Almost a year on from her debut London show, Slovakia’s first global pop princess is making history simply by being herself. With both red bottoms and tutus intact, she’s not just coming correct – she’s arriving en pointe.
22-year-old Adéla Jergova has come a long way from her short but impactful stint on Netflix’s six-part reality show Pop Star Academy. Amongst the docuseries’s line-up of ambitious young girls hoping to become part of HYBE’s next big group, KATSEYE, the then-19-year-old was one of their top contenders. So, it was much to the surprise – or rather, shock – of watchers when she was eliminated. The reason? HYBE seniors believed she would be better off as a solo artist. Evidently, they were right.
At her London show at Tottenham Court Road’s The Outernet on Tuesday 25th August, it was hard to get sight of the stage. Despite her entrance being scheduled for roughly 9pm, the crowd is packed like a huddle of penguins some 90 minutes prior, a uniform of black and white with a streak of pink running through. It’s an upgrade (in every sense) from her two shows last October, round the corner at The Lower Third on Denmark Street. Her hair is a richer hue of pink, she’s switched her black latex ensemble for a double-denim two-piece and there’s a few more songs added to the set list. Most obviously, the crowd has quadrupled in size, if not more so.
Everything about the charting star – the first Slovakian artist to place in the Billboard Hot 100 – is purposeful. A fluorescent ballet barre replaces DJ Joshua James and Adéla fans roar as if she’s already on stage. Instead, the playlist rolls and on it, anything from the pop divas booms through the venue speakers. Rihanna’s “Kiss It Better” into “Desperado” before Beyonce’s “Diva” took over, with Cardi B’s “WAP” as a brief interlude. The tone is being set; the party is just beginning.
Then, as the lights dim to black, a slender-framed, bubblegum-pink haired Adéla steps – forgive me, struts – onto the stage. As she arrives, offering a “Hello London” to a sparkly-eyed crowd, you can see her pointed toes even through her bedazzled Christian Louboutins. From the jump, her hunger is palpable like a professional ballerina about to take final form at the ballet.
No more than 10 minutes into her set, she debuts a new song off her upcoming album – suitably coined PRIMA – titled “Boys”. If it’s not a nod to Britney’s “Slave 4 U”, it’s certainly a gesture towards the iconic Princess of Pop. As she sings “I got boys, like I’m in a machine // I just press the right buttons and they’re going for me,” her feistiness is alluring. Paired with dynamic dance moves – full with consistently sharp développé’s and fish dives – it evokes Spears’ classic 2001 VMAs performance. Adéla is cut from the same cloth.
Physically, she flits between full 180 body bends and head bounces, commanding the stage with a popstar prowl. Between each track, she saunters around the stage en pointe (literally), as if that is more natural to her than walking with heels on the ground. In fact, everything about the show becomes a direct address to her past; the flashing hot pink screen contrasting the smooth blush satin of her pointe shoes, layered pink tresses instead of a slickback bun, tutu-stamped denim hotpants rather than a leotard. In the Adelaverse, her ballet past can effortlessly coexist in harmony with her popstar future.
It was around this time last year that Adéla released her debut EP “The Provocateur”, a seven-track project with hits like “Superscar” and “Sexonthebeat”, crowd favourites beyond the streams. For the songs that have only recently been released – “KGB”, “Red Bottoms” and “Ain’t In LA” – they’re sung, or screamed, with the same passion as her year-old songs. So, as she glides through her 10-track discography – remixes not included – effortlessly, the collective enthusiasm remains high.
As the self-professed #SWAGGERINA takes to the stage to perform her standout single, “Ain’t In LA”, a pop anthem about chasing an almost forlorn dream, everything about Adéla makes sense. One of the best, most reassuring takeaways from the show is that she’s doing things her way without having to sacrifice the traits that make her the star she wants to – or knows she can – be. So, even though “the baddest bitches” may not be in LA, it’s clear that wherever she goes, plenty of them will follow. Ahead of her 4th September-releasing debut album PRIMA, as far as pop stars go, Adéla is making a (more than) convincing case for first position.
Words – Aswan Magumbe
