OTI Festival 1989

The OTI Festival 1989 (Spanish: Decimoctavo Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Décimo Oitavo Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 18th edition of the OTI Festival, held on 18 November 1989 at the theater of the James L. Knight Center in Miami, United States, and presented by Lucy Pereda, Antonio Vodanovic, Verónica Castro, Carlos Mata, María Conchita Alonso, Emmanuel, and Don Francisco. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Univision.

Broadcasters from twenty-two countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "Una canción no es suficiente" performed by Analí representing Mexico; with "Como una luz" by José Manuel Soto representing Spain placing second; and "Te ofrezco" by Maridalia Hernández representing the Dominican Republic placing third.

The Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) designated Univision as the host broadcaster for the 18th edition of the OTI Festival. The broadcaster staged the event in Miami. The venue selected was the theater of the James L. Knight Center, which is a venue with a capacity of 4,605 seats within a entertainment and convention complex.

Broadcasters from twenty-two countries participated in this edition of the OTI festival. The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Spain, Portugal, and twenty Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America signed up for the festival. From the countries that participated in the previous edition, the Netherlands Antilles did not return, while Aruba participated in the festival for the first time since the country gained independence from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986.

Some of the participating broadcasters, such as those representing Aruba, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States, selected their entries through their regular national televised competitions. Other broadcasters decided to select their entry internally.

Two artists returned to the festival representing other countries: Eduardo Fabián representing Uruguay, had won the festival representing the United States in 1986, along Dámaris Carbaugh and Miguel Ángel Guerra; while Aldo Matta representing Puerto Rico had represented the United States in 1981.

The festival was held on Saturday 18 November 1989, beginning at 18:00 EST (23:00 UTC). It was presented by Lucy Pereda, Antonio Vodanovic, Verónica Castro, Carlos Mata, María Conchita Alonso, Emmanuel, and Don Francisco. The show featured Emmanuel, Yuri, and Xuxa as guest artists.^[2]

The winner was the song "Una canción no es suficiente" performed by Analí representing Mexico; with "Como una luz" by José Manuel Soto representing Spain placing second; and "Te ofrezco" by Maridalia Hernández representing the Dominican Republic placing third. For the first time, the first prize was endowed with a monetary amount of US$20,000, the second prize of US$15,000, and the third prize of US$10,000, to be distributed each 60% to the songwriter and 40% to the performer.^[2] The first prize was delivered by Guillermo Cañedo, president of OTI, and Xavier Suarez, major of Miami. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

Each of the ten members of the single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote, and only the top three places were revealed at the end. The members of the jury were:

• Celia Cruz – singer
• Emilio Estefan – producer
• Claudia de Colombia – singer
• Braulio – singer-songwriter
• Ángela Carrasco – singer
• Roberto Livi – singer-songwriter
• Ednita Nazario – singer, represented Puerto Rico in 1979
• Libertad Lamarque – actress
• Lola Beltrán – actress
• Silvia Pinal – actress

The festival was broadcast in the 22 participating countries where the corresponding OTI member broadcasters relayed the contest through their networks after receiving it live via satellite. It was reported that it was also broadcast in the Soviet Union and Bulgaria.^[2]

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.