On 11th December 2016, Gabbani was confirmed to be one of the artists competing in the campione section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017.[3] Gabbani advanced to the final, held on 11 February 2017, where he defeated Fiorella Mannoia and Ermal Meta, to win.
Following his win, it was confirmed by RAI and the European Broadcasting Union that Gabbani had accepted the invitation to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest, which is given to the winner of the Sanremo Music Festival, and that he'd be performing "Occidentali's Karma" at Eurovision.[4] As Italy is a member of the "Big Five", he will automatically advance to the final, held on 13 May 2017 in Kiev, Ukraine.[5][6]