WHEN? Saturday 31 January 2026 8pm UK time WHERE TO WATCH? SVT

WHERE?: Saab Arena, Linköping

Melodifestivalen 2026 kicks off in fine style in its 66th year with the promising reunion of A-Teens who had UK hits with Upside Down and Halfway Around The World as well as 2 ABBA covers a quarter of a century ago.

• Read on for reasons including A-Teens, Greczula and Jacqline

Our Heat 1 preview explains A-Teens have never competed in Melodifestivalen before, although 2 of its individual members have, but did perform as an interval act 2 years ago.

1. Greczula Half Of Me (Andreas Werling, Karl Ivert, Kian Sang, Greczula) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Kristofer Greczula finished 3rd last year and started as a vocalist in the rock group Damn Delicious. Strong opener which from its minute-long clip appears to be as ABBA as it is Queen-influenced.

2. Jacqline Woman (Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy Jansson, Moa ‘Cazzi Opeia’ Carlebecker, Thomas G:son) PREDICTION: 3rd

Effortless was 9th in the 2024 finalen and reminded of Donna Summer’s majestic I Feel Love. This remains on the dancefloor boasting beats to succumb to and is likely to be pushing the top 2 hardest for a direkt til final spot.

3. Noll2 Berusade ord (Drunk words) (Fredrik Andersson, Jakob Westerlund, Wilmer Öberg) PREDICTION: 5th

Noll2 is a Swedish pop duo competing for the 1st time. Singing in Swedish this is more uptempo than we were expecting and could pull a surprise.

LISTEN to the 60-second clips at SVT Play

4. Junior Lerin Copacabana Boy (Fredrik Andersson) PREDICTION: 6th

Bringing the party and presenting the contradiction of a Latin song predominantly in Swedish. Verging on the novelty with occasional Electro Velvet flourishes.

5. Indra Beautiful Lie (Anderz Wrethov, Indra, Kristofer Strandberg, Laurell Barker, Robert Skowronski) PREDICTION: 4th

1 of 3 newcomers in this opening heat boasting co-writer Wrethov who has co-penned 44 MF entries. The strongest competition to our predicted top 3 with a rousing ballad.

6. A-Teens Iconic (Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy Jansson, Lina Hansson, Moa ‘Cazzi Opeia’ Carlebecker, Thomas G:son) PREDICTION: Qualifier

We wanted upbeat and the clip sounds like the 1st minute of the song offering promise and building to what we hope is a compelling chorus. A-Teens are pushing hard for their 1st MF victory.

• During February this site will predict how each heat will go on the Friday after we’ve heard the songs before the Saturday events. Heat 1 preview Heat 2 preview Heat 3 preview Heat 4 preview Heat 5 preview Heat 2 predictions Heat 3 predictions Heat 4 predictions Heat 5 predictions Finalen predictions
• In March we’ll forecast how the finalen will go and how each of the 12 qualifiers would do in May in Vienna at Eurovision.
• Picture via Facebook courtesy Melodifestivalen and SVT
• Have you heard any of these songs or seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook