Slovak Pop Star Adéla Makes TV Debut on The Tonight Show

Slovak pop star Adéla made her television debut on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, October 22, performing a medley of "Nicole Kidman" and "Ain't In LA". Both songs come from her album Prima. A medley is several songs performed one after another as a single set.

The appearance was revealed on Monday, October 19, and it was also her first sit-down interview on the programme. Late-night talk shows are a common stop for artists promoting new music, because they reach a national audience in the US at the end of the evening.

Her timing lines up with a strong run on the charts. Billboard reported that Adéla had two songs on the Billboard Hot 100, the weekly US chart that ranks the most popular singles, at the time of the show. "Nicole Kidman" rose from No. 9 to No. 6, a new peak for the song.

The title belongs to the actress, who appeared on the same programme about a month before Adéla did. Kidman told Fallon, "I can't believe it. She wrote a song called 'Nicole Kidman.'" She added, "She's so talented." Adéla told Fallon that Kidman is her muse, a word for the person who inspires an artist's work.

The song has also travelled through short videos. Kidman, Dua Lipa, Pedro Pascal and other celebrities have made TikTok videos using Adéla's music, according to Billboard. TikTok is a video app where users film short clips over a chosen track, and when many people use the same song, it can reach listeners who would never have searched for it.

Adéla is a singer, songwriter and dancer originally from Slovakia, according to her NBC guest listing. For a artist whose first big English-language moment came through a song named after a film star, the late-night slot put her performance in front of a very different crowd than a streaming playlist or a music video does.

Her next steps have not been announced.