Jacques Houdek

Jacques Houdek (born Željko Houdek;[1] April 14, 1981, Velika Gorica) is a Croatian singer.  He began his professional solo career in 2000 when he sang in a club in Zagreb. His first single, the song ‘Čarolija’, was released in 2002, and with it he introduced himself to a wider audience at Dora, the Croatian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The very next month, Jacques signed a contract with the record company Croatia Records. In 2003, he took part in Dora for a second time. His song “Na krilima ljubavi” became 5th. In 2004 he participated again. “Nema razloga” was good for a 4th place. In the same year, Jacques’ debut album “Čarolija” was released. He also dubbed the voice of Aladdin in the Croatian version of the Disney movie.

In 2005, he was present at Dora again, “Nepobjevida” reached a third place. A new album, “Kad is sretan”, was presented too. A 5th attempt in Dora also did not give him the victory, but in 2006 he became 15th in the final with “Umrijeti s osmijehom”. Again, this lead to a new album, “Živim za to”.

In the 2007 parlementary election, Jacques Houdek sang the anthem of the conservative HDZ, “HDZ zna”. In the same year, Jacques released a live album ánd a compilation album. In 2008, no less than two brand new albums saw the light: “Idemo u zoološki vrt” and “Crno i bijelo”, and another live album came out.

A new album, “Najveći Božićni Hitovi”, was released in 2009, followed by a live album and a compilation album in 2010.

In January 2011, Houdek placed fourth in the finals of the Open Mic UK singing contest held in London’s O2 Arena. He also participated in the British TV show The X Factor. However, he was unable to continue his participation in the contest because he did not receive a work permit in time. In the same year, he participated in Dora again and now became shared first. Unfortunately for him, the jury decided to select another singer for the song. 

The release of a new album in Croatia came in 2012: “Meni za ljubav”. In 2015, a compilation album was released, and in 2016, a brand new album came out: “Tko je, srce, u te dirn’o?”.

In 2017, Jacques Houdek was internally selected to represent Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest. With his song “My friend” he managed to reach the final and ended up in 13th place there.

Two years later, Houdek was involved in Dora and Eurovision again, but now as a composer. He wrote “The dream”, the Croatian entry, for Roko Blažević. The song did not reach the Eurovision final.

In 2021, a new Houdek album saw the light: “Glavom i bradom”.