Nicaragua in the OTI Festival

Overview of Nicaragua in the OTI Festival

Nicaragua

Participating broadcaster|

* Telenica
* Televicentro

Participation summary
Appearances| 23
First appearance| 1974
Last appearance| 2000
Highest placement| 1st: 1977
Host| None

The participation of Nicaragua in the OTI Festival first began at the third OTI Festival in 1974 held in Acapulco. Telenica and Televicentro, members of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), were responsible for the Nicaraguan participation. Its participation in the song contest was interrupted twice, in 1978 and 1979 when it has to withdrew for two years due to the Nicaraguan Revolution, and in 1986. Their entrant was selected by a national final.

## History

[edit]

Nicaragua was the most successful of the Central American countries in the OTI Festival. In fact, the broadcasters of the country got their first and only victory in Madrid in 1977 with the song "Quincho Barrilete" sung by performer Guayo Gonzalez and his song "Quincho Barrilete". Te song seemed to be a song for children, but the lyrics talked against the social injustices, denouncing the widespread poverty and the lack of sensitivity of the leading class, which was warmly welcomed by the audience and by the juries because its deep message. The song managed to win the national final despite the Anastasio Somoza Debayle regime.[1]

According to the initial rules of the song contest, after their win, they were supposed to host the OTI Festival 1978 in Managua, but that year marked the beginning of the Nicaraguan Revolution which ended in a civil war that killed many people and destroyed completely the country. Because of that situation, the host city was moved to Santiago and Nicaragua had to withdraw in 1978 and 1979.

They returned to the competition in 1980 selecting big names such as Carlos Mejía Godoy y los de Palancagüina, but the Nicaraguan results were not very successful until 1990. In the edition of 1990, which was held in Las Vegas, Katia Cardenal got a second place for her country with the song "Dame tu corazón".[2] Since then, Telenica and Televicentro took part in the competition until the last show in 2000, in which Lya Barrioz turned into the very last Nicaraguan entrant in the event.

## National Final

[edit]

The Rubén Darío National Theatre was the venue of the Nicaraguan national for the OTI Festival.

Nicaragua, just like Mexico, Chile, Guatemala and later Cuba, held a national final which was annually organised both by Telenica and Televicentro. This national final was seen as a platform for young Nicaraguan talents who wanted to be recognised in Latin America. The usual venue of the "Nicaraguan National OTI Contest" was the Rubén Darío National Theatre and the winner of the preselection was elected by a jury composed by famous local singers, radio presenters and television personalities.[3] The end of the main OTI festival also led to the end of this national final which was seen as a tragedy for the local musicians.[4]

## Participation overview

[edit]

Hernaldo Zúñiga was the first Nicaraguan performer in the OTI festival Katia Cardenal gave Nicaragua one of the best performances getting the second place in 1990 Lya Barrioz was the last Nicaraguan contestant in the OTI Festival 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 | Did not participate
1973
1974 | Hernaldo Zúñiga | "Gaviota"[a] |  | 7  | 4
1975 | Mauricio Peña  | "Quiero agradecer al mundo"[b] |  | 8  | 4
1976 | Peter Vivas  | "De sol a sol"[c] | Chucho Ferrer [es] | 8  | 3
1977 | Guayo González  | "Quincho Barrilete"[d] | Manolo Gas  | 1  | 12
1978 | Did not participate
1979
1980 | Carlos Mejía Godoy y Los de Palacagüina  | "La chavalita de España"[e] | Horacio Malvicino | 10  | 15
1981 | Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy  | "Así te quiero, amor"[f] | Chucho Ferrer  | 8  | 15
1982 | Deyanira Toruño  | "Te canto porque te quiero"[g] | Coco Betancourt  | 19  | 3
1983 | René Oliver  | "Pobre de ti y de mi"[h] | Héctor Garrido  | 19  | 32
1984 | Violeta Rostrán  | "Vuela, canción"[i] | Chucho Ferrer  | –  | –
1985 | María Eugenia Urroz  | "Carta de amor para este tiempo"[j] | Raúl Martínez  | –  | –
1986 | Did not participate
1987 | María Lili Delgado  | "La vida es solo sueño"[k] | Andrés Sánchez  | –  | –
1988 | Raúl Hernández  | "Niña"[l] | Francisco Cedeño  | 12  | 1
1989 | Salvador y Katia Cardenal | "Días de amar"[m] |  | –  | –
1990 | Katia Cardenal  | "Dame tu corazón"[n] | William Sánchez  | 2  | –
1991 | Marta Baltodano  | "América en mis entrañas"[o] | César Prado  | SF  | –
1992 | Cristina Somarriba  | "Tocando luz"[p] | Eugenio Andrade  | –  | –
1993 | Walmaro Gutiérrez  | "Cuando tengo tu amor"[q] | Raúl Martínez  | 20  | –
1994 | Álvaro Villagra  | "La sombra del sol"[r] | José Fabra  | SF  | –
1995 | Marta Baltodano  | "Esa mirada"[s] | César Prado  | F  | –
1996 | Manuel Salvador Baltodano  | "Oh, luna"[t] | Claudio Jácome Harb  | –  | –
1997 | Keyla Rodríguez  | "Minuto a minuto"[u] |  | SF  | –
1998 | Trío Tabú  | "Somos"[v] |  | SF  | –
1999  | Contest cancelled X
2000 | Lya Barrioz | "Libera corazón"[w] |  | SF  | –

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Translation: "Seagull"
2. ^ Translation: "I want to thank the world"
3. ^ Translation: "From sun to sun"
4. ^ Translation: "Quincho, The boy of the little barrel"
5. ^ Translation: "The little Spanish girl"
6. ^ Translation: "This is how I love you, my love"
7. ^ Translation: "I sing for you because I love you"
8. ^ Translation: "Poor you and me"
9. ^ Translation: "Fly, song"
10. ^ Translation: "A love letter for this time"
11. ^ Translation: "Life is just a dream"
12. ^ Translation: "Little girl"
13. ^ Translation: "Days to love"
14. ^ Translation: "Give me your heart"
15. ^ Translation: "America is inside my body"
16. ^ Translation: "Touching the light"
17. ^ Translation: "When I have your love"
18. ^ Translation: "The smile of the sun"
19. ^ Translation: "That glance"
20. ^ Translation: "Oh, moon"
21. ^ Translation: "Minute by minute"
22. ^ Translation: "We are"
23. ^ Translation: "Free the heart"

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Nicaragua ganó el Festival de la OTI". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 1977-11-13. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
2. ^ "Katia Cardenal | Fundación Dúo Guardabarranco". duoguardabarranco.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
3. ^ "Muchos de los festivales se realizaron en la Sala Mayor del Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío, el que aún guarda en sus archivos las emociones por los triunfos y las derrotas de los participantes".
4. ^ "Hace siete años que cayó el telón del Festival OTI y no subió más para los artistas aficionados de Nicaragua. Quienes participaron en este evento y más los que obtuvieron primeros lugares, lograron proyectarse a nivel nacional e internacional".

* v
* t
* e

OTI Festival winners

Countries|

* 1972: Brazil
* 1973: Mexico
* 1974: Puerto Rico
* 1975: Mexico
* 1976: Spain
* 1977: Nicaragua
* 1978: Brazil
* 1979: Argentina
* 1980: Puerto Rico
* 1981: Spain
* 1982: Venezuela
* 1983: Brazil
* 1984: Chile
* 1985: Mexico
* 1986: United States
* 1987: Venezuela
* 1988: Argentina
* 1989: Mexico
* 1990: Mexico
* 1991: Argentina
* 1992: Spain
* 1993: Spain
* 1994: Argentina
* 1995: Spain
* 1996: Spain
* 1997: Mexico
* 1998: Chile
* 2000: United States

Songs|

* 1972: "Diálogo"
* 1973: "Qué alegre va María"
* 1974: "Hoy canto por cantar"
* 1975: "La felicidad"
* 1976: "Canta cigarra"
* 1977: "Quincho Barrilete"
* 1978: "El amor... cosa tan rara"
* 1979: "Cuenta conmigo"
* 1980: "Contigo, mujer"
* 1981: "Latino"
* 1982: "Puedes contar conmigo"
* 1983: "Estrela de papel"
* 1984: "Agualuna"
* 1985: "El fandango aquí"
* 1986: "Todos"
* 1987: "La felicidad está en un rincón de tu corazón"
* 1988: "Todavía eres mi mujer"
* 1989: "Una canción no es suficiente"
* 1990: "Un bolero"
* 1991: "Adónde estás ahora"
* 1992: "A dónde voy sin ti"
* 1993: "Enamorarse"
* 1994: "Canción despareja"
* 1995: "Eres mi debilidad"
* 1996: "Mis manos"
* 1997: "Se diga lo que se diga"
* 1998: "Fin de siglo: Es tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse"
* 2000: "Mala hierba"

Songwriters|

* 1972: Paulo César Pinheiro / Baden Powell
* 1973: Celia Bonfil
* 1974: Nydia Caro / Ricardo Ceratto
* 1975: Felipe Gil
* 1976: María Ostiz
* 1977: Carlos Mejía Godoy
* 1978: Denisse de Kalafe
* 1979: Chico Novarro / Raúl Parentella
* 1980: Ednita Nazario
* 1981: Pablo Herrero / José Luis Armenteros
* 1982: Luis Gerardo Tovar / Carlos Moreán
* 1983: Jessé F. Santos / Elifas V. Andreato
* 1984: Fernando Ubiergo
* 1985: Marcial Alejandro
* 1986: Vilma Planas
* 1987: Luis Gerardo Tovar / Arnoldo Nali
* 1988: Carlos Castellón
* 1989: Jesús Monarrez
* 1990: Francisco Curiel / Pedro Cárdenas
* 1991: Claudia Brant / Sebastián Schon
* 1992: Chema Purón
* 1993: Alejandro Abad
* 1994: Pocho Lapouble
* 1995: Alejandro Abad
* 1996: Chema Purón / Eduardo Leiva
* 1997: Francisco Curiel / José Manuel Fernández / Pedro Cárdenas
* 1998: Florcita Motuda
* 2000: Angie Chirino / Olga María Chirino / Emilio Estefan

Performers|

* 1972: Claudia Regina & Tobías
* 1973: Imelda Miller
* 1974: Nydia Caro
* 1975: Gualberto Castro
* 1976: María Ostiz
* 1977: Guayo González
* 1978: Denisse de Kalafe
* 1979: Daniel Riolobos
* 1980: Rafael José
* 1981: Francisco
* 1982: Grupo Unicornio
* 1983: Jessé
* 1984: Fernando Ubiergo
* 1985: Eugenia León
* 1986: Damaris Carbaugh, Miguel Ángel Guerra and Eduardo Fabiani
* 1987: Alfredo Alejandro
* 1988: Guillermo Guido
* 1989: Analí
* 1990: Carlos Cuevas
* 1991: Claudia Brant
* 1992: Francisco
* 1993: Ana Reverte
* 1994: Claudia Carenzio
* 1995: Marcos Llunas
* 1996: Anabel Russ
* 1997: Iridián
* 1998: Florcita Motuda
* 2000: Hermanas Chirino

* v
* t
* e

OTI Festival

Contests|

* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 2000

Countries|

* Argentina
* Aruba
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* Equatorial Guinea
* Guatemala
* Honduras
* Mexico
* Netherlands Antilles
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Portugal
* Puerto Rico
* Spain
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

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