Viktoria Leléka

Viktoria Leléka

Viktoriia Leleka (Ukrainian: Вікторія Лелека; born 10 November 1990), known mononymously as Leléka, is a Ukrainian composer and singer based in Berlin, Germany. The founder and lead vocalist of the folk jazz band Leléka, she will represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Ridnym".

Early life and education

Viktoria Leléka

Leleka was born on 10 November 1990 in Pershotravensk, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR (now Shakhtarske, Ukraine). She received her bachelor's degree in performing arts/acting from the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. She later studied under Céline Rudolph and earned a second bachelor's degree in jazz vocals, as well as a master's degree in composition at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden, Germany.

Career

Viktoria Leléka

Leléka sang in the Berlin choir Young Voices Brandenburg and with the Big Band Flinstones in Berlin. Also in 2016, she was a prize winner at the StuVo Jazz Contest 2016 (Berlin) in the category “unusual interpretation of a jazz standard” and received a scholarship for the International Vocal Jazz Camp of the New York Voices.

In 2016, Leléka founded the folk jazz band Leléka in Berlin with Robert Wienröder, Thomas Kolarczyk and Jakob Hegner. With the group, Leléka won the Creole – Global Music Contest in 2017 and the European Young Jazz Talent Award at the Internationale Jazzwoche Burghausen in 2018; she came in second place at the Young Munich Jazz Prize in 2019. Roland Spiegel particularly praised her "voice with aura and a bright, soft sound full of captivating natural power." Following the self-titled EP Leléka (2017), the quartet, which was also included in Ralf Dombrowski's book 111 Reasons to Love Jazz, released their debut album Tuman in 2019 with Povel Widestrand as the new pianist. In September 2021, Leléka released their second album, Sontse u sertsi, on GLM.

In 2024, she launched the art-pop and electronic music project Donbasgrl, debuting with the single "Zbroia", based on a poem by Lesya Ukrainka, accompanied by a music video addressing themes of depression.

In 2025, Donbasgrl was selected for the Eurosonic Noorderslag showcase festival in the Netherlands, where she performed a full set developed in collaboration with the German music producer Jakohitsdifferent. The same year, on June 26th, she released the single "Zhyva", also produced with Jakohitsdifferent. Later that month, she headlined the Green Futures stage at the Glastonbury Festival in the United Kingdom.

On 24 November 2025, Suspilne announced that she had been longlisted for Vidbir, the Ukrainian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, as simply Leléka. After live auditions, she was shortlisted for the final of the selection, which took place on 7 February 2026. She won the competition with the song "Ridnym", meaning she will represent Ukraine at the contest, performing in the second half of the second semi-final.

Discography

Charted singles

<table><thead><tr><th>Title</th><th>Year</th><th>Peak chart positions</th><th>Album</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>UKR Air.</td></tr><tr><td>"Ridnym"</td><td>2026</td><td>55</td><td>Non-album single</td></tr></tbody></table>