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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.
| Mexico | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | Televisa |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 27 |
| First appearance | 1973 |
| Last appearance | 2000 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 1973, 1975, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1997 |
| Host | 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1991, 2000 |
History
editMexico 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.[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
edit
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
edit
| 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 | "Que alegre va María"[b] | 1 | 17 |
| 1974 | Enrique Cáceres | "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 | "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 | "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
edit| 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
edit- ^ Translation: "I won't fight in the war"
- ^ Translation: "How happy María goes"
- ^ Translation: "The happiness"
- ^ Translation: "I love you because I love you"
- ^ Translation: "Man"
- ^ Translation: "Just like you"
- ^ Translation: "To live without you"
- ^ Translation: "You are the only one that I love"
- ^ Translation: "What happened just happened..."
- ^ Translation: "With and for love"
- ^ Translation: "Wait rhythm"
- ^ Translation: "Better times"
- ^ Translation: "The fandango is here"
- ^ Translation: "Pink colored"
- ^ Translation: "Oh my love!"
- ^ Translation: "With you and with the world"
- ^ Translation: "One song is not enough"
- ^ Translation: "A love song"
- ^ Translation: "Old town"
- ^ Translation: "In love with life"
- ^ Translation: "Always interrupted"
- ^ Translation: "Break the crystal"
- ^ Translation: "Different songs"
- ^ Translation: "From the ground to the cloud"
- ^ Translation: "Whatever it's said"
- ^ Translation: "I'm going to go crazy"
- ^ Translation: "My life"
References
edit- ^ Amiguet, Teresa (26 November 2022). "Prohibido cantar contra la guerra". La Vanguardia (in Spanish).
- ^ "¿Qué fue de ellos? Mexicanos ganadores del Festival OTI | De10". de10.com.mx (in Spanish). 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ^ D.F.-, NOTIMEX/ MÉXICO. "Rinden homenaja a Imelda Miller por 54 años de carrera" (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "La representante de México, Eugenia León, ganadora del XVI Festival de la OTI". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 1985-09-23. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ^ "La OTI: OTI MEXICO". La OTI. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
- ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1974". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 26 October 1974. Televisa / OTI.
- ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1976". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 30 October 1976. Televisa / OTI.
- ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1981". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 5 December 1981. Televisa / OTI.
- ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1984". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 10 November 1984. Televisa / OTI.
- ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 1991". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 14 December 1991. Televisa / OTI.
- ^ "Festival OTI de la Canción 2000". OTI Festival (in Spanish). 20 May 2000. Televisa / OTI.