The third semi-final took place on 20 February 2016 at the Himmelstalundshallen in Norrköping, hosted by Gina Dirawi and Henrik Schyffert. "Human" performed by Oscar Zia and "My Heart Wants Me Dead" performed by Lisa Ajax qualified directly to the final, while "Kizunguzungu" performed by SaRaha and "Put Your Love on Me" performed by Boris René advanced to the Second Chance round. A total of 4,389,051 votes were cast by the viewers during the show with a total of 425,474 SEK collected for Radiohjälpen.

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Dirawi and Schyffert opened the show with a cover of "Under Pressure" originally by Queen and David Bowie, while the interval acts were stand-up comedy by Schyffert and a performance by Dirawi titled "Love Story". Recurring interval acts such as Jonas Gardell's schlager school and dramatic readings of past Melodifestivalen song lyrics by Swedish actors were also be part of the program; Marie Göranzon performed a dramatic reading of Anna Book's Melodifestivalen 2007 entry "Samba Sambero".