WHEN?: Saturday 14 February 2026 WHERE TO WATCH? SVT 7pm UK time

WHERE?: Kristianstad Arena, Kristianstad

FELICIA triumphed in last week’s Heat 2 as we predicted but even we were surprised by how banging it was and the equally enthusiastic response to it.

• Read on for reasons including Korslagda, Saga Ludvigsson and Patrik Jean

1. Patrik Jean From Dusk Till Dawn (David Lindgren Zacharias, Joy Deb, Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean) PREDICTION: 4th

Exactly the sort of uptempo dance music we love and the spoken word section is just sublime. Not as out there as FELICIA last week however and Jean has a stronger reputation as a writer rather than a performer which we fear he may add to here.

2. Korslagda King Of Rock’n’ Roll (Andreas Werling, Pedro Sanchez, Kristofer Strandberg, Stefan ‘UBBE’ Sjur) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Melfest always has 1 successful rock act and we wonder whether Korslagda might just triumph over Smash Into Pieces who don’t take the stage until next week. This is in Swedish and a dirtier rock than Smash Into Pieces often proffer which makes us think they might just pip 1 of the returners in this heat.

3. Emilia Pantić  Ingenting (Nothing) (Emilia Pantić, Fredrik Andersson, Jakob Westerlund, Theodor Ström, Wilmer Öberg) PREDICTION: 6th

3 of the co-writers of Noll2’s unsuccessful heat 1 song are back again here and this is pleasant indie fare likely to find a more comfortable home on radio than by progressing any further competitively in Melfest.

LISTEN to the 60-second clips at SVT Play

4. Medina Viva L’Amor (Ali ‘Alibrorsh’ Jammali, Anderz Wrethov, Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Sami Rekik) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Medina can always be relied upon to bring the party and they do again in 2026 although an attempt has also been made this year to deliver a message on the dancefloor. It’ll be Valentine’s Day on Saturday and a bilingual celebration of love feels even more appropriate then than always.

5. Eva Jumatate Selfish (Eva Jumatate, Herman Gardarfve, Marlene Strand, Ruth Lindegren) PREDICTION: 5th

Jumatate’s previous TV talent show experience will stand her in good stead here. We’re expecting a strong vocal but given the difficulties Laila Adele had qualifying last week with a better ballad we’re expecting a similar result.

6. Saga Ludvigsson Ain’t Today (Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy Jansson, Johanna ‘Dotter’ Jansson, Saga Ludvigsson) PREDICTION: 3rd

Sweden’s Sabrina Carpenter has another country-infused song that’s likely to be a chart hit but we think Saga might just get squeezed out in the rush to go direkt til final.

• Keep an eye on monstagigz.com during January as we’ll be previewing 2025’s 30 entries.
• 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 3 preview Heat 4 preview Heat 5 preview Heat 1 predictions 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