As the Press Conference for the 2026 Melodifestivalen began, there was a different tone in the air from Melodifestivalen’s Executive Producer, Anders Wistbacka; a proud tone, a confident tone, a self-assured tone. Not that Melodifestivalen wasn’t those things before, but, as was explained, for the 2026 edition, the process to get here has been even more SVT than before.
Swedish Song Selections
Gone is the selection jury process, a focus group of experts, passionate fans and members of the public that chose half of the competing entries. Instead, the ultimate choice on all of the final 30 were in the names of four of SVT’s most trusted internal names.
Those four names, led by competition co-ordinator Karin Gunnarsson, are all people who have worked with Melodifestivalen for years. Gone is the influence of those from record labels – you now have the likes of Lotta Furebäck and Daniel Edvardsson, producers with a focus on what will work visually and with choreography more than consideration for how commercial or radio-friendly the entries will be.
I say that as no criticism, but I see how it plays out in the 30 acts selected. There’s the usual mix of returnees, debutants and heroes from the past. There’s the usual promise of genre diversity, with K-pop, country, power ballads and rock ’n’ roll on the list. There are names on the list beloved by the population, as well as those bringing something new to rock the boat.
Melodifestivalen’s AndraChansen 2012
Meeting The Class Of ’26
At the press conference, I managed to speak to every act and ask our five quick-fire “where is your song on this scale” questions – tempo, humour, heat, show and style. A pattern emerged. Artist after artist set their sliders on the hot part of the spectrum and the crazy party marker just below. Melodifestivalen 2026 will have its intimate moments, but it looks like the show has chosen acts that are focusing on the spectacular, the show, and the party.
While there are definitely names like Smash Into Pieces, Medina and Sanna Nielsen that we have high expectations for, there are plenty of names that are interesting to see what they come to Sweden’s biggest show with. What does an A*Teens return look like in 2026? How do the scriptwriting team of Daniel Réhn and Edward af Sillén transform their comedic writing to a competing entry? Will AleXa go from winning the American Song Contest to winning Melodifestivalen, making it another year where Sweden picks a Eurovision act that didn’t grow up in the nation?
While the variety of names is good, this year lacks the obvious Måns Zelmerlöw or a Loreen, a big favourite that will carry the weight of all expectations all season long. We’d have to go back to 2022, the year when Cornelia Jakobs won with ‘Hold Me Closer’, to see a Melodifestivalen playing field that is looking as open as the 2026 season finishes.
So who is this year’s Cornelia? Well, the act that got me pondering most was Vilhelm Buchaus. Vilhelm competed last year to much critical acclaim, but did not progress beyond the heats. This year, he teams up with the same songwriting team as ‘Hold Me Closer’ had, and with a musical story that he placed off the scale on the serious side of Melodifestivalen.
If everybody is going for ‘crazy party fun’ in the aftermath of KAJ’s zero-to-hero victory, maybe something going the other way will win over the public and jury alike next year.
Let the suspense, the speculation, and (arguably) the greatest show in the Eurovision season, begin once more.
You can find more information on each of the 30 acts at Melodifestivalen from Ben Robertson’s short interviews at the Melodifestivalen artist launch press conference on the ESC Insight Bluesky account.