Changes to the format were announced on 29 June 2023. A total of 30 entries took part in the competition (two more than in previous editions) across five heats. Each heat consisted of six songs, with the top two songs directly qualifying for the final, and the third- and fourth-placing songs going to a final qualification round–replacing the semi-final, which itself had replaced the Second Chance round in 2022–at the end of the fifth heat. The top two songs in the final qualification then progressed to the final, which comprised 12 songs.[3][4] The winner of the final was determined by the usual 50/50 combination of votes from the public and an international jury. Anders Wistbacka[sv], project manager for the event, anticipated on 12 January 2024 that several further format changes would be implemented.[5]
Norwegian broadcaster NRK's decision to allow for the second year in a row the use of autotune in its national final, Melodi Grand Prix, prompted the European Broadcasting Union to state that such use must be limited to artistic purposes in the contest. Addressing the topic, Karin Gunnarson, Melodifestivalen producer and artistic director, clarified that there were no plans to introduce a similar rule in the Swedish competition in the immediate future.[6]
A public submission window was open between 25 August and 15 September 2023 to select the competing entries.[3][9] Upon closing the submission period, SVT announced that 2,624 applications had been received, from which 15 competing entries were selected by a professional jury chaired by producer Karin Gunnarsson; the second set of 15 contestants was instead selected by a dedicated SVT board both from the received submissions and by direct invitation of artists.[9][10][11][12] The selected entries were announced on 1 December 2023.[13][14]
The first heat took place on 3 February 2024 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. 3,281,130 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 7,337,419 votes were cast using 460,794 devices, with a total of SEK230,707 collected for Radiohjälpen.[15]A-Teens reunited to perform as an interval act.[16]
The second heat took place on 10 February 2024 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. 3,221,292 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 10,239,205 votes were cast using 589,162 devices, with a total of SEK418,604 collected for Radiohjälpen.[17]
The third heat took place on 17 February 2024 at the Vida Arena in Växjö. 3,189,123 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 9,037,118 votes were cast using 567,234 devices, with a total of SEK413,375 collected for Radiohjälpen.[18]
The fourth heat took place on 24 February 2024 at the Stiga Sports Arena in Eskilstuna. 3,167,182 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 9,143,540 votes were cast using 555,108 devices, with a total of SEK362,157 collected for Radiohjälpen.[19]
The fifth heat took place on 2 March 2024 at the Löfbergs Arena in Karlstad. 3,061,813 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 10,285,078 votes were cast using 597,243 devices, with a total of SEK444,159 collected for Radiohjälpen.[20] A medley of past Melodifestivalen entries composed by Fredrik Kempe was performed as an interval act.
At the end of the fifth heat, a final qualification round took place consisting of the third- and fourth-placing songs of each heat. The two most voted songs qualified for the final; the age group system was not used for this vote, but the results from the heats were added to it to determine the result of the final qualification. More specifically, for the heat points, the total number of votes for each song in each show was divided by the total number of voters (devices) in each show. Then 1000 points were distributed amongst the songs based on those ratios. Once the voting had ended, an additional 1000 points were distributed among the entries, based on how viewers had voted during the final qualification round.[21] A total of 6,551,057 votes were cast using 518,179 devices, with a total of SEK517,392 collected for Radiohjälpen.[22]
The final took place on 9 March 2024 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm. 3,411,627 viewers watched the show live. A total of 26,597,637 votes were cast using 1,028,307 devices, with a total of SEK1,949,008 collected for Radiohjälpen.[23] The live stream of the show on SVT Play was available with English commentary by William Lee Adams and Bella Qvist.[24]
1 2 In case of a tie, the exact number of votes cast during the final qualification round were taken into account to break the tie.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000008E-QINU`"'
↑ Hedberg, Sofia (20 September 2023). "Melodifestivalens deltävlingar 2024"[Melodifestivalen's competition rounds in 2024]. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). SVT. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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