by Ilay Gaist Comment Closed




Sweden’s national broadcaster SVT announced a record 3,888 songs were submitted for Melodifestivalen 2026, which will select the country’s entry to Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

Following another successful year at Eurovision 2025 – where Sweden finished in fourth place in Basel, Switzerland, thanks to KAJ with the song “Bara bada bastu” (in English: “Just Sauna”) – SVT is already deep in preparations for Melodifestivalen 2026. This competition will determine Sweden’s entry for Eurovision 2026, set to take place in Vienna, Austria. Melodifestivalen has been held since 1959 and has produced seven Eurovision winners for Sweden, including the legendary band ABBA and Loreen, who made history by becoming the second artist ever to win Eurovision twice, in 2012 and 2023.

With submissions now closed, SVT revealed that 3,888 songs were received for Melodifestivalen 2026, from which Sweden’s representative for Eurovision 2026 will be chosen.




Record Submissions and Process

The submission window for next year’s competition has officially closed, with SVT registering an all-time record of 3,888 entries. This surpasses the previous record of 3,832 entries, set in 2011. It also marks an increase of over 1,000 songs compared to Melodifestivalen 2025, when 2,794 songs were submitted.

Here’s a comparison of entry numbers from recent years:

  • Melodifestivalen 2025 – 2,794 songs.

  • Melodifestivalen 2024 – 2,624 songs.

  • Melodifestivalen 2023 – 2,824 songs.

  • Melodifestivalen 2022 – 2,530 songs.

  • Melodifestivalen 2021 – 2,747 songs.

  • Melodifestivalen 2020 – 2,545 songs.

The national broadcaster will now review all submissions and select 30 songs to compete at Melodifestivalen 2026. Of these, 15 will be chosen by a jury panel and the remaining 15 by SVT.

In previous years, contestants were revealed on the following dates:

  • Melodifestivalen 2025 – November 26th, 2024.

  • Melodifestivalen 2024 – December 1st, 2023.

  • Melodifestivalen 2023 – November 29th, 2022.

  • Melodifestivalen 2022 – November 26th, 2021.

  • Melodifestivalen 2021 – December 1st, 2020.

  • Melodifestivalen 2020 – November 26th, 2019.

Format and Expected Changes for Melodifestivalen 2026

Melodifestivalen 2026 will once again run for six weeks, featuring five heats and one big final. Each heat will be hosted in a different city across the country, while the grand final will, as tradition dictates, take place at Friends Arena in Stockholm. From each heat, the two top-ranked songs will advance to the final, which will feature 12 songs. The winner will be determined by a 50/50 combination of jury votes and public televoting. The Melodifestivalen winner will then represent Sweden at Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

SVT confirmed that the format changes introduced two years ago will remain in 2026, following overwhelmingly positive feedback from viewers. These include:

  • A “Second Chance” round: This gives participants who placed third or fourth in the semi-finals another opportunity to reach the final. Introduced in 2024, the system was praised as fair and exciting, giving popular songs another shot at the big stage.

  • Early song releases: Instead of waiting until the end of the semi-finals, all songs in each semi-final will be released on streaming platforms one day in advance. This allows fans to enjoy the music early, form opinions, and engage with the entries ahead of the live shows.




Sweden at Eurovision 2025:

“Bara bada bastu” (in English: “Just take a sauna”) is the title of the song which was performed by band KAJ, who represented Sweden in Eurovision 2025, in Basel, Switzerland – Placing 4th with 321 points. The song was written by the band members – Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman, and Jakob Norrgård – along with Anderz Wrethov, Kristoffer Strandberg, and Robert Skowronski.

The song led the betting predictions throughout the competition, reaching a peak of 49% winning probability, but ultimately finished in fourth place with 321 points – 126 points from the juries, ranked sixth, and 195 more points from the public, ranked third.

Eurovision 2026: This will be Sweden’s 65th appearance in the competition. Sweden joined Eurovision in 1958 and has won the contest seven times over the years. The country’s most recent victory came in 2023, when Loreen won with the song “Tattoo”.