Melodifestivalen: how Sweden picks its Eurovision entry

Sweden is the country the rest of the field measures itself against, and its selection is the one most fans outside Sweden could describe from memory. Here is what is known about the 2027 edition, which is less than usual, and what is settled, which is the record.

Sweden is in

SVT confirmed on 21 August 2026 that Sweden will take part in Eurovision 2027. The same day it opened Melodifestivalen's application window, which runs until 11 September. SVT has said around thirty entries will be picked from what comes in, and that the artists will be announced in November and December.

That is the complete public 2027 timetable. Everything else about the show is either carried over from last year or not yet said.

The shape of the competition

Melodifestivalen is a national final in the full sense: the song and the artist are chosen on television, in front of a voting public, over several weeks. The outline is the same every year. A run of Saturday heats through February, each sending entries forward, and a final in March that picks the one song Sweden sends.

The 2026 edition is the reference for what the 2027 one is likely to look like. Its heats ran from 31 January to 28 February, and the final was on 7 March. That is the shape: roughly six Saturdays, the last of them the biggest television event in the Swedish year.

What it is not is a quick process. Countries that select internally can announce an artist in a sentence; Sweden spends February doing it in public, and the entry that comes out has been performed, broadcast and voted on several times before it ever reaches the Eurovision stage.

Submissions: the one 2027 date that exists

For the 2026 edition, SVT announced the dates on 18 September 2025. If it follows the same rhythm, the 2027 dates would arrive in the second half of September. That is a pattern, not a promise, and the calendar will carry the dates only when SVT publishes them.

Why it matters: the record

Sweden first entered in 1958 and has won seven times, which makes it joint record holder. It has also hosted the contest seven times.

Two of those belong to Loreen, who with "Tattoo" in 2023 became the second performer to win twice. Måns Zelmerlöw's 2015 win came in Vienna, at the Wiener Stadthalle, the same hall where Bulgaria won in 2026. And "Waterloo" in 1974 is the win every argument about whether Eurovision can launch a career still starts from.

Three of the seven have come since 2012. That is the record that makes a Saturday heat in February a news item across the continent, and it is why a selection with no announced dates still has a page here.

What is not settled for 2027

The dates, the cities, the number of heats, the artists and anything about tickets. SVT has announced none of it as of the time of writing. This page links to Sweden on the tracker for its current status and to the calendar for the dates when they come. The Eurovision end of the timetable is fixed: Semi-Final 1 on Tuesday 11 May, Semi-Final 2 on Thursday 13 May and the Grand Final on Saturday 15 May 2027 at Arena Burgas. Which of those nights Sweden performs on is decided later, by a draw whose 2027 date the EBU has not announced.