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Spain in the OTI Festival

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Spain
Spain
Participating broadcasterTelevisión Española (TVE)
Participation summary
Appearances27
First appearance1972
Last appearance2000
Highest placement1st: 1976, 1981, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996
Host1972, 1977, 1985, 1992, 1993, 1994

The participation of Spain in the OTI Festival first began at the inaugural OTI Festival in 1972 hosting it in Madrid. Televisión Española (TVE), subsidiary of Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and member of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), was responsible for the Spanish participation. Its participation in the song contest was only interrupted once, when TVE withdrew from the edition of 1986, which was held in Santiago, as a protest against the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

History

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Although TVE selected their participants internally and didn't follow the tradition of national finals started by countries such as Mexico, Chile, or Guatemala, Spain almost always selected famous names, most of whom would achieve strong results. Spain won the event on six occasions, in a tie for most wins with Mexico.

The first Spanish victory came in 1976 with the singer-songwriter María Ostiz [es] and her song "Canta cigarra [es]". This protest song, which transmitted a deep feeling of sadness, was not one of the favourite ones to win the contest, in fact being among the least favoured entries in the betting odds. Ostiz, who thought that she could not win, left the auditorium before the voting process started, but she had to return when her victory was clear.

In 1981, TVE achieved the second Spanish victory in the festival, which was held in Mexico City, with Francisco [es] and his song "Latino".[1] This song became a great hit both in Spain and Latin America and contributed to launch the career of the singer internationally. Francisco won again the festival in 1992 with the song "¿Adonde voy sin ti?". Since then, the singer started became known as the Latin Johnny Logan because of his two victories. One year later, Ana Reverte [es] achieved the fourth Spanish victory in the festival with the song "Enamorarse". The last Spanish victories came with Marcos Llunas in 1995,[2] and with Anabel Russ in 1996.[3]

Spain in OTI vs Spain in Eurovision

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Several Spanish entrants in the OTI Festival later represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest. The band Trigo Limpio which took part in the OTI Festival in 1977 represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980. Amaya Saizar, who was the vocalist of Trigo Limpio in the OTI Festival, competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 as member of the band Bravo. Marcos Llunas won the OTI Festival 1995, two years before representing Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997.

Other artists such as the band Alex y Cristina tried to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986, but two years after being rejected, they participated in the OTI Festival in 1988 achieving 10th place.

In general, from the 1970s till the late 1990s, the Spanish Eurovision fans always claimed that TVE seemed to be much more interested in the OTI Festival than in the Eurovision Song Contest. The followers of the European song contest complained that the Spanish broadcaster almost always selected famous names for the OTI Song Contest, while the Spanish performers in Eurovision were unknown to much of the audience.

Participation overview

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Marisol was the first Spanish OTI performer
Camilo Sesto represented Spain in the OTI Festival in 1973
The band Trigo Limpio represented Spain in OTI in 1977 before taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest
Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
X Contest cancelled
Year Artist Song Conductor Place Points
1972 Marisol "Niña" Augusto Algueró 3 8
1973 Camilo Sesto "Algo más" Juan Carlos Calderón 5 6
1974 Lia Uyá [es] "Lapicero de madera" Rafael Ibarbia 4 9
1975 Cecilia "Amor de medianoche [es]" Juan Carlos Calderón 2 14
1976 María Ostiz [es] "Canta cigarra [es]" Rafael Ibarbia 1 14
1977 Trigo Limpio "Rómpeme, mátame" Juan Carlos Calderón 3 7
1978 Chema Purón [es] "Mi sitio" Julio Mengod 5 18
1979 Rosa María Lobo [es] "Viviré" Eduardo Leiva 4 25
1980 Dyango "Querer y perder" Alfredo Doménech 2 32
1981 Francisco [es] "Latino" Jesús Glück [es] 1 51
1982 La Pequeña Compañía [es] "Ay, ay amor" Eddy Guerin 2 27
1983 Gonzalo [es] "¿Quién piensa en ti?" Danilo Vaona 10
1984 Bohemia [es] "Cada día al despertar" Javier Ibarrondo 4
1985 Caco Senante [es] "Esta forma de querer" Eduardo Leiva 7 [4]
1986 Did not participate
1987 Vicky Larraz "Bravo samurái" Eduardo Leiva 3
1988 Alex y Cristina "Dulce maldición" Eduardo Leiva 10 2
1989 José Manuel Soto [es] "Como una luz" Gualberto García 2
1990 Paco Ortega e Isabel Montero [es] "Duérmete mi amor" Eduardo Leiva 3
1991 Joel "Bésame" Alfredo Doménech 7
1992 Francisco "¿A dónde voy sin ti?" Jesús Glück 1
1993 Ana Reverte [es] "Enamorarse" José Fabra 1
1994 Ana María González "Cuestión de suerte" José Fabra 2 28
1995 Marcos Llunas "Eres mi debilidad" Javier Capella Sanz 1
1996 Anabel Russ "Mis manos" Eduardo Leiva 1
1997 La Plata "Como humo de tabaco" Coco Salazar 3
1998 Luis Villa "Desconocidos" Manuel Marvizán 9
1999 Contest cancelled X
2000 Sylvia Pantoja [es] "Volver al Sur" Nando Hernández 4

Hosting

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Year City Venue Hosts
1972 Madrid Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones [5]
1977 Centro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid [6]
1985 Seville Teatro Lope de Vega [7]
1992 Valencia Teatro Principal
[8]
1993
[9]
1994
[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Segunda victoria de Francisco en el Festival de la OTI". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 1992-12-06. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  2. ^ "España gana por quinta vez el Festival de la OTI". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 1995-11-13. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  3. ^ "Anabel Russ irá al festival de la OTI". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 1996-11-27. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  4. ^ PataNegraPro (2008-10-08), Rocio Jurado "El Clavel" Final Imprevisto en OTI 85 4/4, retrieved 2017-06-06
  5. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1972". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 25 November 1972. TVE / OTI.
  6. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1977". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 12 November 1977. RTVE / OTI.
  7. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1985". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 21 September 1985. TVE / OTI.
  8. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1992". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 5 December 1992. TVE / OTI.
  9. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1993". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 9 October 1993. TVE / OTI.
  10. ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1994". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 15 October 1994. TVE / OTI.