Swedish broadcaster SVT revealed yesterday the full line-up of Melodifestivalen 2026, Sweden’s national selection for Eurovision 2026. As usual, quite a few returning faces, including former Eurovision representatives, will compete in the five heats held across the country.
Six entries for each heat
Just like these last few years, the selection will be held over six weeks, in six different cities, with the same stage used in each arena. The first five shows will be “heats”, with six acts competing for the top 2 spots to qualify directly to the final (often abbreviated as “DTF” for “Direkt Till Final”).
Entries coming third will go to the “Final Qualification” round held right after Heat Five, where two will join the ten others for a final with twelve entries, in Stockholm. The actual songs will only be released a day before their first TV performance in their respective heats.
Here is the line-up for each heat.
Heat 1 – Linköping – Saab Arena – 31 January
- A*Teens – “Iconic”
- Greczula – “Half of Me”
- Indra – “Beautiful Lie”
- Jacqline – “Woman”
- Junior Lerin – “Copacabana Boy”
- Noll2 – “Berusade ord”
This hear sees the comeback of Greczula, who came third in his Melodifestivalen debut last year, as well as Jacqline (ninth in the 2024 Final). The rest are newcomers, although A*Teens is an established band from the last 1990’s/early 2000’s, made famous by their ABBA covers. The band reunited in 2024 and performed as an interval act in Melodifestivalen at the time.
Heat 2 – Gothenburg – Scandinavium – 7 February
- Arwin – “Glitter”
- Brandsta City Släckers – “Rakt in i elden”
- Felicia – “My System”
- Klara Almström – “Där hela världen väntar”
- Laila Adèle – “Oxygen”
- Robin Bengtsson – “Honey Honey”
Four of these acts are returning artists, making it one of the most veteran-filled show of this year.
The most famous name here, of course, is Robin Bengtsson, who won Melodifestivalen in 2017 and finished 5th in Kiev, with “I can’t go on”. This will be his fifth participation, after 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022.
Another recent returnee is Arwin, having debuted last year, when he reached the “Final Qualification” stage but did not score enough to go to the Final, with “This Dream of Mine”.
The two other come-backs are from much “older” veterans, who participated before young Arwin was even born: Laila Adèle participated once in 2006, with “Oxygen”, and Brandsta City Släckers are a band of firemen formed in 1994, who took part in Melodifestivalen in 2002 and 2003. They were inducted in the Melodifestivalen Hall of Fame in 2020, and have taken part in interval acts several time these last few years, including in 2025.
Heat 3 – Kristianstad – Kristianstad Arena – 14 February
- Emilia Pantić – “Ingenting”
- Eva Jumatate – “Selfish”
- Korslagda – “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”
- Medina – “Viva L’Amor”
- Patrik Jean – “Dusk Till Dawn”
- Saga Ludvigsson – “Ain’t Today”
A bit more reasonable, this third heat only have 3 returnees out of six.
The most famous here is probably the duo Medina, who finished third in 2022 and second in 2024, with their “stadium anthem” entries “In i dimman” and “Que Sera”: the narrative of getting one place higher two years later is easy to build.
Saga Ludvigsson is another 2025 debutant returning to the selection, having finished in last place in the final, despite winning the fifth heat a week earlier.
The third returnee is Patrik Jean, who only participated once as a singer, in 2021, finishing fifth ouf of seven in his Heat and not qualifying to the final with “Tears Run Dry”. But a year before, he had co-written the winning entry of The Mamas, “Move”. And a year before that, in 2019, he was a backing singer for Azerbaijan’s entry at Eurovision, “Truth”. Since then, he has co-written a few songs for Melodifetsivalen, including “YIHAA” and “Life Again” last year.
Heat 4 – Malmö – Malmö Arena – 21 February
- Cimberly – “Eternity”
- Erika Jonsson – “Från landet”
- Felix Manu – “Hatar att jag älskar dig”
- Meira Omar – “Dooset Daram”
- Smash Into Pieces – “Hollow”
- Timo Räisänen – “Ingenting är efter oss”
Among these, two are returning artists.
The most successful so far is Smash Into Pieces, the rock band that finished third in their last two participations, in 2023 and 2024, and who are aiming once again at a victory. The other one is Meira Omar, who made a very remarkable debut in 2025 with “Hush Hush”, which qualified from the Final Qualification round to finish 10th in the Final.
Heat 5 – Sundsvall – Gärdehov Arena – 28 February
- AleXa – “Tongue Tied”
- Bladë – “Who You Are”
- JULIETT – “Långt från alla andra”
- Lilla Al-Fadji – “Delulu”
- Sanna Nielsen – “Waste Your Love”
- Vilhelm Buchaus – “Hearts Don’t Lie”
In this final heat, two acts are returning, and a third ones has actually won an event from the world of Eurovision…
The main returnee here is of course Sanna Nielsen, who participated seven times between 2001 and 2014, when she finally won the selection with “Undo” and went on to finish third at Eurovision in Copenhagen.
The second returnee is Vilhelm Buchaus, who took part in the junior “Lilla Melodifestivalen” in 2013 and 2014. His actual Melodifestivalen debut was last year, with “I’m Yours”, which finished fourth in its heat.
As for the “Eurovision event winner”, it is now confirmed that AleXa, Oklahoma’s winner of the American Song Contest with K-Pop entry “Wonderland”, will compete in Melodifestivalen, as was reporter earlier this year. Among her songwriters for “Tongue Tied” are Cazzi Opeia and Ellen Berg, who also co-wrote “Wonderland”.
Can a previous winner do it again? Could an American represent Sweden at Eurovision with Korean Pop? Will Medina or Smash Into Piece break the ceiling to the first place? Or will a newcomer, like KAJ last year, manage to overcome all the veterans and get the ticket to Vienna? Tell us what you think in the comments below or on social media!
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