OTI Festival 1998

OTI Festival 1998
Dates and venue
Semi-final	13 November 1998 (1998-11-13)
Final	14 November 1998 (1998-11-14)
Venue	Teatro Nacional San José, Costa Rica
Organization
Organizer	Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI)
Production
Host broadcaster	Representaciones Televisivas (Repretel)
Executive producer	José Luis Cacao Rojas
Musical director	Álvaro Esquivel
Presenters	Maribel Guardia Rafael Rojas
Participants
Number of entries	23
Number of finalists	12
Returning countries	Netherlands Antilles
Participation map      Finalist countries     Countries eliminated in the semi-final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1998
Vote
Voting system	The members of a single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote
Winning song	Chile "Fin de siglo, éste es el tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse"
1997 ← OTI Festival → 2000

The OTI Festival 1998 (Spanish: Vigésimo Séptimo Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Vigésimo Sétimo Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 27th edition of the OTI Festival. It consisted of a semi-final on 13 November and a final on 14 November 1998, held at Teatro Nacional in San José, Costa Rica, and presented by Maribel Guardia and Rafael Rojas. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Representaciones Televisivas (Repretel). The event was jeopardized by hurricane Mitch.

Broadcasters from twenty-three countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "Fin de siglo, éste es el tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse" performed by Florcita Motuda representing Chile; with "Sin amor" by Alicia Vignola [es] representing Argentina placing second; and "Quem espera, desespera" by Beto representing Portugal placing third.

Location

Teatro Nacional, San José – host venue of the OTI Festival 1998.

The Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) accepted the proposal from Representaciones Televisivas (Repretel) to be the host broadcaster of the 27th edition of the OTI Festival. Repretel offered to be the sole host broadcaster following the withdrawal of Televisora de Costa Rica (Teletica), which staged the Costa Rican national final that year and did not want to take the risk of hosting after considering that it had been notified too late.^[1]

Repretel staged the festival in San José. The venue initially selected was the Melico Salazar Theatre, but it had to be discarded as it was too deteriorated and gave a bad impression. The production was relocated to the Teatro Nacional, which was able to change the dates of the activities already scheduled and free up a whole week for the preparations.^[2] During the festival, 800 guests attended the event inside the theatre main hall. Outside the building, a platform was set up as a secondary stage for some of the guest performances, and a grandstand for an additional 400 guests who followed the event on two giant screens located in front of the Gran Hotel.^[3]

The celebration of the event was jeopardized when hurricane Mitch devastated the continent between 22 October and 9 November 1998, becoming one of the most intense and deadliest hurricanes of the 20th century. The OTI itself donated US$20,000 for the victims of the hurricane,^[4] and the audience was encouraged to make donations during the broadcast.

On 9 November, a welcome cocktail was held at San José Palacio Hotel upon the arrival of the participating delegations.^[2] On 11 November, they were presented to the press at that same hotel in the afternoon, and attended an official reception presided by Astrid Fischel Volio, vice president of Costa Rica and minister of culture, youth, and sports, at the National Culture Centre after sunset. On 12 November, they attended a traditional dinner at Pueblo Antiguo in Parque Diversiones;^[5] on 13 November, they had a dinner at Le Chandelier restaurant right after the semi-final; and on 14 November, the Costa Rican Tourism Board hosted a gala dinner for 300 guests at the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum right after the final, presided by Aida Faingezicht Waisleder [es], minister of turism, where they enjoyed a menu prepared by Marcela de Quirce.^[6][7]

Participants

Broadcasters from twenty-three countries participated in this edition of the OTI festival. The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Spain, Portugal, and twenty-one Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America signed up for the festival. All the countries that participated the previous edition returned, joined by the Netherlands Antilles which returned after being absent since 1995.

Some of the participating broadcasters, such as those representing Chile, Costa Rica, and Cuba, selected their entries through their regular national selections. Other broadcasters decided to select their entry internally.

Two performing artists had previously represented the same country in previous editions: María Elisa had represented Uruguay in 1974, and Florcita Motuda had represented Chile in 1978 and in 1981.

Participants of the OTI Festival 1998^[8]

Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Argentina	ATC	Alicia Vignola [es]	"Sin amor"	Spanish	Bibi Albert Héctor Dengis	Álvaro Esquivel
Bolivia		Fabio Zambrana	"El canto de las aves"	Spanish	Fabio Zambrana	César Scotta
Chile	CCT	Florcita Motuda	"Fin de siglo, éste es el tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse"	Spanish	Raúl Alarcón Rojas	Olivia Alarcón
Colombia		Natalia Ramírez	"Amor por Latinoamérica"	Spanish	Nelson Osorio Jaime Valencia	Diego Delgado
Costa Rica	Teletica	Ana Yancy Contreras and Luis Duvalier Quirós	"Vendiendo ilusiones"	Spanish	Edwin Bonillas Rojas	Carlos Guzmán [es]
Cuba	ICRT	Osnel Odit Bavastro	"Un sueño loco"	Spanish	Raúl E. Pérez de la Rosa	Álvaro Esquivel
Dominican Republic		Claudine Bono	"Me levanto"	Spanish	Manuel Jimenez	Manuel Tejada
Ecuador		Fabricio Espinoza	"Fíjate"	Spanish	Jorge Mahuad Miguel Mora	Rolando Valladares
El Salvador	TCS	Julio Roberto Hernández	"Año 2000"	Spanish	Enrique González E.	Álvaro Esquivel
Guatemala		Nelson Leal	"Sueño de smog"	Spanish	Mario Vallar Nelson Leal	Roberto Estrada
Honduras		Carlos Alberto Durón	"Mi otra mitad"	Spanish	Carlos Alberto Durón	Camilo Corea
Mexico	Televisa	Fernando Ibarra	"Voy a volverme loco"	Spanish	Gerardo Flores	Alejandro Hernández
Netherlands Antilles	ATM	Fusión Consonante	"Los niños"	Spanish	Lucille Berry-Haseth [nl] Erroll Colina	Errol Colina
Nicaragua		Trío Tabú	"Somos"	Spanish	Peter Vivas Jaime Delgado	Jaime Delgado
Panama		Luis Arteaga	"Por la vida"	Spanish	Rómulo Castro Dino Luget	Álvaro Esquivel
Paraguay		Americanta	"No lo digas"	Spanish	Victor Hugo Echeverría Zuny Ramos Walter García	Álvaro Esquivel
Peru		Lupe Eslava	"Te llevo en el alma"	Spanish	Elena Romero Lucho González	Álvaro Esquivel
Portugal	RTP	Beto	"Quem espera, desespera"	Portuguese	António Avelar de Pinho José Marinho	José Marinho
Puerto Rico	Telemundo Puerto Rico	Arianna	"Yo te propongo"	Spanish	Jonathan Dwayne Ito Serrano	Miguel Cubano
Spain	TVE	Luis Villa	"Desconocidos"	Spanish	Luis Villa	Manuel Marvizón
United States	Univision	Carlos Abac	"Un ángel en mi habitación"	Spanish	Carlos Abac	Diego Fiamingo
Uruguay	Sociedad Televisora Larrañaga	María Elisa	"Razones"	Spanish	Carlos Fernández	Julio Frade
Venezuela		Asdrúbal Astudillo	"Mas allá"	Spanish	Erick Gabriel	Alejandro Salas

Festival overview

The festival consisted of a semi-final on Friday 13 November and a final on Saturday 14 November 1998. It was presented by Maribel Guardia and Rafael Rojas. The musical director was Álvaro Esquivel, who conducted the 60-piece Costa Rica Philharmonic Orchestra, assembled specifically for the occasion, when required; and the mixed choir of four voices.^[a] Eleven television cameras, positioned both inside and outside the theater, were used to broadcast the festival.^[3] The event had a cost of ₡79 million, of which ₡34 million were spent on the orchestra alone.^[6]

Semi-final

The semi-final was held on Friday 13 November 1998, beginning at 19:00 CST (01:00+1 UTC). The show featured guest performances by Curime, Jazz Garbo, Manú, Carlos Cuevas, Iridián, Carlos Mejía Godoy, Erick León, and the Costa Rican National Dance Company.^[3] The twenty-three participating entries were performed in the semi-final, of which only twelve advanced to the final, with Costa Rica having a guaranteed place in the final as the host country. Later that night, the organizing committee held a draw to determine the running order (R/O) in the final.

Final

The final was held on Saturday 14 November 1998, beginning at 19:00 CST (01:00+1 UTC). The opening act featured the song "Bienvenidos", written for the occasion by Álvaro Esquivel, and a medley of well-known songs titled "Suite iberoamericana", both performed by Ricardo Padilla [es] and the members of the backing choir; and a three-minute documentary film about the natural beauty of Costa Rica directed by Édgar Silva. The show featured guest performances by Marta Sánchez, Rubén Blades, Cristian Castro, Mercurio [es], Pimpinela, Soraya, and Emmanuel.^[4][6]

The winner was the song "Fin de siglo, éste es el tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse" performed by Florcita Motuda representing Chile; with "Sin amor" by Alicia Vignola [es] representing Argentina placing second; and "Quem espera, desespera" by Beto representing Portugal placing third. There was a statuette designed by Miguel Ortuño for the winner. The first prize was delivered by Astrid Fischel Volio and Miguel Alemán, president of OTI. The first prize was endowed with a monetary amount of US$30,000, the second prize of US$20,000, and the third prize of US$10,000. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.^[10]

  Winner

Results of the final of the OTI Festival 1998^[11][10]

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Place
1	United States	Carlos Abac	"Un ángel en mi habitación"	—N/a
2	Uruguay	María Elisa	"Razones"	—N/a
3	Argentina	Alicia Vignola [es]	"Sin amor"	2
4	Costa Rica	Ana Yancy Contreras and Luis Duvalier Quirós	"Vendiendo ilusiones"	—N/a
5	Venezuela	Asdrúbal Astudillo	"Mas allá"	—N/a
6	Chile	Florcita Motuda	"Fin de siglo, éste es el tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse"	1
7	Mexico	Fernando Ibarra	"Voy a volverme loco"	—N/a
8	Cuba	Osnel Odit Bavastro	"Un sueño loco"	—N/a
9	Guatemala	Nelson Leal	"Sueño de smog"	—N/a
10	Portugal	Beto	"Quem espera, desespera"	3
11	Dominican Republic	Claudine Bono	"Me levanto"	—N/a
12	Spain	Luis Villa	"Desconocidos"	—N/a

Jury

The members of a single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote. In the final only the top three places were revealed. The members of the jury were:^[10]

• Marta Sánchez – singer
• Emmanuel – singer
• Carlos Mejía Godoy – singer-songwriter, represented Nicaragua in 1980 and wrote the winning entry in 1977
• Soraya – singer-songwriter
• Iridián – singer, won the festival for Mexico in 1997
• Patricio González [es] – telenovela director
• Claudia Poll – swimmer
• Orlando Bertarini – composer
• Carlos Ribeiro [pt] – television presenter
• Benjamín Gutiérrez – composer

Broadcast

The festival was broadcast in the 23 participating countries where the corresponding OTI member broadcasters relayed the contest through their networks after receiving it live via satellite.

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Show(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref.
Argentina	ATC	Canal 7	Final[b]		[12]
Costa Rica	Repretel	Canal 6	All shows		[6]
		Canal 9
Spain	TVE	La Primera	All shows	José Luis Uribarri	[13][14]

Notes

1. The backing singers were Michael Mars, Rocío Campos, Roberto Rooper Cisneros, and Rossana Telford (who represented Costa Rica in 1991 as a member of the group Angelus).^[9]
2. Delayed broadcast on 15 November at 22:00 DST (01:00+1 UTC)

References

1. "OTI internacional en Costa Rica". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 23 September 1998.
2. "Más cerca de la OTI Internacional". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 8 October 1998.
3. "Detrás del telón". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 12 November 1998.
4. "Doce hoy a final de OTI". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 14 November 1998.
5. "Ya arrancó la OTI". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 12 November 1998.
6. "La gran noche". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 14 November 1998.
7. "El negro brilló en OTI". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 16 November 1998.
8. Semifinal del XXVII Festival de la canción OTI 1997 (Television programme) (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: Repretel. 13 November 1998.
9. "La música será lo importante". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 9 November 1998.
10. "Chile, ganador de la OTI". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 15 November 1998.
11. Final del XXVII Festival de la canción OTI 1997 (Television programme) (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: Repretel. 14 November 1998.
12. "TV". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina. 15 November 1998. p. 34 – via Internet Archive.
13. "XXVII Festival de la OTI". La Tribuna (in Spanish). Ciudad Real, Spain. 13 November 1998. pp. 86, 87 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
14. "Luis Villa y Marta Sánchez, en el Festival de la OTI". Diario Palentino (in Spanish). Palencia, Spain. 14 November 1998. pp. 46, 47 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].