🇸🇪 Aftonbladet has removed Alva Tång from the list of Melodifestivalen 2026 participants, as previous reports turned out to be incorrect.

More: www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/...

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🇽🇰 Additionally, the orchestra award was given to Art Lokaj, the best lyrics award was given to Teutë Halili, and the City of Prishtina award was given to Arsi Bako.

🇸🇪 Aftonbladet has reported two more names for Melodifestivalen 2026:

🔹 Pop band Juliett (formerly known as J1)
🔸 Indie pop artist Alva Tång

More: www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/...

More: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwgQ... (from 6:20)

🇸🇪 Aftonbladet reports that Lilla Al-Fadji, one of Sweden’s biggest hip-hop artists, will participate in Melodifestivalen 2026.

His song is reported to be co-written by Edward af Sillén, marking his debut as songwriter in Melodifestivalen.

More: www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/...

🇽🇰 Tonight, the prolific composer Reshat Randobrava also received the "Art Ocarina trophy for his lifetime contributions to music in Kosovo. The award takes its name from the top prize of the “Akordet e Kosovës” festival, given to the winner of each themed night.

🇸🇪 According to Expressen, the Brandsta City Släckers will compete at Melodifestivalen 2026, twenty-three years after their last participation. They are a band from Helsingborg, known for always wearing firefighter suits on stage.

More: www.expressen.se/noje/melodif...

More: eurovision.md/dropdown/rg2...

🇽🇰 Each of the three nights starts at 21:00 CET! You can watch them live on RTK 1: video.gjirafa.com/rtk-1-sat

If you’d like to join a live chat, we will be discussing the three nights on our server in discord.gg/eurovision!

🇽🇰 RTK has also stated that the three nights will feature multiple special guests: among others, the list includes Eneda Tarifa, last year’s winner Endrit Krasniqi, and Gjon’s Tears. Additionally, the hosts of the festival are the actors Rina Krasniqi and Dukagjin Podrimaj.

🇽🇰 All 20 of them will perform their entries for the first time tonight, alongside a live orchestra. They will also perform in the second night, themed as a tribute “retro” night, and then the jury will narrow down the line-up to 10 finalists, advancing to Saturday's final night.

🇽🇰 This year, 20 artists from the Albanian-speaking world have been chosen to compete at the festival, including many well-known names that have already taken part at RTSH’s Festivali i Këngës in Albania.

🇽🇰 This competition also has the stated goal of serving as Kosovo’s Eurovision national final as soon as they are allowed to participate by the EBU, despite not currently being able to join the organisation due to their political status.

🇽🇰 The song festival was launched by Kosovo’s public broadcaster RTK in 2023, aiming to turn it into the most important event of the year for Kosovar music and succeed the famous “Akordet e Kosovës” contest that ran from the 1960s until 1995.

More: mrt.com.mk/node/135473

🇦🇹 According to information provided to Der Standard, ORF have not yet selected the hosts for #Eurovision 2026. The reveal is scheduled for this year.

More: www.derstandard.at/story/300000...