Mexico in the OTI Festival

Mexico
Mexico
Participating broadcasterTelevisa
Participation summary
Appearances27
First appearance1973
Last appearance2000
Highest placement1st: 1973, 1975, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1997
Host1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1991, 2000

The participation of Mexico in the OTI Festival first began at the second OTI Festival in 1973 held in Belo Horizonte and continued continuously until the last edition in 2000 held in Acapulco. Televisa, member of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), was responsible for the Mexican participation. During the contest’s run, it was one of the most successful countries with a record six wins, including a back-to-back victory in 1989 and 1990, and fourteen top 3 finishes.

History

Mexico had initially expressed its desire to take part in the first OTI Festival in 1972 held in Madrid. In fact, Telesistema Mexicano, had selected Alberto Ángel "El Cuervo" as their representative with the song "Yo no voy a la guerra" composed by Roberto Cantoral, but the entry was disqualified because both the OTI and some voices in Francoist Spain felt that the song had political intentions, which made it unsuitable to compete in the contest.[1]

So Televisa, Telesistema Mexicano's successor, entered the contest for the first time the following year in the second edition of the contest. Mexico was the most successful country of the history of the festival along with Spain, with six victories each. Apart from the victories, the country ended in the top 10 on nineteen occasions.[2]

The first Mexican victory came in its first participation, in 1973 in Belo Horizonte, with the song "¡Que alegre va María!" sung by Imelda Miller [es].[3] Two year later, in 1975, the country won again the contest in San Juan with the song "La felicidad" sung by Gualberto Castro.[4] One decade later, in 1985, México won again with the song "El fandango aquí" sung by Eugenia León. This was a very controversial victory, which was attributed to the solidarity with the country because of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, that destroyed the capital city.[5] In 1989 and 1990 Mexico got two consecutive wins with "Una canción no es suficiente" sung by Analí and "Un bolero" sung by Carlos Cuevas. The last Mexican victory came in 1997 in Lima with the song "Se diga lo que se diga" sung by Iridián.

Televisa hosted the OTI festival six times, in 1974 and 1976 in the Ruiz de Alarcón Theatre in Acapulco. In 1981 and 1984 in Mexico City, being the National Auditorium the venue. In 1991, Acapulco hosted again the festival in the Convention Centre, the same venue where the last edition of the contest was held in 2000. It was also going to host the contest in 1999 in Veracruz, but it had to be cancelled due to floods in the host city.

National final

Gualberto Castro, the second Mexican winner of the OTI Song Contest.

The Mexican OTI Song Contest trajectory is known for its popular national final, the "National OTI Contest", which was passionately followed every year by the Mexican audience and known by its surprises and frequent scandals. This selection process is usually compared with its Swedish Eurovision Song Contest counterpart, the Melodifestivalen, due to the interest that it created and the big names who tried to represent México in the main OTI Festival.[6]

Participation overview

Yuri got third place in 1984
Ana Gabriel got third place in 1987.
Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
F Finalist
X Song disqualified / Contest cancelled
Year Artist Song Place Points
1972 Alberto Ángel "El Cuervo" "Yo no voy a la guerra"[a] Disqualified X
1973 Imelda Miller [es] "Que alegre va María"[b] 1 17
1974 Enrique Cáceres [es] "Quijote" 10 3
1975 Gualberto Castro "La felicidad"[c] 1 20
1976 Gilberto Valenzuela "De que te quiero te quiero"[d] 6 8
1977 José María Napoleón "Hombre"[e] 16 0
1978 Lupita D'Alessio "Como tú"[f] 3 44
1979 Estela Núñez [es] "Vivir sin ti"[g] 8 18
1980 José Roberto "Sólo te amo a ti"[h] 8 21
1981 Yoshio "Lo que pasó pasó..."[i] 3 22
1982 Enrique Guzmán "Con y por amor"[j] 4 22
1983 María Medina [es] "Compás de espera"[k] 10 12
1984 Yuri "Tiempos mejores"[l] 3 –
1985 Eugenia León "El fandango aquí"[m] 1 –
1986 Prisma "De color rosa"[n] 2 –
1987 Ana Gabriel "¡Ay, Amor!"[o] 3 –
1988 María del Sol "Contigo y con el mundo"[p] 5 –
1989 Analí "Una canción no es suficiente"[q] 1 –
1990 Carlos Cuevas "Un bolero"[r] 1 –
1991 Rodolfo Muñiz "Barrio viejo"[s] 3 –
1992 Arturo Vargas "Enamorado de la vida"[t] – –
1993 Magdalena Zárate "Siempre a medias"[u] 2 –
1994 Fuga de Goya "Rompe el cristal"[v] 5 –
1995 Sayeg "Cantos distintos"[w] F –
1996 Sergio Arzate "Del piso a la nube"[x] – –
1997 Iridián "Se diga lo que se diga"[y] 1 –
1998 Fernando Ibarra "Voy a volverme loco"[z] F –
1999 Contest cancelled X
2000 Natalia Sosa "Mi vida"[aa] 3 –

Hosting

Year City Venue Hosts
1974 Acapulco Ruiz de Alarcón Theatre
[7]
1976
[8]
1981 Mexico City Auditorio Nacional Raúl Velasco [9]
1984 [10]
1991 Acapulco Centro de Convenciones [11]
1999 Veracruz Contest cancelled X
2000 Acapulco Centro de Convenciones
[12]

Notes

  1. ^ Translation: "I won't fight in the war"
  2. ^ Translation: "How happy María goes"
  3. ^ Translation: "The happiness"
  4. ^ Translation: "I love you because I love you"
  5. ^ Translation: "Man"
  6. ^ Translation: "Just like you"
  7. ^ Translation: "To live without you"
  8. ^ Translation: "You are the only one that I love"
  9. ^ Translation: "What happened just happened..."
  10. ^ Translation: "With and for love"
  11. ^ Translation: "Wait rhythm"
  12. ^ Translation: "Better times"
  13. ^ Translation: "The fandango is here"
  14. ^ Translation: "Pink colored"
  15. ^ Translation: "Oh my love!"
  16. ^ Translation: "With you and with the world"
  17. ^ Translation: "One song is not enough"
  18. ^ Translation: "A love song"
  19. ^ Translation: "Old town"
  20. ^ Translation: "In love with life"
  21. ^ Translation: "Always interrupted"
  22. ^ Translation: "Break the crystal"
  23. ^ Translation: "Different songs"
  24. ^ Translation: "From the ground to the cloud"
  25. ^ Translation: "Whatever it's said"
  26. ^ Translation: "I'm going to go crazy"
  27. ^ Translation: "My life"

References

  1. ^ Amiguet, Teresa (26 November 2022). "Prohibido cantar contra la guerra". La Vanguardia (in Spanish).
  2. ^ "¿Qué fue de ellos? Mexicanos ganadores del Festival OTI | De10". de10.com.mx (in Spanish). 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  3. ^ D.F.-, NOTIMEX/ MÉXICO. "Rinden homenaja a Imelda Miller por 54 años de carrera" (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  4. ^ "Una voz sin tiempo: Gualberto Castro, figura indiscutible de México - Retos por México". Retos por México (in European Spanish). 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  5. ^ "La representante de México, Eugenia León, ganadora del XVI Festival de la OTI". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 1985-09-23. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  6. ^ "La OTI: OTI MEXICO". La OTI. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  7. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1974". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 26 October 1974. Televisa / OTI.
  8. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1976". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 30 October 1976. Televisa / OTI.
  9. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1981". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 5 December 1981. Televisa / OTI.
  10. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1984". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 10 November 1984. Televisa / OTI.
  11. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1991". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 14 December 1991. Televisa / OTI.
  12. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 2000". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 20 May 2000. Televisa / OTI.