OTI Festival 1993

The OTI Festival 1993 (Spanish: Vigésimo Segundo Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Vigésimo Segundo Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 22nd edition of the OTI Festival, held on 9 October 1993 at Teatro Principal in Valencia, Spain, and presented by Paloma San Basilio and Francisco. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE), who staged the event after winning the 1992 festival for Spain with the song "A dónde voy sin ti" by Francisco.

Broadcasters from twenty-five countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "Enamorarse" performed by Ana Reverte representing Spain; with "Essa fase do amor" by Emílio Santiago representing Brazil and "Siempre a medias" by Magdalena Zárate representing Mexico both placing second; and "Onde Estás?" by Anabela representing Portugal placing third.

Televisión Española (TVE) staged the OTI Festival 1993 in Valencia. The venue selected was the Teatro Principal, a theatre opened in 1832 that was designed by Filippo da Pistoia.

TVE had also hosted the 1992 festival at the same venue. The General Assembly of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) proposed to TVE to host the festival again, given the audience, organization, and artistic success achieved in 1992.^[1]

Broadcasters from twenty-five countries participated in this edition of the OTI festival, equaling the record for the maximum number of participants achieved in the previous edition. 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. Brazil returned after having missed the festival since 1988 and Equatorial Guinea withdrew after its only participation in the festival.

Some of the participating broadcasters, such as those representing Chile, Cuba, and Ecuador, selected their entries through their regular national televised competitions. Other broadcasters decided to select their entry internally.

One performing artist had previously represented the same country in a previous edition: Mario Vides had represented Guatemala in 1975.

The festival was held on Saturday 9 October 1993, beginning at 22:00 CET (21:00 UTC). It was directed by Jaime Azpilicueta, and presented by Paloma San Basilio and Francisco. San Basilio had previously presented the festival in 1985 and 1992, while Francisco had won the 1992 festival for Spain with the song "A dónde voy sin ti". The musical director was José Fabra, who conducted the Mediterranean Symphony Orchestra when required. The draw to determine the running order (R/O) was held on 10 September.^[3]

The event featured guest performances by Susana Rinaldi, Rocío Jurado, Chavela Vargas, Massiel, Serafín Zubiri, Sara Montiel, Concha Márquez Piquer, Mary Carrillo, Paloma San Basilio, Francisco, the Compañía Cubana de Boleros, and a ballet specially assembled for the occasion. The guest artists, in addition to performing, also presented some of the songs in competition.^[4]

The winner was the song "Enamorarse" performed by Ana Reverte representing Spain; with "Essa fase do amor" by Emílio Santiago representing Brazil and "Siempre a medias" by Magdalena Zárate representing Mexico both placing second; and "Onde Estás?" by Anabela representing Portugal placing third. There were two trophies designed by José González Onieva for each of the first three places, one for the songwriters and one for the performer. The first prize trophies were delivered by Guillermo Cañedo, president of OTI, and Rocío Jurado; the second prize trophies by Óscar Gutiérrez, president of the OTI legal commission, and Nicanor González, president of the OTI programs committee; and the third prize trophies by Carmelo Artesiano, OTI consultant, and Eladio Lárez, vice-president of the OTI programs committee. 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.^[5] 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, with second place awarded to two songs jointly. The members of the jury were:

• Susana Rinaldi – singer
• Lupita Ferrer – actress
• Antonio Ferrandis – actor
• Carlos Cuevas – singer, won the festival for Mexico in 1990
• Narciso Ibáñez Menta – actor
• José María Torrent – lawyer
• Javier Casal – director of the Palau de la Música de València
• Salomé – singer
• Francisco Nicholson – writer

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. It was reported that the event was also broadcast in New Zealand, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, and Poland.^[4]

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

The broadcast in Spain attracted 3.663 million viewers on average.^[11]

• 22nd OTI Festival, Valencia 1993 at RTVE Play (in Spanish)