Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Occidentali's Karma", written by Francesco Gabbani, Filippo Gabbani, Luca Chiaravalli and Fabio Ilacqua. The song was performed by Francesco Gabbani. Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) announced in October 2016 that the winning performer(s) of the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 would earn the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. In February 2017, Francesco Gabbani emerged as the winner of Sanremo with the song "Occidentali's Karma". The artist accepted the invitation to represent Italy at Eurovision and decided that "Occidentali's Karma" would be his contest entry.

Background
Prior to the 2017 contest, Italy had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its first entry during the inaugural contest in 1956. Since then, Italy has won the contest on two occasions: in 1964 with the song "Non ho l'età" performed by Gigliola Cinquetti and in 1990 with the song "Insieme: 1992" performed by Toto Cutugno. Italy has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest a number of times with their most recent absence spanning from 1998 until 2010. Their return in 2011 with the song "Madness of Love", performed by Raphael Gualazzi, placed second—their highest result, to this point, since their victory in 1990. In 2016, Francesca Michielin represented the nation with the song "No Degree of Separation", placing sixteenth with 124 points.

The Italian national broadcaster, Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), broadcasts the event within Italy and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RAI confirmed Italy's participation in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 16 September 2016. Between 2011 and 2013, the broadcaster used the Sanremo Music Festival as an artist selection pool where a special committee would select one of the competing artist, independent of the results in the competition, as the Eurovision entrant. The selected entrant was then responsible for selecting the song they would compete with. For 2014, RAI forwent using the Sanremo Music Festival artist lineup and internally selected their entry. Since 2015, the winning artist of the Sanremo Music Festival is rewarded with the opportunity to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest, although in 2016 the winner declined and the broadcaster appointed the runner-up as the Italian entrant.

Sanremo Music Festival 2017


On 20 October 2016, the Italian broadcaster RAI confirmed their continued tradition of selecting Italy's Eurovision entry from the Sanremo Music Festival. For the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, this selection would be made from the artists competing in the Big Artists category of the 67th Sanremo. As outlined, the festival's rules gave the winner of this category the first right of refusal to represent Italy at Eurovision. However, if the winner declined, RAI reserved the right to choose another participant based on their own criteria. The Sanremo Music Festival 2017, hosted by Carlo Conti, took place from 7 to 11 February in Sanremo, Italy at the Teatro Ariston. Voting during the festival included a combination of public televoting (40%), press jury voting, a poll of 300 music fans, and an expert jury voting (30%), all contributing to the selection of the winner on the final day

The Big Artists category at the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 featured a lineup of twenty-two artists, including prominent figures such as Al Bano, a past Eurovision representative for Italy in 1976 and 1985, known for his duets with Romina Power. Additionally, Emma Marrone, who represented Italy in 2014, contributed as a songwriter for Elodie's entry. The Big Artists category featured twenty-two artists, including Al Bano, a former Eurovision contestant for Italy in 1976 and 1985, performing duets with Romina Power. Emma Marrone, who represented Italy in Eurovision 2014 was a songwriter for performer Elodie. Those performing in the Big Artists category were:

Final
On the final night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017, Francesco Gabbani emerged as the winner with his performance of "Occidentali's Karma." Subsequently, during the closing press conference of the festival on 11 February 2017, Italy's national broadcaster RAI, officially confirmed Gabbani's acceptance to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Further solidifying this decision, RAI took to Twitter to announce that Gabbani would bring "Occidentali's Karma," to the Eurovision stage in Kyiv.

At Eurovision


The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was held at the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, featuring two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, followed by the grand final on 13 May 2017. Eurovision rules stipulate that all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), must qualify from one of the semi-finals to enter the final. The top ten performers from each semi-final are chosen to compete in the final. As a "Big Five" member, Italy automatically qualified for the final, bypassing the semi-final rounds. However, Italy was still obligated to broadcast and vote in the first semi-final.

To organize the voting process and minimize geopolitical voting biases, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) divided the competing countries into six different pots. These pots were determined based on historical voting patterns, grouping countries with similar voting records together. This system aims to ensure a fair and diverse distribution of voting preferences among the participating nations.

Detailed voting results
The following members comprised the Italian jury:
 * Antonello Carozza (jury chairperson) – musician, singer, art director
 * Fabrizio Brocchieri – producer, label manager, tour manager, writer
 * Giusy Cascio – journalist
 * Chiara di Giambattista – television author and screenwriter
 * Antonio Allegra – marketing director