Victoria Leleka (married name Anton, maiden name Korniikova) is a Ukrainian composer and singer, and the founder of the folk-jazz band Leléka and the avant-pop project DONBA₴GRL.
Place of Birth, Education
She was born on November 10, 1990, in Pershotravensk (now Shakhtarsk) in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
She grew up in an artistic family. Her father headed the “Shakhtar” Palace of Culture for several years and directed the “Victoria” dance troupe for more than 30 years. The latter was named specifically in honor of the future singer. Her mother, for her part, led a theater club and worked as a lighting director.
Leleka earned her first higher education degree from the Ivan Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theater, Film, and Television—she studied at the acting department in Moiseyev’s workshop. While still a student, in 2011, she won the Grand Prix at the Lesya Ukrainka All-Ukrainian Recitation Competition in Yalta.
Eventually, she gave up her acting career and changed directions.
After that, she went to Germany, where she earned another bachelor’s degree—this time in jazz vocals—and then completed a master’s degree in composition at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden, Germany.
As of 2026, Leleka continues her studies in Germany—at the Babelsberg Film University in Potsdam, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in film composition.
Career
While studying at the Karpenko-Kary University, the singer worked as an actress at the Molodyi Theater in Kyiv for two years. She appeared in the plays “The Matchmaking in Honcharivka,” “KomA,” and “The Dance of Love.”
At the same time, she appeared in Ukrainian films and TV series.
After moving to Germany, she focused on music. She sang in the Berlin choir Young Voices Brandenburg and also performed with the Flinstones big band.
In 2016, she won the StuVo Jazz Competition in Berlin in the category of “Unusual Interpretation of a Jazz Standard,” and she also received a scholarship to participate in the New York Voices international jazz vocal camp.
That same year, she founded the folk-jazz band “Leléka” in Berlin together with Robert Winrader, Thomas Kolarczyk, and Jakob Hegner.
Over the next few years, the band began to rack up awards:
- won the Creole competition in 2017;
- In 2018, he received the European Young Jazz Talent Award;
- In 2019, he took second place at the Young Munich Jazz Prize.
Following the mini-album “Leléka, “ which was released in 2017, the band released their full-length debut album, “Tuman,” in 2019.
In particular, the band was featured in Ralph Dombrowski’s book *111 Reasons to Love Jazz*.
In September 2021, “Leléka” released her second album, “Sonce u Serci. “ On her earlier releases, the singer was still known as Viktoria Anton.
In 2024, Leleka launched another solo project— DONBA₴GRL—which leans more toward art pop and electronic music. It kicked off with the song “Zbroya” (Weapon), based on a poem by Lesya Ukrainka, and the music video for it addressed the topic of depression.
In 2025, DONBA₴GRL was selected to perform at the Eurosonic Noorderslag showcase festival in the Netherlands, where the singer performed a full set that she had prepared together with German producer Jakohitsdifferent.
That same year, on June 26, she released the single “Zhyva,” and later headlined the Green Futures stage at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK.
Eurovision
By 2026, Leleka was already performing solo under her stage name.
On February 7, she advanced to the finals of the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Ridnym” and won—receiving the highest scores from both the jury and the audience.
On May 16, 2026, Leleka performed in the Eurovision Song Contest final in Vienna and placed 9th. She received a total of 221 points—167 from the public and 54 from the jury.
Future Career
On March 14, the singer released the mini-album “Anima Mundi“ in collaboration with Italian composer Stefano Lentini. It features three tracks that were featured in the sixth season of the Italian series “Beyond the Sea.”
After “Eurovision 2026,” she joined the “Dronefall” fundraising campaign organized by the “Come Back Alive” Foundation. The fundraiser aims to combat Russian drones flying over Ukrainian cities; as part of the effort, the military is provided with pickup trucks, radio stations, generators, and interceptor drones.
Marital Status
While she was a student at Karpenko-Kary University, the singer met Sebastian Anton. They later married, and she took his last name.
At the age of 24, she moved to Berlin with her husband.
The marriage later fell apart, and after the divorce, she changed her last name to “Leleka.”
