The fifth heat of Melodifestivalen 2026 is over and the results are in!
Tonight’s line-up:
- Tongue Tied – AleXa
Songwriters: AleXa, Moonshine (Jonatan Gusmark & Ludvig Evers), Sunshine (Ellen Berg & Moa “Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker) - Långt från alla andra – JULIETT
Songwriters: David Själin, Elias Kask, Herman Gardarfve, Ludvig Alamanos, Romeo Er-Melin, Valter Wigren - Who You Are – Bladë
Songwriters: Isa Tengblad, Josefina Carlbom - Delulu – Lilla Al-Fadji
Songwriters: Daniel Réhn, Edward af Sillén, Lilla Al-Fadji, Fredrik Sonefors, Melanie Wehbe, Mikaela Samuelsson - Hearts Don’t Lie – Vilhelm Buchaus
Songwriters: David Zandén, Isa Molin, Vilhelm Buchaus - Waste Your Love – Sanna Nielsen
Songwriters: Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son
Directly to the Final:
- Delulu – Lilla Al-Fadji
- Waste Your Love – Sanna Nielsen
Still in the competition (finalkval):
- Tongue Tied – AleXa
Eliminated:
- Långt från alla andra – JULIETT
- Hearts Don’t Lie – Vilhelm Buchaus
- Who You Are – Bladë
Number of voters: 489 937
Amount of Swedish crowns collected for Radiohjälpen: 735 542 SEK
Finalkval results
Final spot 1: Dooset Daram – Meira Omar, 227 points
Final spot 2: Honey Honey – Robin Bengtsson, 437 points
Selfish – Eva Jumatate, 408 points
Woman – Jacqline, 385 points
Tongue Tied – AleXa, 343 points
Interesting result facts
• Sanna Nielsen is now the one who has advanced directly from a heat to the final the most times in the history of Melodifestivalen: six times. She made her debut in 2001, the year before the heats were introduced, and reached the final via Andra chansen in 2007. With her other entries, she has gone directly to the final. Before the evening, she shared the record with Danny Saucedo.
• Sanna Nielsen’s place in the final means that the entry in the closing running order number advanced directly to the final from all of this year’s heats. The last time the entry in the closing running order number in the final heat did not go directly to the final was with Loreen’s “Statements” in 2017.
• Sanna Nielsen was already the artist with the most final appearances in the modern Melodifestivalen, a record she extended to eight final appearances.
• The rule changes ahead of Melodifestivalen 2026 meant that Vilhelm Buchaus with “Hearts Don’t Lie” became the first entry in the competition’s history to be eliminated after officially finishing in third place in his heat. Instead, the viewers awarded the ticket to the final qualification round to AleXa, who finished in fifth place in the heat.
• Meira Omar advanced to the final via Finalkvalet for the second consecutive year. The pattern of results is recurring historically. The other artists who have reached the final via the second-chance round two years in a row are Magnus Carlsson (2002–2003, also 2005), Linus Svenning (2014–2015), Samir & Viktor (2015–2016), Boris René (2016–2017), Felix Sandman (2017–2018, also 2020), Paul Rey (2020–2021), Alvaro Estrella (2020–2021) and THEOZ (2022–2023).
• The results in Heat 5 and the Finalkval mean that 2 of the 12 entries in the final (17 %) are performed entirely by debuting artists. 2020 and 2021 are the only years in the modern Melodifestivalen with equally low figures.
• 4 of the 12 entries in the final are not performed by solo artists. The share, 33 %, is the second highest in the past 14 years. Between 2013 and 2021, the number of entries not performed by solo artists was always two in the final. In 2023 there was a break in the trend, with 5 entries performed by groups, a shift that has since been confirmed. In the 2026 final, the groups A*Teens, Brandsta City Släckers, Medina and Smash Into Pieces are competing.
• None of the songwriters who qualified with two or more entries in Melodifestivalen 2026 managed to take all of their songs to the final. Dino Medanhodzic had the most songs in the final, reaching it with 4 out of 6 entries (67%). However, the highest success rate was achieved by Anderz Wrethov, who advanced to the final with 3 out of 4 songs (75%). Moa “Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker, Thomas G:son, and Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt also performed strongly, each reaching the final with 2 out of 3 entries (67%). Jimmy Jansson made it to the final with 3 out of 5 entries (60%), while Melanie Wehbe finished the qualifying rounds strongly by reaching the final from both the fourth and fifth heats, ending up with 2 out of 4 entries (50%).