Melodifestivalen 2020

Melodifestivalen 2020 was the 60th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen. The competition was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 1 February and 7 March 2020.^[1] The winner of the competition was The Mamas with the song "Move", who would have represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Mamas were the first band to win since 2007 and the first female act to win since 2014; this is the fourth time in the history of Melodifestivalen that Sweden was unable to send a song to the Eurovision Song Contest (and the first such occurrence since 1976), as the contest itself was cancelled on 18 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

The format of the competition consisted of 6 shows: 4 heat rounds, a second chance round and a final. 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 P4 Nästa competition organised by Sveriges Radio P4. The 28 competing entries were divided into four heats, with seven compositions in each. From each heat, the songs that earn first and second place qualify directly to the final, while the songs that place third and fourth proceed 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 6 shows were hosted by Lina Hedlund, Linnea Henriksson and David Sundin.