Sweden 2026: First look of the fourth heat’s rehearsals of Melodifestivalen

SVT has published a sneak peek of the rehearsals of the fourth Melodifestivalen 2026 heat, which will take place on Saturday, February 21st.

You can have a look below:

1. Cimberly – “Eternity“

Text & music: Cimberly-Malaika Wanyonyi, David Lindgren Zacharias, Dino Medanhodzic, Melanie Wehbe

2. Timo Räisänen – “Ingenting är efter oss“

Text & music: Andreas “Giri” Lindbergh, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Lina Räisänen, Linnea Deb, Timo Räisänen

3. Meira Omar – “Dooset Daram“

Text & music: Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Laurell Barker, Meira Omar

4. Felix Manu – “Hatar att jag älskar dig“

Text & music: Axel Schylström, Felix Manu, FERNAND MP, Karl Flyckt

5. Erika Jonsson – “Från landet“

Text & music: Amir Aly, Erika Jonsson, Mikael Karlsson

6. Smash Into Pieces – “Hollow“

Text & music: Benjamin Jennebo, Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye, Per Bergquist, Philip Strand

Full songs are now released to all platforms!

Since last year’s edition SVT brings something that the fans were asking for! The release dates of the competing songs! All these years, SVT were very strict about the release of the songs prior to the contest. The viewers were only getting a few seconds of rehearsals and snippets and the finalists were not allowed to be streamed before the last heat was over. This changed for the 2025 edition. All six songs from each heat will be released to all platforms on Friday, one day before their competing heat and will be available throughout the entire competition. So here are the first competing songs in their full studio version!

Dates and cities of Melodifestivalen 2026

• Heat 1 – LINKÖPING, 31st January
• Heat 2 – GOTHENBURG, 7th February
• Heat 3 – KRISTIANSTAD, 14th February
• Heat 4 – MALMÖ, 21st February
• Heat 5 – SUNDSVALL, 28th February
• Final – STOCKHOLM, 7th March

The 2026 format

Melodifestivalen consists of five heats, one finalkval and one final. A total of 30 entries compete – six in each heat, five in the finalkval and twelve in the final.

Heats

In each heat, six entries compete and two advance directly to the final. This means that a total of ten entries from the heats qualify directly for the final. A third entry in each heat advances to the finalkval.

Finalkval

The last two finalists are selected in a finalkval that is broadcast live immediately after Heat 5. Viewers then have the opportunity to vote again, via the app and by phone, for their favorites among the entries that placed third in the heats.

All competing artists are present in the broadcast, and viewers get to see a short replay of their performances from the heats. The result in the finalkval is based on a combined total of the number of votes in the heats and the number of votes in the finalkval.

Final

In the final, twelve entries compete. Here, viewers account for half of the votes, via app and phone, and the other half of the votes are cast by an international jury.