OTI Festival 1992

The OTI Festival 1992 (Spanish: Vigésimo Primer Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Vigésimo Primeiro Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 21st edition of the OTI Festival, held on 5 December 1992 at Teatro Principal in Valencia, Spain, and presented by Paloma San Basilio and Joaquín Prat. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE).

Broadcasters from twenty-five countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "A dónde voy sin ti" performed by Francisco representing Spain; with "No te mueras, América" by Carlo de la Cima representing the United States placing second; and "Te prometo" by Pablo Herrera representing Chile placing third. Francisco became the only performer to have won the competition twice.

The Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) designated Televisión Española (TVE) as the host broadcaster for the 21st edition of the OTI Festival, to join the events and commemorations that would take place in 1992 in Spain coinciding with the Columbus Quincentenary. TVE staged the event in Valencia. The venue selected was the Teatro Principal, a theatre opened in 1832 that was designed by Filippo da Pistoia.^[1]

Broadcasters from twenty-five countries participated in this edition of the OTI festival, marking the first time that the highest number of participants was achieved. The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Spain, Portugal, and twenty-three Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America signed up for the festival. From the countries that participated in the previous edition, Aruba did not return, while the Netherlands Antilles returned. Equatorial Guinea participated for the first time, which would be its only appearance at the festival.

Some of the participating broadcasters, such as those representing Chile, Cuba, the Netherlands Antilles, and the United States, selected their entries through their regular national televised competitions. Other broadcasters decided to select their entry internally. A 15 years old Shakira was initially considered to represent Colombia, but because the rules did not allow performers under 18, she was not allowed to participate.

Four performing artists had represented the same country previously: Humberto Nivi had represented the Netherlands Antilles in 1974, Francisco had won the festival for Spain in 1981, Jesús Fichamba had represented Ecuador in 1985, and Cheo Zorrilla had represented the Dominican Republic in 1986.

The festival was held on Saturday 5 December 1992, beginning at 22:00 CET (21:00 UTC). It was directed by Jaime Azpilicueta, and presented by Paloma San Basilio and Joaquín Prat. San Basilio had previously presented the festival in 1985. In between the competing songs, the show featured eight musical-theatrical scenes in homage to Spanish and Ibero-American composers by eighty musicians, fifty choristers, twenty dancers, and ten soloists such as Serafin Zubiri. The budget for organizing the event was US$7 million.^[3] The draw to determine the running order (R/O) was held a few days before the event, where for the first time it was established in advance that the host country would perform in the last position, a rule that remained in place until 1996.

The winner was the song "A dónde voy sin ti" performed by Francisco representing Spain; with "No te mueras, América" by Carlo de la Cima representing the United States placing second; and "Te prometo" by Pablo Herrera representing Chile placing third. The first prize was endowed with a monetary amount of US$50,000, the second prize of US$30,000, and the third prize of US$20,000. Francisco became the only performer to have won the competition twice. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

The nine members of a single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote. The voting system was not disclosed, and only the top three places were revealed. The members of the jury were:

• Luis Aguilé – singer-songwriter
• Fernando Carrillo – actor
• José Ferriz – conductor
• Eugenia León – singer, won the festival for Mexico in 1985
• Massiel – singer
• Betty Missiego – singer, represented Peru in 1972
• Peret – singer-songwriter, wrote the entry representing Spain in 1991
• Salomé – singer
• Fernando Tordo – singer-songwriter

The festival was broadcast in the 25 participating countries where the corresponding OTI member broadcasters relayed the contest through their networks after receiving it live via satellite. The festival was also available through a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) channel, in what was Retevisión's first test broadcast on the recently launched Hispasat 1A satellite.^[4]

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