Puerto Rico in the OTI Festival

Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Participating broadcasterTelemundo Puerto Rico
Participation summary
Appearances28
First appearance1972
Last appearance2000
Highest placement1st: 1974, 1980
Host1975

The participation of Puerto Rico in the OTI Festival first began at the inaugural OTI Festival in 1972 held in Madrid and continued continuously until the last edition in 2000 held in Acapulco. Telemundo Puerto Rico, member of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), was responsible for the Puerto Rican participation.

History

Puerto Rico, whose broadcaster selected its performers internally, had a promising start in the OTI Song Contest. In fact, the broadcaster 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 sólo canto por cantar" sung by Nydia Caro in 1974. This song, composed by Ricardo Cerrato, was enormously popular and very controversial for being considered an "anti-protest" song.[1] In 1980 in Buenos Aires, the Puerto Rican branch of Telemundo recorded its second victory in the festival with the song "Contigo, mujer" sung by Rafael José, which was composed by Laureano Brizuela and Ednita Nazario.[2]

Apart from their victories, the country managed to reach the top 10 in eight occasions, but from 1983 on, the results of Puerto Rico in the contest started declining, In fact, since then, Telemundo was unable to reach the top ten positions again, until the last edition of the show in 2000, when the country got the second place with the song "Con una canción" sung by José Vega Santana.

Telemundo Puerto Rico, hosted the OTI Festival 1975 after the victory of Nydia Caro the previous year, according to the initial rules of the show. The venue of the contest were the television studios of Telemundo in San Juan. The broadcaster created a colorful stage with a central platform and an orchestra section in the background.

Participation overview

Ednita Nazario represented Puerto Rico in 1979
Lou Briel represented Puerto Rico in 1984
Table key
  Winner
  Second place
  Last place
Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
F Finalist
SF Semi-finalist
X Contest cancelled
Year Artist Song Conductor Place Points
1972 Chucho Avellanet "Por ti"[a] Pedro Rivera Toledo 4 6
1973 Óscar Solo "Yo quiero una orquesta"[b] Pedro Rivera Toledo 6 5
1974 Nydia Caro "Hoy sólo canto por cantar"[c] Pedro Rivera Toledo 1 18
1975 Los Hispanos "¿Dónde vas, amigo?"[d] Wisón Torres 5 5
1976 Eduardo Delgado "¿Quién?"[e] 15 1
1977 Aquamarina "Piel Dormida"[f] Wisón Torres 6 3
1978 Rafael José "Háblame"[g] Pedro Rivera Toledo 4 35
1979 Ednita Nazario "Cadenas de fuego"[h] 5 21
1980 Rafael José "Contigo Mujer"[i] Jorge Calandrelli 1 36
1981 Glenn Monroig "Mírame a los ojos"[j] Ángel "Cuco" Peña Berdiel 15 8
1982 Lunna "Sin tu música"[k] Ángel "Cuco" Peña Berdiel 18 5
1983 Edgardo Huertas "Navegaré"[l] Héctor Garrido 9 55
1984 Lou Briel "Todo llega"[m] 5 –
1985 Juan Manuel Lebrón[3] "Represento"[n] Luis García – –
1986 Maggy "Solos tú y yo, nadie más"[o] Pijuán Piñero – –
1987 Marisol Calero "Soy mujer"[p] – –
1988 Sandra Roger "Para ser feliz"[q] 14 0
1989 Aldo Matta "¿Por qué no volverás?"[r] Eddie Fernández – –
1990 Ivonne Briel "La mujer que sueños vé"[s] – –
1991 José Juan Tañón "Nuestra voz"[t] Ito Serrano SF –
1992 Brenda Reyes "Atrapada en el tiempo"[u] Eduardo Reyes – –
1993 Rumba y Bembé "Que siga la rumba"[v] 6 –
1994 Jessica Cristina "Lo que te toca vivir"[w] SF –
1995 Carlos Alberto Fortuño "Latinoamericano"[x] Antonio Ramia Pérez F –
1996 Porto Latino "Ay, amor"[y] – –
1997 Ángel Joel Peña "Almas solas"[z] Ángel "Cuco" Peña Berdiel SF –
1998 Ariana "Yo te propongo"[aa] SF –
1999 Contest cancelled X
2000 José Vega Santana "Con una canción"[ab] 2 –

Hosting

Year City Venue Hosts
1975 San Juan Telemundo TV studios
[4]

Notes

  1. ^ Translation: "For you"
  2. ^ Translation: "I want an orchestra"
  3. ^ Translation: "Today I sing just for singing"
  4. ^ Translation: "Where are you going to, friend?"
  5. ^ Translation: "Who?"
  6. ^ Translation: "Aesleep skin"
  7. ^ Translation: "Talk to me"
  8. ^ Translation: "Fire chains"
  9. ^ Translation: "With you woman"
  10. ^ Translation: "Look into my eyes"
  11. ^ Translation: "Without your music"
  12. ^ Translation: "I will sail"
  13. ^ Translation: "Everything comes"
  14. ^ Translation: "I represent"
  15. ^ Translation: "Justo you and me, nobody else"
  16. ^ Translation: "I'm a woman"
  17. ^ Translation: "To be happy"
  18. ^ Translation: "Why won't you return?"
  19. ^ Translation: "The woman who sees dreams"
  20. ^ Translation: "Our voice"
  21. ^ Translation: "Catch the time"
  22. ^ Translation: "Let the rhumbe go on"
  23. ^ Translation: "What it's time for you to live"
  24. ^ Translation: "Latin-American"
  25. ^ Translation: "Oh, love"
  26. ^ Translation: "Lonely souls"
  27. ^ Translation: "I suggest to you"
  28. ^ Translation: "With one song"

References

  1. ^ "Nydia Caro celebrará 40 aniversario de su victoria en el Festival de la OTI". www.efe.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  2. ^ "Rafael José a 35 años de haber ganado el OTI". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish). 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  3. ^ "TBT: Hace 30 años que Juan Manuel Lebrón cantó en el Festival OTI". Primera Hora. 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  4. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1975". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 15 November 1975. Telemundo Puerto Rico / OTI.