Among the opponents that Sweden will face in the semi-finals are Ukraine, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Cyprus.
The project manager of Melodifestivalen, Anders Wistbacka, does not want to speculate about whether Sweden's starting order is an advantage or not:
It's extremely difficult to make that kind of assessment, it's so hard to assess the competition. I think it's hard to predict how it will go just in Melodifestivalen – in ESC it's even harder, he says to TT.
The second semi-final takes place on May 15, with participating countries such as Finland, Greece, Denmark, and Israel – whose participation is disputed since the war in Gaza began. Last year's competition was marked by protests against the country's participation.
The final of ESC takes place on May 17.
Who or which ones will represent Sweden will be decided in Melodifestivalen's final on March 8.
