The first two artists have advanced directly to the final of Melodifestivalen 2026 this evening.
This evening, the first heat of Melodifestivalen 2026 took place at the Saab Arena in Linköping. Six artists took to the stage, with two advancing directly to the final, and the third-placed artist eligible to fill another spot in the final through the “Final Qualification” later in the contest.
The results of the Heat were as follows:
| Running Order | Artist | Song | Result |
| 1 | Greczula | “Half of Me” | First Finalist |
| 2 | Jacqline | “Woman” | Final Qualifier |
| 3 | Noll2 | “Berusade ord” | |
| 4 | Junior Lerin | “Copacabana” | |
| 5 | Indra | “Beautiful Life” | |
| 6 | A*Teens | “Iconic” | Second Finalist |
In the first round, the act that received the most votes qualified directly for the final. The second finalist was the act that received the highest points total. These points were formed of the age groups voting, with voting totals converted into 12, 10, 8, 5 and 3 points. The act with the third highest number of votes cast qualified as the ‘Final Qualifier’ to compete again for a place in the final.
The results of the age group voting was as follows:
| Artist | Song | Points | Position |
| A*Teens | “Iconic” | 80 | 1st |
| Jacqline | “Woman” | 64 | 2nd |
| Indra | “Beautiful Lie” | 42 | 3rd |
| Noll2 | “Berusade ord” | 41 | 4th |
| Junior Lerin | “Copacabana” | 39 | 5th |
Melodifestivalen 2026 is taking place across six cities in Sweden and will be hosted by Gina Dirawi and Hampus Nessvold. The dates, venues and host cities for the next shows are:
Heat 2: February 7 – Scandinavium, Gothenburg
Heat 3: February 14 – Kristianstad Arena, Kristianstad
Heat 4: February 21 – Malmö Arena, Malmö
Heat 5: February 28 – Gärdehov Arena, Sundsvall
Final: March 7 – Strawberry Arena, Stockholm
The winner of Melodifestivalen 2026 will represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.
Sweden debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 and has gone on to be one of the contest’s most successful countries. The country has won the contest 7 times – tying with Ireland, the most recent being in 2023. ABBA´s win in Brighton in 1974 with the song “Waterloo” marked Sweden’s first victory. Since missing out on the final in 2010, the country has gone on to finish 3rd twice and has won the contest three times. Only in 2013 and 2021 did the country place outside of the top 10 in the final.
