Ecuador in the OTI Festival

The participation of Ecuador in the OTI Festival began at the third OTI Festival in 1974. The Ecuadorian broadcasters that formed the Asociación de Canales de Televisión del Ecuador (ACTVE)^[a] participated joinlty in the event, as members of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI). They participated in all twenty-six editions after their debut, and hosted the 1996 festival. Their best result was second achieved in 1985 and 1987.

The broadcasters that formed the Asociación de Canales de Televisión del Ecuador (ACTVE), whose early name was Asociación Ecuatoriana de Canales de Televisión, participated jointly in the OTI Festival. Broadcasters such as Ecuavisa, Gamavisión, and Teleamazonas, were members of the association. Their history in the festival did not yield any victories; however, they achieved a number of top 5 finishes.

The Ecuatorian debut in the OTI Festival was successful because of "Las tres mariposas" by Hilda Murillo's fifth place. After that, the country didn't repeat that success, and in the following two years, the delegation ended in the bottom five of the scoreboard. However, in 1977, "Sonreir cuando quiero llorar" by Marielisa took fifth place again. In contrast, in 1978, 1979, and 1980, Ecuador registered its worst placings ever with two last places with zero points.

After some unsuccessful participations, in 1985, the indigenous Quechua singer Jesús Fichamba recorded a second-place finish for Ecuador for the first time with his song "La pinta, la niña y la Santa María" in a reference to the three boats led by Christopher Columbus, who discovered America.^[1] The performer, who appeared on stage with the traditional Quechua suit, was acclaimed.

In 1997, they repeated the success with another indigenous singer, Gustavo Velázquez, and his ethnic pop song "Mi amigo el cóndor".^[2]

The Asociación de Canales de Televisión del Ecuador (ACTVE) organised an annual national contest in order to select the Ecuatorian participant in the OTI Festival.^[2] As in the other participating broadcasters who opted for this way of selecting their entrants, the winner was selected by a professional jury.