Four songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 28 February 2016 where a public vote exclusively selected "Heartbeat" performed by Justs as the winner.

In the final, Latvia performed in position 20 and placed fifteenth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 132 points.

In a response to the nation's failure to qualify to the final at Eurovision since 2008, between 2013 and 2014, the competition was rebranded and retooled as Dziesma.

All shows in the competition took place at the LTV Studio 6 in Riga, hosted by Ketija Šēnberga and Toms Grēviņš and broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the streaming platform Replay.lv and the official Supernova website supernova.lsm.lv.

[4][5] Alternative broadcasts of the final also occurred on LTV7 with Elza Volonte and Ainārs Ostvalds presenting the show in sign language as well as online at lsm.lv with commentary by the duo Transleiteris consisting of Edžus Ķaukulis and Lauris Mihailovs.

LTV broadcast two introductory shows on 24 and 31 January 2016 that covered the background preparation processes and performer auditions that occurred prior to the competition.

[9] The jury participated in each show by providing feedback to the competing artists and selecting entries to advance in the competition.

The panel consisted of:[10] Artists and songwriters were able to submit their applications and entries separately to the broadcaster between 7 September 2015 and 1 November 2015.

[4] 120 songs were submitted (an increase of 20% from the previous year) and 88 performers applied for the competition at the conclusion of the submission period.

DJ and producer Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd was a guest juror for the semi-final, filling in for Guntars Račs.

On 9 April, Justs performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hera Björk.

[28] In addition to his international appearances, Justs also performed "Heartbeat" during the Zelta Mikrofons 2015 award show on 15 March, held at the Latvian National Opera in Riga.

[31] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final.

[32] On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.

[43] At the end of the show, Latvia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.

[49][50] Voting during the three shows was conducted under a new system that involved each country now awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting.

Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency.

This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.

[51] In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.