| Melodifestivalen 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Heat 1 | 6 February 2016 |
| Heat 2 | 13 February 2016 |
| Heat 3 | 20 February 2016 |
| Heat 4 | 27 February 2016 |
| Second chance | 5 March 2016 |
| Final | 12 March 2016 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Scandinavium, Malmö Arena, Himmelstalundshallen, Gavlerinken Arena, Halmstad Arena, Friends Arena |
| Presenter(s) | All shows: Gina Dirawi Guest co-hosts: Petra Mede (heat 1) Henrik Schyffert (heat 3) Sarah Dawn Finer (heat 4) Ola Salo and Peter Jöback (Second Chance) William Spetz (final) |
| Directed by | Robin Hofwander Fredrik Bäcklund |
| Host broadcaster | SVT |
| Website | svt |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 27: 6 in the first heat, 7 in the other heats; 12 in the final (2 from each heat, 4 from the Second Chance round) |
| Vote | |
| Winning song | "If I Were Sorry" by Frans |
Melodifestivalen 2016 was the 56th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which selected Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The competition was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over the six-week period between 6 February and 12 March 2016.
For the 15th consecutive year, the format of the competition consisted of six shows: four heat rounds, a second chance round and a final. The 28 competing entries were divided into four heats, with seven compositions in each. From each heat, the songs that earned first and second place qualified directly to the final, while the songs that placed third and fourth proceeded to the Second Chance round. The bottom three songs in each heat were eliminated from the competition. An additional four entries qualified from the Second Chance round to the final, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12. All six shows were hosted by Gina Dirawi, who was joined by guest co-hosts during each show: Petra Mede (heat 1), Henrik Schyffert (heat 3), Sarah Dawn Finer (heat 4), Peter Jöback and Ola Salo (Second Chance round) and William Spetz (final); Charlotte Perrelli was originally announced as the guest co-host for the second heat, however, her role was changed to guest performer due to a conflict of interest stemming from her endorsement deal with Swedish mobile brand Comviq.
An initial 28 entries were selected for the competition through three methods: an open call for song submissions, direct invitations to specific artists and songwriters and a wildcard given to one of the artists that participated in the Svensktoppen nästa competition organised by Sveriges Radio P4. Twenty-seven entries ultimately competed as one of the selected songs, "Himmel för två" to have been performed by Anna Book, was disqualified prior to the start of heats as it had competed in the 2014 Moldovan Eurovision Song Contest national selection, thus violating the rules of the competition.
"If I Were Sorry" performed by Frans was selected as the winner of the 2016 competition after scoring the highest number of points following the combination of votes from 11 international jury groups and a public vote consisting of telephone, SMS and app voting. The song represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, which took place in the Stockholm Globe Arena in Stockholm on 10, 12 and 14 May 2016. "If I Were Sorry" competed directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 on 14 May due to Sweden being the host nation for the contest following the victory of Måns Zelmerlöw and the song "Heroes" in 2015. At the contest, Sweden placed fifth out of the 26 competing nations in the final, scoring 261 points.