The first semi-final was held on 7 February at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.

The third semi-final was held on 21 February at the Ejendals Arena in Leksand.

The fourth and final semi-final was held on 28 February at the new Malmö Arena in Malmö.

The final of Melodifestivalen 2009 was held at the Globen arena in Stockholm on 14 March 2009.

The run-up to the final began shortly after the Second Chance round had been completed, when the running order for the final was revealed – semi-final 2 qualifier Måns Zelmerlöw would open proceeding on the night, while semi-final 4 qualifier and wild card Malena Ernman would finish the performances for the evening.

The favourites to win the contest were Zelmerlöw and Ernman, with the international jury wild card Sofia predicted as most likely to finish last, according to bookmakers.

Måns Zelmerlöw took the stage first on the night, repeating his performance from the semi-final of "Hope & Glory". Second Chance qualifier Caroline af Ugglas followed Zelmerlöw on stage with "Snälla snälla", repeating her emotional performance alone on stage. Agnes was next on stage, performing "Love Love Love", now with a new hairstyle, but no major changes were made to the performance since the semi-final. H.E.A.T followed with their rock song "1000 Miles", who were then followed by Emilia with "You're My World".

Two-time participant Alcazar were the sixth act to take the stage at Globen, performing disco/pop number "Stay the Night", who were followed by the second Second Chance qualifier Sarah Dawn Finer, performing "Moving On". Boyband E.M.D., now performing in white tuxedos, were eighth on stage with "Baby Goodbye". International jury selection Sofia followed on stage, singing the Greek ethno number "Alla". She was followed by 16-year-old Molly Sandén with "Så vill stjärnorna", and finally by Malena Ernman with "La voix".

At the final vote Malena Ernman was the winner: despite only coming 8th in the jury vote, she was able to win the televote and guarantee victory with "La voix". The runner-up was Caroline af Ugglas with "Snälla snälla", while E.M.D. came third with "Baby Goodbye". The winner of the jury vote was Måns Zelmerlöw with "Hope & Glory".

1,748,970 votes were received during the final, with a total of 3,457,434.50kr being donated to SVT's Radiohjälpen appeal. 3,592,000 people watched the final on SVT, however over 10 million watched the show live on SVT's online video on demand service SVT Play.