Swedish national broadcaster, SVT, has revealed snippets of the six songs competing in the second heat of Melodifestivalen 2026
This Saturday marks the beginning of the second heat of Sweden’s Eurovision national selection – Melodifestivalen 2026, in the city of Gothenburg. As part of the selection process, 30 songs will compete in five heats, one semi-final (“Second Chance”), and a final where Sweden’s representative for Eurovision 2026 will be chosen.
Second Heat Contestants:
- Arwin – “Glitter”
- Laila Adèle – “Oxygen”
- Robin Begtsson – “Honey Honey”
- Felicia – “My System”
- Klara Almström – “Där hela världen väntar“
- Brandsta City Släckers – “Rakt in i elden”
Click on the song titles to listen to the snippets!
Familiar Names From The Second Heat:
Arwin Ismail – 17 years old, a rising young star in Sweden (using his first name Arwin as a stage name), who participated in the 2025 Swedish Eurovision preselection with the song “This Dream of Mine.” He reached the “Second Chance” round but did not qualify for the final.
Robin Bengtsson – 35 years old, who participated in Melodifestivalen four times, winning once in 2017 with the song “I Can’t Go On,” which earned him a respectable fifth place at Eurovision. He also competed in 2016, 2020, and 2022. Bengtsson will compete for the fifth time this year with a country song.
Felicia – Known for her alter ego Fröken Snusk, who hides behind a pink mask. She rose to fame in September 2022 after releasing the song “Ride mig som en dalahäst,” which gained over 20 million streams on Spotify. She competed in Melodifestivalen 2024 with the song “Unga & Fria,” which did not qualify for the final but still became a hit in Sweden.
Laila Adèle – 47 years old, a musical theater star. She competed in Melodifestivalen 2006 with the song “Don’t Try To Stop Me” but did not advance to the final. Since then, she has had success in musical theater with roles in productions such as “Hairspray,” “Legally Blonde,” and others.
Brandsta City Släckers – A Swedish band formed in 1994 that competed in Melodifestivalen 2022 with the song “Kom och ta mig”. In the latest competition, they performed the same song as an interval act with host Edvin Törnblom.
Melodifestivalen 2026 Schedule
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Saturday, January 31st, 2026 – Heat 1 in Saab Arena, Linköping -
Saturday, February 7th, 2026 – Heat 2 in Scandinavium, Göteborg
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Saturday, February 14th, 2026 – Heat 3 in Kristianstad Arena, Kristianstad
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Saturday, February 21st, 2026 – Heat 4 in Malmö Arena, Malmö
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Saturday, February 28th, 2026 – Heat 5 and Final qual in Gärdehov Arena, Sundsvall
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Saturday, March 7th, 2026 – Grand Final in Strawberry (Friends) Arena, Stockholm
Format and 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, as tradition dictates, will 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:
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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.
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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 the 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”.
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Tal Dahan – Journalist, radio broadcaster, and Eurovision content creator.
Tal Dahan is an Israeli journalist and editor specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest, working with the EuroMix editorial team for four years. Since 2022, she has provided regular on-site coverage of Eurovision from the host city, and from 2023 has also reported directly from the press room—offering the Israeli audience live updates, exclusive interviews, and in-depth commentary.
Tal is a member of the Eurovision tribute and parody band “EuroFalsh,” a radio broadcaster, and a student of political science and communications.
She is considered one of Israel’s leading young Eurovision experts. In addition to covering the main contest, Tal has reported from Eurovision pre-parties and national selection events across Europe (in Thessaloniki, Stockholm, Madrid, and more), been interviewed by major media outlets in Israel and internationally, and presented Eurovision-themed podcasts and radio shows.
