The winners of the Big Artists category received the right to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 . However , winners are not obliged to take part in Eurovision , as seen in 2016 when Stadio declined to participate in the contest , which did not happen in this edition . In the event that the winner decides not to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest , RAI and the organisers of Sanremo Music Festival usually reserve the right to select the Italian entrant to themselves , in the case of 2016 selecting runner-up Francesca Michielin . There were several former Italian Eurovision representatives feature in the Big Artists category this year . Nina Zilli came 9th in 2012 with " L'amore è femmina ( Out of love ) " . Riccardo Fogli came 11th in 1983 with " Per Lucia " . Enrico Ruggeri , the lead singer of Decibel , came 12th in 1993 with " Sole d'Europa " and Luca Barbarossa also came 12th in 1988 with " Vivo ( Ti scrivo ) "
Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Sanremo Music Festival 2018