Melodifestivalen 2006
Melodifestivalen 2006 was the 46th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which was organised by Sveriges Television and took place over a five-week period between 18 February and 18 March 2006. The winner of the competition was Carola with the song "Evighet". She represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, with the English version of the song, "Invincible", where she came fifth with 170 points.
Format
The heats for Melodifestivalen 2006 began on 18 February 2006. Ten songs from these heats qualified for the final on 18 March 2006. This was the fifth year that a heat format had been used for the competition.On 15 August 2005, SVT confirmed that Leksand, Karlstad, Karlskrona and Gothenburg would host the heats of Melodifestivalen 2006, with the final taking place at the Stockholm Globe Arena for the fifth year running.
Lena Philipsson was a surprise choice as host, as rumors had been spreading that SVT wanted Helena Paparizou to present the Gothenburg heat or the final. The proposed changes to the voting format never materialised.
| Show | Date | City | Venue |
| Heat 1 | 18 February 2006 | Leksand | Ejendals Arena |
| Heat 2 | 25 February 2006 | Karlstad | Löfbergs Lila Arena |
| Heat 3 | 4 March 2006 | Karlskrona | Arena Rosenholm |
| Heat 4 | 11 March 2006 | Gothenburg | Scandinavium |
| Second chance | 12 March 2006 | Stockholm | SVT Broadcasting House |
| Final | 18 March 2006 | Stockholm | Stockholm Globe Arena |
Wildcards
Unlike past years, where all Melodifestivalen participants were chosen by a selection jury, starting in 2004, four out of the 32 participants were selected directly by the contest's producers, in order to increase musical and artistic breadth. Each artist, called "wildcard", participated in a different heat. BWO were unveiled as the first wildcard in a pre-Christmas special. There was much speculation that Eurovision Song Contest 1999 winner Charlotte Perrelli would be among the others, but ultimately was not included when the final list was revealed in late January 2006. The wildcards in 2006 were the following:| Artist | Song | Heat |
| Andreas Johnson | "Sing for Me" | Heat 1 |
| Magnus Carlsson | "Lev livet!" | Heat 2 |
| BWO | "Temple of Love" | Heat 3 |
| Rednex | "Mama, Take Me Home" | Heat 4 |