OTI Festival 2000

OTI Festival 2000
Dates and venue
Semi-final	19 May 2000 (2000-05-19)
Final	20 May 2000 (2000-05-20)
Venue	Salón Teotihuacán Centro de Convenciones [es] Acapulco, Mexico
Organization
Organizer	Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI)
Production
Host broadcaster	Televisa
Director	Antonio Acevedo
Musical director	Nando Hernández
Presenters	Emmanuel Andrea Legarreta Bárbara Ferré Gabriela Spanic Nora Salinas
Participants
Number of entries	20
Number of finalists	10
Non-returning countries	Colombia Netherlands Antilles Uruguay
Participation map      Finalist countries     Countries eliminated in the semi-final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2000
Vote
Voting system	The members of a single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote
Winning song	United States "Hierba mala"
1998 ← OTI Festival

The OTI Festival 2000 (Spanish: Vigésimo Octavo Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Vigésimo Oitavo Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 28th and last edition of the OTI Festival. It consisted of a semi-final on 19 May and a final on 20 May 2000, held at the Salón Teotihuacán of the Centro de Convenciones [es] in Acapulco, Mexico, and presented by Emmanuel, Andrea Legarreta, Bárbara Ferré, Gabriela Spanic, and Nora Salinas. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Televisa. Initially scheduled for 19–20 November 1999 in Veracruz, it had to be postponed and relocated due to the severe flooding that occurred in early October in the country, which devastated the city.

Broadcasters from twenty countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "Hierba mala" performed by Hermanas Chirino representing the United States; with "Con una canción" by José Vega representing Puerto Rico placing second; and "Mi vida" by Natalia Sosa representing Mexico placing third.

Location

Centro de Convenciones, Acapulco – host venue of the OTI Festival 2000.

The Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) designated Televisa as the host broadcaster for the 28th edition of the OTI Festival. The event was initially scheduled for 19–20 November 1999 in Veracruz, but it had to be suspended due to the severe flooding that occurred in early October in the country, which devastated the city. Televisa, in agreement with the OTI, decided to postpone the event to May 2000, relocating it to Acapulco. The venue selected was the Salón Teotihuacán of the Centro de Convenciones [es], which is a multipurpose hall with an area of 5,475 m² (58,930 sq ft) within the convention and exhibition center. The hall had hosted the festival in 1991.

Participants

Broadcasters from twenty countries participated in this edition of the OTI Festival. The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Spain, Portugal, and eighteen Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America signed up for the festival. From the countries that participated in the previous edition only Colombia, the Netherlands Antilles, and Uruguay were absent.

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: Guillermo Guido [es] had represented Argentina in 1988 and 1996 (winning in 1988), and Luis Fernando Piedra had represented Costa Rica in 1993.

Participants of the OTI Festival 2000

Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Argentina		Guillermo Guido [es]	"Amar es tan simple"	Spanish	Alejandro Szwarcman	José Ogivieki
Bolivia		Micaela	"Destino"	Spanish	Carlos Kieffer Jens Meyer
Chile	UCTV	Magdalena Matthey	"Tú, naturaleza"	Spanish	María Magdalena Matthey	Tilo González
Costa Rica	Repretel	Hernán Corao and Luis Fernando Piedra	"Como la marea"	Spanish	Luis Fernando Piedra	Willliam Porras
Cuba	ICRT	Indira Hernández	"Una vida nueva"	Spanish	Leonel Viera López	Nando Hernández
Dominican Republic		Rando Camasta	"¿Qué nos pasa?"	Spanish	Rando Camasta	Nando Hernández
Ecuador		Danilo Fernando Rosero Murillo	"Canto por ti, por amor"	Spanish	Gustavo Maruri Cedeño Roy Gabriel Maruri Salazar
El Salvador	TCS	Marinella Arrué	"Soñador"	Spanish	Roberto Godoy
Guatemala		Lico Vadelli	"Luna serena"	Spanish	Fernando Scheel
Honduras		Diana Lara	"Te entregué mi corazón"	Spanish	Serafina de Milla
Mexico	Televisa	Natalia Sosa	"Mi vida"	Spanish	Gerardo Flores
Nicaragua		Lya Barrioz	"Libera el corazón"	Spanish	Chrystiam Somarriba Roberto Damha Hugo Castilla
Panama		Jorge Bordanea	"Un mañana mejor"	Spanish	Jorge Bordanea Carlos Iván Zúñiga Juan Carlos Bordanea
Paraguay		Lenys	"Empiezo a vivir"	Spanish	Lenys
Peru		Anna Carina	"Un planeta, un corazón"	Spanish	Gonzalo Polar Jorge Sabogal
Portugal	RTP	Lena d'Água	"Mar Portugal"	Portuguese	José Jorge Letria José Marinho
Puerto Rico	Telemundo Puerto Rico	José Vega	"Con una canción"	Spanish	José Vega	Pedro Rivera Toledo
Spain	TVE	Sylvia Pantoja [es]	"Volver al sur"	Spanish	Eladio Ballester Alberto Tarín	Nando Hernández
United States	Univision	Hermanas Chirino	"Hierba mala"	Spanish	Angie Chirio Olga María Chirino Emilio Estefan
Venezuela		Mary Olga Rodríguez	"Yo cantante"	Spanish	Alicia Lozada

Festival overview

The festival consisted of a semi-final on Friday 19 May and a final on Saturday 20 May 2000. It was presented by Emmanuel, Andrea Legarreta, Bárbara Ferré, Gabriela Spanic, and Nora Salinas. The musical director was Nando Hernández, who conducted the orchestra when required.

Semi-final

The semi-final was held on Friday 19 May 2000. The twenty participating entries were performed in the semi-final, of which only ten advanced to the final, with Mexico having a guaranteed place in the final as the host country.

  Qualifier

Results of the semi-final of the OTI Festival 2000^[1]

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Result
1	Bolivia	Micaela	"Destino"	—N/a
6	Dominican Republic	Rando Camasta	"¿Qué nos pasa?"	Qualified
7	Costa Rica	Hernán Corao and Luis Fernando Piedra	"Como la marea"	Qualified
13	Guatemala	Lico Vadelli	"Luna serena"	—N/a
15	Venezuela	Mary Olga Rodríguez	"Yo cantante"	—N/a
17	Paraguay	Lenys	"Empiezo a vivir"	—N/a
	Argentina	Guillermo Guido [es]	"Amar es tan simple"	Qualified
	Chile	Magdalena Matthey	"Tú, naturaleza"	—N/a
	Cuba	Indira Hernández	"Una vida nueva"	Qualified
	Ecuador	Danilo Fernando Rosero Murillo	"Canto por ti, por amor"	—N/a
	El Salvador	Marinella Arrué	"Soñador"	—N/a
	Honduras	Diana Lara	"Te entregué mi corazón"	—N/a
	Mexico	Natalia Sosa	"Mi vida"	Qualified
	Nicaragua	Lya Barrioz	"Libera el corazón"	—N/a
	Panama	Jorge Bordanea	"Un mañana mejor"	—N/a
	Peru	Anna Carina	"Un planeta, un corazón"	Qualified
	Portugal	Lena d'Água	"Mar Portugal"	Qualified
	Puerto Rico	José Vega	"Con una canción"	Qualified
	Spain	Sylvia Pantoja [es]	"Volver al sur"	Qualified
	United States	Hermanas Chirino	"Hierba mala"	Qualified

Final

The final was held on Saturday 20 May 2000. It opened with a medley of some of the songs that have won the festival throughout its history performed by the members of the backing choir: "Una canción no es suficiente" (representing Mexico in 1989), "A dónde voy sin ti" (Spain 1992), "Canción dispareja" (Argentina 1994), "La felicidad" (Mexico 1975), "Se diga lo que se diga" (Mexico 1997), and "Fin de siglo, éste es el tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse" (Chile 1998), with the latter leaded by its original singer Florcita Motuda. The show also featured another winning song performed by its original performer: "El fandango aquí" by Eugenia León (Mexico 1985); and other performances by Charlie Zaa, Marco Antonio Solís, Hernaldo Zúñiga, Francisco Céspedes, and Emmanuel.

The winner was the song "Hierba mala" performed by Hermanas Chirino representing the United States; with "Con una canción" by José Vega representing Puerto Rico placing second; and "Mi vida" by Natalia Sosa representing Mexico placing third.^[2] There was a trophy for each of the first three places. The first prize trophy was delivered by Emilio Azcárraga, president of OTI, and the beauty ambassador of Costa Rica; the second prize trophy by Eladio Lárez, vice-president of OTI, and the beauty ambassador of Venezuela; and the third prize trophy by Nicolás Castillo, president of the OTI programs committee, and the beauty ambassador of the United States. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

  Winner

Results of the final of the OTI Festival 2000^[3]

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Place
1	Cuba	Indira Hernández	"Una vida nueva"	—N/a
2	United States	Hermanas Chirino	"Hierba mala"	1
3	Argentina	Guillermo Guido [es]	"Amar es tan simple"	—N/a
5	Costa Rica	Hernán Corao and Luis Fernando Piedra	"Como la marea"	—N/a
6	Puerto Rico	José Vega	"Con una canción"	2
7	Spain	Sylvia Pantoja [es]	"Volver al sur"	—N/a
8	Dominican Republic	Rando Camasta	"¿Qué nos pasa?"	—N/a
9	Peru	Anna Carina	"Un planeta, un corazón"	—N/a
	Mexico	Natalia Sosa	"Mi vida"	3
	Portugal	Lena d'Água	"Mar Portugal"	—N/a

Jury

The nine members of a single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote. The voting system was not disclosed, and in the final only the top three places were revealed, with third place awarded to two songs jointly. The members of the jury were:

• Emanuel Ortega – singer-songwriter
• Felipe Gil – songwriter, wrote the entries for Mexico in 1975 and 1981, winning in 1975
• Alejandro Abad – singer-songwriter, wrote the winning entries for Spain in 1993 and 1995
• Charlie Zaa – singer
• Florcita Motuda – musician, represented Chile in 1978, 1981, and 1998, winning in 1998
• Eduardo Magallanes [es] – composer, wrote the entry for Mexico in 1979
• Kike Santander – composer
• Hernaldo Zúñiga – singer-songwriter, represented Nicaragua in 1974
• Noelia – singer-songwriter

Broadcast

The festival was broadcast in the 20 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.
Chile	UCTV	Canal 13	Final	Claudia Conserva and Marcelo Comparini [es]	[4]
Costa Rica	Repretel	Canal 4	Semi-final[a]		[5]
		Canal 6	Final
Mexico	Televisa		All shows
Spain	TVE	La Primera	All shows	José Luis Uribarri	[6][7]

Notes

1. Delayed broadcast at 22:00 CST (04:00+1 UTC)

References

1. Semifinal del XXVIII Festival de la canción OTI 2000 (Television programme) (in Spanish). Acapulco, Mexico: Televisa. 19 May 2000.
2. "Silbidos a los ganadores del Festival OTI". La Jornada (in Spanish). 21 May 2000.
3. Final del XXVIII Festival de la canción OTI 2000 (Television programme) (in Spanish). Acapulco, Mexico: Televisa. 20 May 2000.
4. "Canal 13 transmite final de la OTI". El Mercurio (in Spanish). 18 May 2000.
5. "Iberoamérica a una voz". La Nación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 19 May 2000.
6. "La programación de hoy". La Tribuna (in Spanish). Ciudad Real, Spain. 19 May 2000. p. 83 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
7. "La programación de hoy". La Tribuna (in Spanish). Ciudad Real, Spain. 20 May 2000. p. 63 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].