Puerto Rico in the OTI Festival
| Puerto Rico in the OTI Festival | |
|---|---|
| OTI Festival | |
| Participating broadcaster | Telemundo Puerto Rico[a] |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 28 |
| First appearance | 1972 |
| Last appearance | 2000 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 1974, 1980 |
| Host | 1975 |
Participation history
| |
The participation of Puerto Rico in the OTI Festival began at the inaugural OTI Festival in 1972. The Puerto Rican participating broadcaster was Telemundo Puerto Rico,[a] which was member of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI). The broadcaster participated in all twenty-eight editions of the festival. It won the festival two times: in 1974 and 1980; and hosted the event once: in 1975.
History
Telemundo Puerto Rico, branded as WKAQ-Telemundo in 1968–1976 and Canal 2 Telemundo in 1976–1986, selected all its entries for the OTI Festival internally. In fact, it always selected big names in order to compete in the event. It won the contest on two occasions, the first time with the song "Hoy canto por cantar" sung by Nydia Caro in 1974. This song, written by Caro and Ricardo Ceratto, was enormously popular and very controversial for being considered an "anti-protest" song.[1] In 1980 it recorded its second victory in the festival with the song "Contigo mujer" sung by Rafael José, which was written by Laureano Brizuela and Ednita Nazario.[2]
Apart from its victories, it managed to reach the top 10 in eight occasions, but from 1983 on, the results started declining, In fact, since then, it was unable to reach the top ten positions again, until the last edition of the show in 2000, when it got the second place with the song "Con una canción" by José Vega Santana.
WKAQ-Telemundo, hosted the OTI Festival 1975 after the victory of Nydia Caro the previous year. The venue of the contest were its own television studios in San Juan. The broadcaster created a colorful stage with a central platform and an orchestra section in the background.
-
Ednita Nazario represented Puerto Rico in 1979
-
Lou Briel represented Puerto Rico in 1984
Participation overview
| 1 | First place |
| 2 | Second place |
| F | Finalist |
| SF | Semi-finalist |
| X | Contest cancelled |
| Year | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Conductor | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Chucho Avellanet | "Por ti" | Guillermo Venegas Lloveras | Pedro Rivera Toledo | 4 | 6 |
| 1973 | Óscar Solo | "Yo quiero una orquesta" | Óscar Solo | Pedro Rivera Toledo | 6 | 5 |
| 1974 | Nydia Caro | "Hoy canto por cantar" |
|
Pedro Rivera Toledo | 1 | 18 |
| 1975 | Los Hispanos | "¿Adónde vas amigo?" | Edwin Oliver | Wilson Torres | 5 | 5 |
| 1976 | Eduardo Delgado | "¿Quién?" | 15 | 1 | ||
| 1977 | Aqua Marina | "Piel dorada" |
|
Wilson Torres | 6 | 3 |
| 1978 | Rafael José | "Háblame" |
|
Pedro Rivera Toledo | 4 | 35 |
| 1979 | Ednita Nazario | "Cadenas de fuego" |
|
Ettore Stratta | 5 | 21 |
| 1980 | Rafael José | "Contigo mujer" |
|
Jorge Calandrelli | 1 | 36 |
| 1981 | Glenn Monroig | "Mírame a los ojos" | Glenn Monroig | Ángel "Cuco" Peña Berdiel | 15 | 8 |
| 1982 | Lunna | "Sin tu música" |
|
Ángel "Cuco" Peña Berdiel | 18 | 5 |
| 1983 | Edgardo Huertas | "Navegaré" | Lou Briel | Héctor Garrido | N/a | |
| 1984 | Lou Briel | "Todo llega" | Lou Briel | Eddie Fernández | N/a | |
| 1985 | Juan Manuel Lebrón[3] | "Represento" | Lou Briel | Luis García | N/a | |
| 1986 | Maggy | "Tú y yo solos, nadie más" | Pijuán | Pijuán | N/a | |
| 1987 | Marisol Calero | "Soy mujer" |
|
Ito Serrano | N/a | |
| 1988 | Sandra Rogers | "Para ser feliz" |
|
Druco Gandía | 14 | 0 |
| 1989 | Aldo Matta | "Porque no volverás" |
|
Eddie Hernández | N/a | |
| 1990 | Ivonne Briel | "La mujer que sueño ser" | Lou Briel | Ito Serrano | N/a | |
| 1991 | José Juan Tañón | "Nuestra voz" | José Juan Tañón | Ito Serrano | SF | N/a |
| 1992 | Brenda Reyes | "Atrapada en el tiempo" | Rodolfo Barrera | N/a | ||
| 1993 | Rumba y Bembé | "Que siga la rumba" |
|
Eduardo Reyes | N/a | |
| 1994 | Jessica Cristina | "Lo que te toca vivir" | José Luis Melendez | Pedro Rivera | SF | N/a |
| 1995 | Carlos Alberto Fortuño | "Latinoamericano" | Antonio Ramía Pérez | Ramón Sánchez | N/a | |
| 1996 | Grupo Porto Latino | "Ay, amor" | Rodolfo Barreras | Pedro Toledo | N/a | |
| 1997 | Ángel Joel Peña | "Almas solas" |
|
Ángel "Cuco" Peña Berdiel | SF | N/a |
| 1998 | Arianna | "Yo te propongo" |
|
Miguel Cubano | SF | N/a |
| 1999 | Contest cancelled X | |||||
| 2000 | José Vega Santana | "Con una canción" | José Vega | Pedro Rivera Toledo | 2 | N/a |
Hosting
| Year | City | Venue | Hosts | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | San Juan | Telemundo TV studios | [4] |
Notes
References
- ^ "Nydia Caro celebrará 40 aniversario de su victoria en el Festival de la OTI". www.efe.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-06-05.
- ^ "Rafael José a 35 años de haber ganado el OTI". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish). 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
- ^ "TBT: Hace 30 años que Juan Manuel Lebrón cantó en el Festival OTI". Primera Hora. 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
- ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1975". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 15 November 1975. Telemundo Puerto Rico / OTI.