All of the big names were correctly rumoured but looks like a great line-up. Excited for Sanna, A*Dults, Jacqline, FELICIA (although thinking it will be less folky than Unga & Fria looking at the writers and her recent music!!), Medina, Meira Omar and AleXa, the only winner of the American Song Contest (with a song also co-written by Cazzi Opeia, the only person to co-write winners for that and Eurovision as she also co-wrote Tattoo).

I'd be pretty surprised to see Sanna win again, and doubt she's doing it for that, more to raise her profile around her 30th anniversary gigs. A*Teens also pretty unlikely to go all the way I'd imagine despite their past success internationally. Medina is a good shout, or even AleXa really depending on the song - K-pop is riding the crest of a wave currently and she has quite a back story. Also any of Meira, Jacqline, Greczula or Saga Ludvigsson could be back with a more competitive song (although Effortless WAS competitive but robbed grr) and Brandsta City Släckers could easily win the Swedish public over again. Intriguing year!

So nothing interesting, if don't count Sanna.

Most excited by the look of the opening heat based on names - Jacqline and A*Teens both with songs written by Dino/Jimmy Jansson/Cazzi/G:son Plus Greczula I really enjoyed this year, and there's a Laurell Barker co-write in the heat.

Smash Into Pieces appear to be top of the initial odds, but I don't see it unless they've changed things up a bit (though I didn't expect the lazy re-write to manage another 3rd for them in 2024). My money would be on Greczula to come through with the "act who gets a good result on debut, then comes back the following year and wins" formula, but maybe we're in for another KAJ and the winning song is with the act we'd least expect.

23 hours ago, gooddelta said:

All of the big names were correctly rumoured but looks like a great line-up. Excited for Sanna, A*Dults, Jacqline, FELICIA (although thinking it will be less folky than Unga & Fria looking at the writers and her recent music!!), Medina, Meira Omar and AleXa, the only winner of the American Song Contest (with a song also co-written by Cazzi Opeia, the only person to co-write winners for that and Eurovision as she also co-wrote Tattoo).

I'd be pretty surprised to see Sanna win again, and doubt she's doing it for that, more to raise her profile around her 30th anniversary gigs. A*Teens also pretty unlikely to go all the way I'd imagine despite their past success internationally. Medina is a good shout, or even AleXa really depending on the song - K-pop is riding the crest of a wave currently and she has quite a back story. Also any of Meira, Jacqline, Greczula or Saga Ludvigsson could be back with a more competitive song (although Effortless WAS competitive but robbed grr) and Brandsta City Släckers could easily win the Swedish public over again. Intriguing year!

Interesting you mention Brandsta City Slackers "winning over the Swedish public again", as I see this song is written by almost all of the same people as Bara Bada Bastu.

Without hearing anything at all, my money would be on AleXa, as she has a good narrative, strong songwriters, a slot in the final heat, and sounds like it could be jury bait as well as app vote friendly.

Medina and Greczula are good shouts too, the former couldn't quite get all the way in 2024 but I believe had the biggest domestic hit of the year from the competition. Now a Swedish song has been a provable hit with KAJ then the public might take more of a punt on them. Definitely not ruling out those firemen but doubt we'd get a second 'novelty' entry in a row.

I really can't see Smash Into Pieces doing it unless somebody has heard the song and knows something we don't.

DollyStyle should try again

The first six songs are out:

Greczula - Half Of Me

I really like this song a lot, more than last year too. It's like ABBA meets Queen meets Elton John, with some early 00s Melodifestivalen winner influence (Friends/Fame).

Jacqline - Woman

This is great and will definitely grow on me too, I immediately love the production on it. I don't get the feeling it's as good as Effortless, my overall favourite song of the 2024 competition, or will do as well as that, but then that was completely robbed in the end in the final so who knows.

noll2 - Berusade ord

I can't remember much about this after just listening to it, so it probably doesn't bode that well. Fairly pleasant I think.

Junior Lerin - Copacabana Boy

Oh dear, it's like Sean Banan doing Alors On Danse, and not in a good way. It worries me a bit that the younger kids will go for this though.

Indra - Beautiful Lie

Very good production, atmospheric with shades of being a Bond theme or a track by Billie Eilish. Her voice on the studio version is a bit like Adele with more of a husk, I'm looking forward to seeing the performance.

A*Teens - Iconic

Oh this is a comeback! I can completely see how this fits with their older music while giving it a modern touch but appealing to older voters too. The piano gives me Eiffel 65 vibes and the chorus is impactful pop.

---

The bigger artists definitely delivered for me in this heat, Half Of Me, Woman and Iconic are all going straight onto my playlist ❤️ Hope they all make it further, along with Indra.

Edited January 30Jan 30 by gooddelta

Predictable results in heat 1 but not mad at any of them! Jacqline and A*Teens had my favourite songs for sure so I'm glad they're both through in some capacity, and I can totally see the appeal of the Greczula song, think it made more of an instant impression on me than his last song.

I didn't really like Indra's vocal that much, but the melody of her song was lovely and I'd have eaten it up performed by someone different. noll2's song was decent enough. Copacabana Boy was giving X Factor joke act Wagner would have killed for the chance to perform that x

Very happy for A*Teens! Fantastic performance.

I had a feeling Greczula was going to do really well too... not 100% sold on the song, yet it has something about it.

Jacqline was my second favourite, hopefully she does well in Final Qualification.

So happy for A*Teens one of my favourite groups.

Loved the performance of Iconic, glad it got to the final and they seemed so happy with the reaction from the public. Nice that both DTF songs were somewhat schlager-esque! I did like the Greczula song, and relieved Jacqline has another chance too, it's more of a grower than Effortless but is still great. I don't think I'll return to the other three songs (the awful Copacabana definitely not).

COPACABANA BOY, OJ-OJ-OJ

After four years of doing YouTube reactions, I haven’t been able to watch a Melodifestivalen semi live since 2021 and got to watch it on Saturday with my boyfriend which was fun.

It was a decent semi but I do still miss the 7/8 song format. Iconic was, by a country mile, the best. The performance was so polished and as I’ve said in the A*Teens thread, exactly what they should’ve sounded like in 2026.

I was disappointed with Jacqline but it has grown on me a lot in studio form. She’s a great performer and I was relieved she got out alive, via AC. I’m surprised to see so much positivity towards Half Of Me because I found it worse than last year and very formulaic.

Noll2 forgettable, Indra was flat and honking the entire time and Copacabana Boy… an embarrassment in reality but high camp and I’ve had the pleasure of my boyfriend singing it at me for the last 4 days so I’ve embraced it to a degree.

What on earth was that results reveal though? The way we found out Jacqline was in AC was so strange. I thought it was already a given because she came 2nd in the Round 2 bit but then they spent the next ten minutes interviewing all the others. In what competition ever do you want to reveal 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd? Very very odd planning.

I gather that she came 2nd in the age group voting but then they reverted to the overall public vote to determine who had the final slot, so it could technically be a different song.

So as far as I understand, 1st place in the heat and the second chancer are determined by the overall number of votes, but the second spot is determined by who wins the age groups (obviously after taking out the heat winner). It's massively convoluted and probably nearly always a foregone conclusion unless the votes are incredibly close.

But the real problem was the lack of tension and bad pacing. I don't think a lot of people want to wait around for 15 minutes after the second finalist has been announced to find out who came 3rd in the heat and has a slim chance of getting to the final eventually, as who cares really.

It’s just really bizarre sequencing for a television show, as much as anything else. And by the time you’ve found out who came 3rd (as you say, who cares?), it’s been about half an hour since you last saw the actual WINNER of the heat.

I know, as people who have watched the show for over a decade, we have a tendency to be all “bring back the good old days!” but there is just no way in the world that the current setup is better TV than “Globen or Bust” as it used to be. There’s no tension at all. I actually would’ve been mildly tense to see if A*Teens had been snubbed in place of some new teen girl with a Bond song.

I don’t know why they’ve complicated it so much over the years. Does anyone really know how Andra Chansen works?

First impressions of Deltävling 2 songs:

Arwin - Glitter

I think this will do well with younger voters, it's pretty charming and catchy and the chorus and production is very punchy in BTS kind of fashion.

Laila Adèle - Oxygen

Welcome to Melodifestivalen 1988. Surprised this is in the mix as it is very (clearly intentionally) dated. Good vocal but kind of sounds like a Whitney or Jennifer Rush b-side as the chorus isn't that instant to me, I can't imagine it on Swedish radio in 2026. But it definitely stands out, as nobody else is doing throwback ballads like this. Will wait to see what the live is like.

Robin Bengtsson - Honey Honey

Swedish folky dance songs always seem to do well and Robin always seems to make the final. It's decent and radio friendly enough to suggest this could head to the second chance I guess, but not one I could see myself rushing back to a lot so hope it's not another DTF.

FELICIA - My System

Unga & Fria was completely robbed of a final place in 2024. I haven't loved FELICIA's English stuff so far anywhere near as much as her more folk/EPA influenced material as Fröken Snusk but this is a 00s Clubland banger of the highest order and surely must be a finalist for her this time. Fresh and nostalgic at the same time.

Klara Almström - Där hela världen väntar

Lovely cascading strings on this and the soft but powerful vocal make me think of Laleh. I could absolutely imagine this being a radio hit in Sweden and a springboard to bigger things for Klara, what a beautiful melody and production and a big chorus hook. Would love it to be a dark horse tomorrow!

Brandsta City Släckers - Rakt in i elden

This almost certainly has one of the final slots sewn up, thanks to their previous contest form with Kom och tag mig two decades ago, it's going to sweep the older vote groups. It's pretty anthemic too so I don't hate that it will sweep, but it's a shame a few other songs will have to go out.

Predictions:

1st: Brandsta City Släckers (a given I think - definitely getting the oldie vote and kids will give it mid to high scores too)

2nd: FELICIA (hope she can go direkt this time but I see a route for Arwin, Robin and Klara too)

3rd: Arwin - Glitter (could easily be this or Robin to the second chance round - I think he will sweep the younger groups though)

4th: Robin Bengtsson - Honey Honey (it's nice but not the strongest song he's done - personally I don't think it deserves to go further in this heat but recognisability factor and it being radio friendly will stop him being last)

5th: Klara Almström - Där hela världen väntar (this deserves so much more, I hope it can cause an upset - if Laleh was singing it it would be DTF I'm sure)

6th: Laila Adèle (ultimately not going to get the younger voters at all and older voters will prioritise Brandsta City Släckers and maybe Robin and even Klara)

FELICIA and Klara are my easy favourites and big takeaways from this semi, but I like all of them up to a point actually.

On 04/02/2026 at 16:35, RobBot said:

“Globen or Bust”

Danny Saucedo v Charlotte Perrelli (2012) and Loreen v Anton Hagman (2017) are two of the most iconic moments in Melfest history! A shame they can't be replicated with the current system.

I was very lost with it came to the "Andra Chansen" section last Saturday - very convoluted and confusing. I rather they just made it an online-only vote between all eliminated songs tbh.

My System is EVERYTHING

Glad Felicia won the heat over the firemen, as catchy as that was. My System is the best song I've heard from Felicia's new solo venture for sure.

Quite gutted for Klara as it deserved better than fifth, that's for sure, hope it becomes a big hit in Sweden.

Not sure Robin deserved that second chance slot really, bit of a mid song, my least favourite in the heat probably.

Felicia winning the heat had me feeling like I won too x

My System is definitely my favourite entry so far this year, the adrenaline rush when the drop kicks in so happy it won the heat, was fearing a tight battle against Robin for the second slot!

Brandsta City Släckers was a no-brainer qualifier, totally catchy and fun even if it's not something I'll choose to hear away from the show. Klara's song was a real surprise for me, my second favourite of the night! Laila had impressive vocals on a lovely ballad, outperformed my expectations in the results and it was deserved. Was excited about Arwin's return but Glitter is a step down from This Dream of Mine for me, was hoping for something a little more like his track SPACEBOY from last year. Robin's song exists, it's pleasant, feels like a 10th in the final kind of affair (if it gets there).