Changes to the format were announced on 22 August 2024. A total of 30 entries took part in the competition across five heats. Each heat consisted of six songs, with the top two songs directly qualifying for the final. In a change from previous editions, where the qualifier from the first voting round was determined solely by raw votes and the second round used the age group points system, in 2025 it was the opposite: the first round used the points system, and the second round used raw vote totals. Unlike in the previous edition, only the third-placing song proceeded to a final qualification round at the end of the fifth heat, which featured five songs instead of ten. 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.
For the first time since the multi-show Melodifestivalen format was introduced in 2002, the competing entries were released on streaming platforms on the day preceding their respective heat. Previously, the entries which had qualified directly to the final could not be released before the conclusion of the last heat, while those qualifying for the repechage (known over the years under different names) and the eliminated entries could be released following the broadcast of the heat they competed in.[4]
A public submission window was open between 23 August and 14 September 2024 to select the competing entries.[3] Upon closing the submission period, SVT announced that 2,794 applications had been received, from which 15 competing entries were then selected by a professional jury chaired by Melodifestivalen producer and artistic director Karin Gunnarsson; the second set of 15 contestants were selected by a dedicated SVT board both from the received submissions and by direct invitation of artists.[6][7] The selected entries were announced on 26 November 2024.[8]
The first heat took place on 1 February 2025 at the Coop Norrbotten Arena in Luleå. A total of 8,894,468 votes were cast using 528,263 devices, with SEK 405,655 collected for Radiohjälpen.[9]
The second heat took place on 8 February 2025 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. A total of 9,309,031 votes were cast using 551,178 devices, with SEK 339,383 collected for Radiohjälpen.[10]
The third heat took place on 15 February 2025 at the ABB Arena in Västerås. A total of 8,224,411 votes were cast using 497,032 devices, with SEK 258,943 collected for Radiohjälpen.[11]
The fourth heat took place on 22 February 2025 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. A total of 9,123,856 votes were cast using 562,798 devices, with SEK 362,752 collected for Radiohjälpen.[12]
The fifth heat took place on 1 March 2025 at the Husqvarna Garden in Jönköping. A total of 7,997,463 votes were cast using 517,435 devices, with SEK 509,661 collected for Radiohjälpen.[13]
At the end of the fifth heat, a final qualification round took place consisting of the third-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 1,000 points were distributed amongst the songs based on those ratios. The song with the most points immediately advanced to the final. Once the voting had ended, an additional 800 points were distributed among the four remaining entries, based on how viewers had voted during the final qualification round.[14] A total of 2,852,755 votes were cast using 403,642 devices, with a total of SEK 204,303 collected for Radiohjälpen.[15]
The final took place on 8 March 2025 at the Strawberry Arena in Stockholm. A total of 26,072,328 votes were cast using 1,152,754 devices, with SEK 1,589,515 collected for Radiohjälpen.[16]SVT Play also provided a stream of the final with English commentary by William Lee Adams and Bella Qvist.[17]
^Vaidotas Valiukevičius [ lt] was supposed to announce the points from the Lithuanian jury, but connection with him was lost and a technical glitch caused the Irish spokesperson Neil Doherty to briefly appear; host Edvin Törnblom read out the Lithuanian points instead.
^Princ was supposed to announce the points from the Serbian jury, but audio connection with him was lost; hosts Edvin Törnblom and Kristina Petrushina read out the points instead. Princ was still seen trying to connect to the broadcast.
^Pakdemir, Helin; Lindgren, Hannah (8 March 2025). "Flera teknikstrul i Mellofinalen: "Olyckligt"" [Several technical problems in the Mello final: "Unfortunate"]. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 March 2025.
