JustsNowadays, it seems like any artist can have a shot at stardom with the numerous amount of “talent shows” there are throughout the world.  When you have the ability to bypass the typical show route and reach for the stars with your debut single at Eurovision, you have to have quite the special something in tow. For fresh faced 21 year old Justs Sirmais (Justs) that is the reality of his jump to super stardom with Latvia’s entry into Eurovision 2016 entitled ‘Heartbeat.’

Since this is the first glimpse of what Justs brings to the table, this makes him kind of a wildcard.

Pop seems to be quite a dominating genre of the 2016 contest. For Stockholm, Justs has teamed up with last year’s Latvian entrant Aminata Savadogo to write a passionate electro infused pop love song to carry the national flag.

‘Heartbeat’ is one of the more unique pop stylings to be heard this year. With the heavy emotions of what seems to be an ugly relationship split coming to mind, Justs’ voice carries this gritty and raw sound that brings all the passion he had for a loved one straight to your ears. What could make this song a stand out is the melody being much quieter than the vocals allowing Justs to shine. On the negative side, it takes about a good 90 seconds before the song really picks up to the full dance floor potential. It’s rough to wait for a song to pick up to the good section, but once you get deep enough into the song grasps a very EDM heavy melody that has the possibility of transcending international airwaves. Just wait and see!


For a debut showing, it’s quite impressive to open up on the Eurovision stage. Though with a sea of euro pop contenders will he be able to pull off a great performance? Or will he disappear on 12 May in a ‘Heartbeat’?

Stay tuned to EQ Music Blog for more Eurovision coverage!