Sweden: Artists for Melodifestivalen 2026 revealed

All 30 artists competing in Melodifestivalen 2026 have been announced by Swedish broadcaster SVT.

A total of 3,888 entries were submitted to the broadcaster, and one of these will represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.

This year, the songs will be officially released the day before they're performed on stage.

Renewed selection process

The selection process for Melodifestivalen has been renewed to increase transparency, provide better feedback to songwriters, and reduce the vulnerability of the process, says Anders Wistbacka, project manager for Melodifestivalen:

– We are maintaining the editorial power that has made Melodifestivalen so strong, but supplementing it with more insights into what engages, spreads and works in today's listening patterns.

– We have reviewed the selection processes and the previous work behind them and are now making the process less vulnerable by having more people involved in making the important decisions. The selection process will now rest on three legs – a selection team, a jury and a competition team. In parallel with this, we will become better at providing feedback to songwriters and making the selection more transparent. We truly believe that these changes will make the process both better and fairer.

– Before the competing entries in Melodifestivalen 2026 have been presented, everyone who submitted an entry via Melodifestivalen's upload page has received feedback on whether their song has been included in the competition or not. It's the first time and it feels very good, says Anders Wistbacka.

Melodifestivalen 2026 – Host cities

• 31 January: Heat 1, Linköping (Saab Arena)
• 7 February: Heat 2, Göteborg (Scandinavium)
• 14 February: Heat 3, Kristianstad (Kristianstad Arena)
• 21 February: Heat 4, Malmö (Malmö Arena)
• 28 February: Heat 5 + Final qual, Sundsvall (Gärdehov Arena)
• 7 March: Final, Stockholm (Strawberry Arena)

The format for Melodifestivalen 2026 will be the same as last year:

There will be five heats with six entries in each, so the entire competition will therefore consist of 30 entries. Two entries from each heat go straight to the Final, one remains in the competition, and three are eliminated.

Final qual

Right after Heat 5, the five third-place finishers from the heats will compete in a "Final qual" ("Finalkvalet"). The song out of those five that received the most votes in the heats will go straight to the Final. The public will decide the last finalist among the remaining four songs.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest

Since 1958, Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 64 times, and with great success. Together with Ireland, they hold the record of most victories in Eurovision:

• 1974: ABBA – Waterloo
• 1984: Herreys – Diggi-loo Diggy-ley
• 1991: Carola – Fångad Av En Stormvind
• 1999: Charlotte Nilsson – Take Me To Your Heaven
• 2012: Loreen – Euphoria
• 2015: Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
• 2023: Loreen – Tattoo

They came in last two times (1963 and 1977), and since the introduction of the Semi-finals in 2004 Sweden has managed to qualify for the Grand Final 20 out of 21 times (only failing to qualify in 2010)!