Martin Kosovec (* May 8, 2005, Sveti Ivan Zelina) is a young Croatian singer and musician who became known to the general public as the winner of the 4th season of HRT’s show The Voice Croatia (2024). He comes from a musical family – father Mladen and other family members are already professional musicians. His father Mladen, for example, plays the accordion, clarinet and other wind instruments in the Croatian national ensemble Lado. He inherited music from his father, as he himself pointed out – he was his role model who taught him everything he knows about music.
Martin already showed an exceptional talent for singing as a boy: he had his first musical performance at the age of five and soon took private lessons from vocal pedagogue Bojan Pogrmilović. In elementary school, he often sang in the choir, and in his spare time he played instruments and learned old chansons and evergreens that his father had instilled in him. He attracted the first strong media attention as a teenager: in 2018, he performed in HRT’s stars, and in 2019 he delighted the jury in ‘Supertalent’ performing Oliver’s nocturno. Even then, he was already showing a mature performance and a strong voice – the audience, for example, cried listening to his emotional performance, and the members of the jury (Maja Šuput, Martina Tomčić) were delighted with his talent. On the mentioned shows, he won the sympathy of the viewers and said that he loved music even as a child: music professor Snježana Krivak Đud was the one who encouraged him to sign up for his first competitive performances.
Through television shows to victory on The Voice
The real media breakthrough happened at the beginning of 2024, when Martin Kosovec won the competition The Voice Croatia. In his first audition, he sang a classic Frank Sinatra song in front of the jury ‘My Way’, which immediately confirmed his retro style and won his mentor Dino Jelusić. This was followed by an extremely uncertain course of the competition: in one show, the duel lost by performance Let The Sunshine In, but then Vanna as a super-mentor took him into her team. In the final rounds, he performed with songs such as Vice Vukovova your country and ‘Unchained Melody’, and he won the final with a classic song ‘Glow in the Darkness’ Dorian Gray groups. Martin received even in the final vote 88,504 votes spectators (as much as 64% of the total votes), which earned him the title of winner of the fourth season.
Victory on The Voice She didn’t come by chance. The reviews emphasized his warm, distinct and emotional voice of the ancient color, which for many associates with legendary interpreters such as Ivo Robić, Vice Vukov, and even Frank Sinatra. Martin himself admitted that he is particularly inspired by Sinatra, but he rejected direct comparisons with famous singers and emphasized that he plays and sings to highlight his own retro-modern style. His performances on TV due to the ‘vintage’ flair and unique combination of nostalgia and youthful freshness were experienced by viewers like a slow generational fusion – with a song glow in the dark/grass He secured the final and the title of winner.
Solo career and singles
After winning The Voice, Martin Kosovec embarked on a professional music career with original songs. under a stage name Martin, at the beginning of 2024, he released his first studio single ‘Maštija’ (text by Vanna, composition by Predrag Martinjak Peggy). He premiered the song live on February 23, 2024 as a guest at Dora 2024 in the second semi-final of the Croatian Eurovision Song Contest. Already from the song ‘Maštija’ it was clear that he continues to create in retro style, but with modern arrangements – precisely the combination of ‘old’ and ‘new’ that made him popular on the voice.
In the following months, Martin released a series of singles confirming his style and musical readings: examples of the song ‘plant a tree’ (text by Alfi Kabiljo/Drago Britvić) and ‘Let’s reach out’ (text by Alfi Kabiljo), published in March 2024, then ‘Stigma’ (text by Jelena Balašević, November 2024), and ‘You were my sunshine’ (Text by Marija Mirković, April 2025) and ‘Ballad’ (Text and music of Ante Pecotić, August 2025). Martin often collaborates with established composers and chanson authors, including Van and Alfi Kabilja, and publishes songs for publishing houses such as Universal Music Croatia. Although he is still very young, his songs quickly found the audience – for example, the song ‘Atlas’ was at the top of YouTube trending with the first release, and singles are often at the top of domestic streaming lists.
Other projects and performances
In addition to his solo career, Martin Kosovec also performed on stage during 2024 and also tried his hand at acting. In March 2024, he was a guest at the Alfa Kabilja concert with the HRT choir and the orchestra, and on the Labor Day on May 1, 2024, he performed in a joint concert with the famous guitarist Marko Perković Thompson and Gibonni in Zagreb. Already as a boy, he was played at the International Blues Festival in Memphis when he was 13 years old, which shows how early he gained stage experience.
Due to his retro image, Martin also appeared on television in the role: in the second season of the comedy series ‘The Diary of a Great Perica’ He played the young singer Ivo Robić, who opens the Jugovizija festival in 1968 with the song ‘Delubs’. With this, he also confirmed himself as an actor, as producer Hrvoje Hribar points out: ‘Martin Kosovec will play this season… We called him, he agreed and I am very satisfied’. This supporting role is just one of his many achievements outside of permanent musical projects.
Style, role models and influences
The musical style of Martin Kosovac is rounded off by a combination of pop, jazz and blues with primes of chanson and evergreen. He is considered one of the best performers of his generation precisely because of that ‘old-fashioned’ flair. Slavonac Hrvoje Filipović (author of numerous hits) remarked for 24sata: ‘Old-fashioned Martin not only sings as if he arrived from another era’. However, Martin prefers to point out that he draws inspiration from classical singers: he often cites Frank Sinatra as the biggest role model. In interviews, he says that in music he wants to combine the warm melodies of the past with modern arrangements – moreover, after the victory, he declared that he will continue to develop his sound in a retro direction, but also ‘modernize’ it a bit. Like great vocals from past decades, Martin strives for honest and emotional performances, without too much decoration – which the audience recognized and rewarded immediately after his first appearance on the TV scene.
Key facts about Martin Kosovac:
- Full biography: He was born on May 8, 2005 in Sveti Ivan Zelina, lives in Zagreb. His family is musically inspired (father multi-instrumentalist, mother backing vocalist and music teacher).
- Talent show performances: He performed on RTL’s stars (2018) and Nova TV supertalent (2019), where he already impressed the jury and the audience.
- The Voice winner: He won the fourth season The Voice Croatia (2024), winning the final with 88,504 votes with a performance of the song ‘Sjaj u tami’.
- Solo career: After the show, he shoots under the name Martin. He premiered his debut single ‘Maštija’ as a guest at Dora from 2024 to 2025. He released a number of more singles (eg ‘Stigma’, ‘Balada’).
- Actor in the series: He played the young legend Ivo Robić in the second season of the series Diary of the great Perica.
- Music style: Known for his warm, velvety voice and compositions with a retro undertone. He likes classical standards and often sings songs by old masters (Sinatra, Robić, Vukov) on stage.
In a short time, Martin Kosovec became one of the greatest young hopes of Croatian music – he combines nostalgic chansons with energetic pop performances, which is why many are looking forward to his album and new songs. Follow him on social networks and on HRT’s website so that you are the first to find out about his future projects and performances. His journey has just begun, and it is already obvious that he faces many interesting musical chapters and achievements.
The conclusion: Martin Kosovec is an example of how a combination of talent, traditional values and media exposure can quickly turn into a successful music career. As the winner of The Voice Croatia and the author of various singles, he retains the authenticity and quality of the performance. Worn with youthful energy and retro charm, he builds the audience’s trust with each new performance. As he promised, he will continue to develop his ‘classic’ sound with a modern flair – so it is worth following it further.
