# Puerto Rico in the OTI Festival

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. 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.
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
### Table key

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

## Hosting

| Year | City | Venue | Hosts |
| 1975 | San Juan | Telemundo TV studios | Marisol MalaretEddie Miró |