The winner of the competition was Lena Philipsson with the song "Det gör ont".
The Viewers' Choice round was renamed to Second Chance, with the format remaining the same.
Unlike past years, where all Melodifestivalen participants were chosen by a selection jury, in 2004, four out of the 32 participants were selected directly by the contest's producers, in order to increase musical and artistic breadth.
The wildcards were the following:[2] The first heat took place on 21 February 2004 at the Löfbergs Lila Arena in Karlstad.
[6] The second chance round took place on 14 March 2004 at the Hotel Rival in Stockholm.