIMA: How ADÉLA Is Making Her Own Pop Star Story
By Chasalee Romero
If you recognize Adéla from Dream Academy, you might be surprised by where she is now. Three years after competing for a spot in the group that would eventually become KATSEYE, the Slovak singer has traded reality competition stages for sold-out shows, viral moments and her own debut album. Now, with PRIMA officially out, Adéla is proving that getting eliminated from one opportunity does not mean your story is over.
Born and raised in Bratislava, Slovakia, Adéla Jergová did not exactly take the traditional route to becoming a pop star. Before music became her main focus, she trained seriously as a ballerina, studying in Vienna and later at the English National Ballet School in London. She eventually moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to pursue music, leaving behind her home in Slovakia to chase a career that she had been dreaming about for years.
That dream eventually led her to The Debut: Dream Academy, the HYBE and Geffen Records competition that brought together aspiring artists from around the world with the goal of creating a new global girl group. Adéla entered the competition with an impressive background in dance and performance, quickly becoming one of the contestants to watch.
But her time on the show did not go exactly as planned.
Adéla was eliminated during the competition's first mission, meaning she would not become a member of the group that later debuted as KATSEYE. For someone who had moved across the world to pursue music, it could have been an easy place to stop. Instead, Adéla took a different route. Rather than trying to fit herself into someone else's vision of a pop star, she began building one of her own. And honestly, it is hard to imagine her current music without that part of the story.
After Dream Academy, Adéla began releasing music independently, eventually putting out her 2025 EP The Provocateur. Her sound started to take shape around bold pop production, electronic influences, Y2K-inspired sounds and lyrics that are not afraid to be playful, confident or a little ridiculous in the best way. By 2026, she had signed with Capitol Records and was preparing for the release of her first full-length album.
Then came “Ain't In LA.”
Released in July as the third single from PRIMA, the song quickly became one of Adéla's biggest moments yet. The track, inspired by her own mother, plays with the idea that you do not have to be from Los Angeles to have big dreams, something that hits especially hard coming from an artist who left Bratislava to pursue pop stardom. Its music video was filmed in her hometown, bringing the song's message full circle.
“Ain’t In LA” became Adéla's first entry on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making her the first Slovakian artist to enter the chart. But that was only the beginning. Just weeks later, Adéla scored another major milestone when her debut album PRIMA debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 56,000 units, earning her first Billboard 200 Top 10. For a singer who first introduced herself to audiences through Dream Academy, reaching the Top 10 with her debut album is a pretty major full-circle moment.
On September 4, she released PRIMA, her 11-track debut album. The title is a nod to both her first full-length project and her ballet background. In ballet, a prima ballerina is the leading female dancer in a company. For Adéla, PRIMA represents her goal of becoming something similar in pop: a leading woman who is completely in control of her own performance and identity.
The album is unapologetically pop. Across tracks like “KGB,” “Nicole Kidman,” “Boys,” “Red Bottoms” and “Ain't In LA,” Adéla mixes electronic production, early-2000s pop influences, humor, confidence and more vulnerable moments. It is glamorous without taking itself too seriously, and sometimes the lyrics are just as much fun as the production.
Even before the album was released, Adéla was already building momentum. “Ain't In LA” reached the top 10 of Spotify's Global Daily Top Songs chart, while PRIMA debuted at No. 1 on Spotify's Global and U.S. Top Albums Debut charts. Several of the album's new tracks also landed near the top of Spotify's U.S. Top Songs Debut chart.
Her career has also moved beyond streaming numbers. After Dream Academy, Adéla has performed at major festivals and opened for Demi Lovato, giving her the chance to take the music from her bedroom and recording studio to real stages in front of growing audiences.
What makes Adélas story especially interesting is that Dream Academy is no longer the biggest thing about her career. It is where many people first discovered her, but it is not where her story ends. If anything, being eliminated forced her to figure out what she wanted to sound like, look like and stand for on her own.
Now, Adéla is not competing to become somebody else's pop star. She is building her own version of one.
From a ballerina in Bratislava to a Dream Academy contestant, and now a Billboard-charting solo artist with a debut album of her own, Adéla's journey has already taken some unexpected turns. And with PRIMA finally out in the world, it feels less like the conclusion of her story and more like the first chapter.
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