Nicaragua in the OTI Festival

Nicaragua and its two OTI member stations Telenica and Televicentro Nicaragua debuted in the OTI Festival in 1974 in Acapulco as did many of their Central American neighbours. The first Nicaraguan entrant in the contest was the well known Hernaldo Zúñiga who got the seventh place scoring five points. Canal 2 es ahora es propiedad del gobierno de Nicaragua

Nicaragua
Member stationTelenica
Televicentro Nicaragua
National selection eventsNicaraguan National OTI Contest
Participation summary
Appearances23
First appearance1974
Best result1st in 1977
Worst result19th in 1982
External links
Televicentro Nicaragua Website
Telenica website

History

Nicaragua was the most successful of the Central American countries In the OTI Festival. In fact, the broadcasters of that country got their first and only victory in Madrid in 1977 with the performer Guayo Gonzalez and his song "Quincho Barrilete" (Quincho, the boy of the little barrel) which was warmly welcomed by the audience and by the juries because its deep message. "Quincho Barrilete" 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. The song managed to win the national final despite the Anastasio Somoza Debayle regime.[1]

In 1978, Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, was supposed to host the OTI Festival according to the original rules, but that year marked the beginning of the Nicaraguan Revolution which ended in a bloody civil war that killed a lot of people and destroyed completely the country. Because of that situation, the host city was moved to Santiago. and Nicaraga was forced to withdraw from 1978 to 1980.

In 1980, the Central American country returned to the event 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, the singer Katia Cardenal got the 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
The stage of the Rubén Darío National Theatre was the venue of the "Nicaraguan National OTI Contest", which was the national final of this country for the main OTI Festival.

Nicaragua, just like Mexico, Chile, Guatemala and later Cuba, held a national final which was annually organised both by Telenica and Televicentro Nicaragua. 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 TV 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]

Contestants
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
Año Artist Song Place Pts
2000 Lya Barroz Libera corazón (Free the heart)
1998 Trío Tabú Somos (We are)
1997 Keyla Rodríguez Minuto a minuto (Minute by minute)
1996 Manuel Salvador Baltodano Oh, luna (Oh, moon)
1995 Marta Baltodano Esa mirada (That glance)
1994 Álvaro Villagra La sombra del sol (The smile of the sun)
1993 Walmaro Gutiérrez Cuando tengo tu amor

(When I have your love)
1992 Cristina Somarriba Tocando luz (Touching the light)
1991 Marta Baltodano América en mis entrañas

(America is inside my body)
1990 Katia Cardenal Dame tu corazón (Give me your heart) 2
1989 Salvador y Katia Cardenal Días de amar (Days to love)
1988 Raúl Hernández Niña (Little girl) 12 1
1987 María Lili Delgado La vida es solo sueño

(Life is just a dream)
1985 María Eugenia Urroz Carta de amor para este tiempo

(A love letter for this time)
1984 Violeta Rostrán Vuela, canción (Fly, song)
1983 René Oliver Pobre de ti y de mi (Poor you and me)
1982 Deyanira Toruño Te canto porque te quiero

(I sing for you because I love you)

 19 3
1981 Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy Así te quiero, amor

(This is how I love you, my love)

 8 15
1980 Carlos Mejía Godoy y Los de Palacagüina La chavalita de España

(The little Spanish girl)

 10 15
1977 Guayo González Quincho Barrilete

(Quincho, The boy of the little barrel)

 1 12
1976 Peter Vivas De sol a sol (From sun to sun) 8 3
1975 Mauricio Peña Quiero agradecer al mundo

(I want to thank the world)

 8 4
1974 Hernaldo Zúñiga Gaviota (Seagull) 7 5

References
  1. País, Ediciones El (1977-11-13). "Nicaragua ganó el Festival de la OTI". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  2. "Katia Cardenal | Fundación Dúo Guardabarranco". duoguardabarranco.com (in 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".
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