A total of 30 entries took part in the competition across five heats. Each heat consisted of six songs, with the top two songs directly qualifying for the final.[3] In each heat, the first finalist was determined based on the number of public votes received in the first round, while the second round decided the second finalist and the remaining placings through a points-based system of age groups that had been in place since 2019, with a Radiohjälpen voting group replacing the former telephone group as all televoting proceeds was now to be donated to the charity; the full breakdown of the results was presented on-screen, as was the case between 2022 and 2024. The remaining artist with the highest total number of votes across both rounds then advanced to a final qualification round (rather than the third-placed entry as in the previous edition).[4][5] The top two songs in the final qualification then progressed to the final, which comprised 12 songs. The winner of the final was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from the public and an international jury.
A public submission window was open between 18 August and 12 September 2025 to select the 30 competing entries.[7] Upon closing the submission period, SVT announced that 3,888 applications had been received, from which competing entries were then selected by a dedicated board chaired by Melodifestivalen producer and artistic director Karin Gunnarsson, both from the received submissions and by direct invitation of artists.[8][9] The selected entries were announced on 2 December 2025.[10][11]
The first heat took place on 31 January 2026 at the Saab Arena in Linköping. A total of 10,087,769 votes were cast using 553,145 devices, with SEK499,751 collected for Radiohjälpen.[12]
For the first time, only the two finalists were announced live on SVT1, while the artist advancing to the final qualification was revealed in a separate broadcast aired immediately afterwards on SVT Play.[13] This format was originally intended to apply to the first four heats, but was abandoned after the first heat following viewer backlash.[14]
The second heat took place on 7 February 2026 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. A total of 9,750,011 votes were cast using 565,221 devices, with SEK495,139 collected for Radiohjälpen.[12]
The third heat took place on 14 February 2026 at the Kristianstad Arena in Kristianstad. A total of 8,511,090 votes were cast using 522,498 devices, with SEK494,962 collected for Radiohjälpen.[12]
The fourth heat took place on 21 February 2026 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. A total of 7,692,104 votes were cast using 500,686 devices, with SEK410,318 collected for Radiohjälpen.[12]
The fifth heat took place on 28 February 2026 at the Gärdehov Arena in Sundsvall. A total of 7,762,440 votes were cast using 489,937 devices, with SEK735,542 collected for Radiohjälpen.[12]
At the end of the fifth heat, a final qualification round took place, consisting of the most-voted non-qualifying song from each heat. The two most voted songs qualified for the final; the age group system was not used for this vote, but the results from the heats were added to it to determine the result of the final qualification. More specifically, for the heat points, the total number of votes (excluding votes from Radiohjälpen voting group) for each song in each show were divided by the total number of voters (devices) in each show. Then 1,000 points were distributed amongst the songs based on those ratios. The song with the most points immediately advanced to the final. Once the voting has ended, an additional 800 points were distributed amongst the four remaining entries, based on how viewers have voted during the final qualification round. A total of 2,568,015 votes were cast using 366,012 devices, with SEK235,965 collected for Radiohjälpen.[12]
The final took place on 7 March 2026 at the Strawberry Arena in Stockholm. A total of 24,063,713 votes were cast using 962,495 devices, with SEK1,912,546 collected for Radiohjälpen. SVT Play also provided a stream of the final with English commentary by William Lee Adams and Bella Qvist.[12]
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