Nicaragua in the OTI Festival

The participation of Nicaragua in the OTI Festival began at the third OTI Festival in 1974. The Nicaraguan participating broadcasters were Televisión de Nicaragua (Telenica), Televicentro de Nicaragua, and the Sistema Sandinista de Televisión (SSTV), which were members of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI). They participated in twenty-three editions after their debut, only missing the 1978 and 1979 festivals, due to the Nicaraguan Revolution, and the 1986 festival; and won the festival once, in 1977.

Nicaragua was the most successful of the Central American countries in the OTI Festival. In fact, they got their first and only victory in 1977 with the song "Quincho Barrilete" performed by Guayo Gonzalez. The song seemed to be a song for children, but the lyrics talked against the social injustices, denouncing the widespread poverty and the lack of sensitivity of the leading class, which was warmly welcomed by the audience and by the juries because its deep message. The song managed to win the national final despite the Anastasio Somoza Debayle regime.^[1]

Following its win in 1977, Televicentro de Nicaragua had the intention to host the contest at the Rubén Darío National Theatre in Managua, according to an internal committee of the company. However, the Nicaraguan Revolution was boosted by the Sandinistas in order to topple the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The outcome of the revolution was a violent civil war which caused a human and economical catastrophe in the country, which prevented the broadcaster from submitting his candidacy. This was the first time that the winning broadcaster of the previous edition didn't host the following year.

They returned to the competition in 1980 selecting big names such as Carlos Mejía Godoy y los de Palancagüina, but the Nicaraguan results were not very successful until 1990. In the edition of 1990, which was held in Las Vegas, Katia Cardenal got a second place for her country with the song "Dame tu corazón".^[2] Since then, Telenica and Televicentro took part in the competition until the last show in 2000, in which Lya Barrioz turned into the very last Nicaraguan entrant in the event.

Nicaragua, just like Mexico, Chile, Guatemala and later Cuba, held a national final which was annually organised both by Telenica and Televicentro. This national final was seen as a platform for young Nicaraguan talents who wanted to be recognised in Latin America. The usual venue of the "Nicaraguan National OTI Contest" was the Rubén Darío National Theatre and the winner of the preselection was elected by a jury composed by famous local singers, radio presenters and television personalities.^[3] The end of the main OTI festival also led to the end of this national final which was seen as a tragedy for the local musicians.^[4]