OTI Festival 1972
1st OTI Song Festival
OTI Festival 1972
Date and venue
Final
  • 25 November 1972 (1972-11-25)
VenuePalacio de Exposiciones y Congresos auditorium
Madrid, Spain
Organization
OrganizerOrganización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI)
SupervisorAmaury Daumas
Host broadcasterTelevisión Española (TVE)
Musical directorAugusto Algueró
Presenters
Participants
Number of entries13
Debuting countriesAll
  • A coloured map of the countries of Ibero-America
         Participating countries
Vote
Voting systemEach country had 5 jurors and each of them voted for their favorite entry.
Winning song Brazil
"Diálogo"
OTI Festival → 1973

The OTI Festival 1972 (Spanish: Primer Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Primeiro Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the first edition of the OTI Festival, held on 25 November 1972 at the auditorium of the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos in Madrid, Spain, and presented by Rosa María Mateo and Raúl Matas. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE).

Broadcasters from fourteen countries were expected to debut in the festival, but the entry from Mexico was disqualified because its lyrics didn't comply with the rules, and the Mexican broadcaster didn't send a replacement. Of the remaining thirteen entries who took the stage, the winner was the song "Diálogo" performed by Claudia Regina and Tobías representing Brazil, with "Oh, Señor" by Basilio [es] representing Panama placing second, and "Niña" by Marisol representing Spain placing third.

The broadcast of the festival marked the first time in history that so many countries linked together via satellite to participate in a song contest.

Background

The Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) was formed in 1971 as a tool of exchange of news and audiovisual contents of any kind between the active member broadcasters. As a part of those goals, the organisation agreed to create a competitive song festival, the Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana/Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana, following the example of the Eurovision Song Contest, in order to encourage the creation of original songs among Spanish and Portuguese-speaking authors, composers, and performers.[1]

Location

Exhibition and Convention Palace, Madrid – host venue of the OTI Festival 1972.

The members of the organisation agreed that Televisión Española (TVE) would hold the first edition of the OTI Festival in Madrid. The venue selected was the auditorium of the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, with a seat capacity for over 1,500 people. This exhibition and convention hall, which was, at that time, the biggest convention-oriented building of Spain, is located in the Castellana neighborhood, in the central part of the city. The building was designed by Pablo Pintado y Riba [es]. Construction was finished in 1970 and the large tile mural on its façade by ceramist Josep Llorens i Artigas following a design by Joan Miró was added later in 1980.[2]

Participants

The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Spain, Portugal, and twelve Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America initially signed up for the contest.[3] Telesistema Mexicano (TSM) had initially registered for the contest, and had selected through its 1st National OTI Festival the song "Yo no voy a la guerra", written by Roberto Cantoral, and performed by Alberto Ángel "El Cuervo" [es], as its entry; but this was disqualified by the OTI Program Commission because its lyrics didn't comply with the rules of the competition for going against "the idiosyncratic sensitivity or way of life of the Ibero-American peoples".[a] The commission asked TSM to submit a new song, but it did not do so on such short notice. Mexico had been drawn to perform between Colombia and Peru.[4][5] This left the final total number of participants at thirteen.

X Disqualified entry
Participants of the OTI Festival 1972[6]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
Argentina Canal 7 Argentina Víctor Heredia "Sabes que estamos aquí América" Spanish Víctor Heredia Augusto Algueró
Brazil Rede Tupi Claudia Regina & Tobías "Diálogo" Portuguese
Carlos Monteiro De Souza
Bolivia TVB Arturo Quesada "No volveré a pasar por allí" Spanish
Eddy Guerín
Chile TVN Guillermo Basterrechea [es] "Una vez, otra vez" Spanish
  • Eduardo Tarifa
  • Guillermo Basterrechea
 Eddy Guerín
Colombia Inravisión Christopher "Volverás a mis brazos" Spanish
  • Eduardo Cabas de la Espriella
  • Armando Velázquez
 Armando Velázquez
Dominican Republic Fernando Casado "Siempre habrá en la luna una sonrisa" Spanish Meche Diez Augusto Algueró
Mexico X TSM Alberto Ángel "El Cuervo" [es] "Yo no voy a la guerra" Spanish Roberto Cantoral X
Panama RPC Basilio [es] "Oh señor" Spanish
Augusto Algueró
Peru Panamericana Televisión Betty Missiego "Recuerdos de un adiós" Spanish Betty Missiego Román Alís
Portugal RTP Tonicha "Glória Glória Aleluia" Portuguese José Cid Tavares Augusto Algueró
Puerto Rico WKAQ-Telemundo Chucho Avellanet "Por ti" Spanish Guillermo Venegas Lloveras Pedro Rivera Toledo
Spain TVE Marisol "Niña" Spanish Manuel Alejandro Augusto Algueró
Uruguay Sociedad Televisora Larrañaga Rona "Busco mi destino" Spanish Jorge da Trindade Augusto Algueró
Venezuela RCTV Mirla Castellanos "Sueños de cristal y miel" Spanish Pablo Schneider Eduardo Cabrera

Festival overview

The festival was held on Saturday 25 November 1972, beginning at 24:00 CET (23:00 UTC).[b] It was presented by Rosa María Mateo and Raúl Matas. The musical director was Augusto Algueró who conducted the RTVE Light Music Orchestra when required. The draw to determine the running order (R/O) was held on 30 October, at the TVE boardroom in Prado del Rey.[7] Participants began rehearsing at the venue on 21 November.[8]

The show began with the "OTI Theme" composed by Ernesto Halffter. In between the songs in competition, traditional dance groups of the Sección Femenina from Ibiza, Redondela, and Seville performed. The interval act consisted of an orchestral medley of Algueró songs "Penélope [es]" and "Te quiero, te quiero".[6]

The winner was the song "Diálogo" performed by Claudia Regina and Tobías representing Brazil, with "Oh, Señor" by Basilio [es] representing Panama placing second, and "Niña" by Marisol representing Spain placing third. The performers of the winning entry received a single trophy while its composer and lyricist each received a plaque. The performers of the entries who placed second and third each received a trophy. The prizes were delivered by Eduardo Reina, president of the OTI programs committee; and Luis Ángel de la Viuda [es], director of TVE. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

  Winner
Results of the OTI Festival 1972[6]
R/O Country Artist Song Votes Place
1 Bolivia Arturo Quesada "No volveré a pasar por allí" 3 9
2 Chile Guillermo Basterrechea [es] "Una vez, otra vez" 4 7
3 Puerto Rico Chucho Avellanet "Por ti" 6 4
4 Spain Marisol "Niña" 7 3
5 Colombia Christopher "Volverás a mis brazos" 3 9
6 Peru Betty Missiego "Recuerdos de un adiós" 3 9
7 Uruguay Rona "Busco mi destino" 3 9
8 Argentina Víctor Heredia "Sabes que aquí estamos, América" 3 9
9 Portugal Tonicha "Glória, glória, aleluia" 5 6
10 Venezuela Mirla Castellanos "Sueños de cristal y miel" 6 4
11 Brazil Claudia Regina & Tobías "Diálogo" 10 1
12 Panama Basilio [es] "Oh, Señor" 8 2
13 Dominican Republic Fernando Casado "Siempre habrá en la luna una sonrisa" 4 7

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective jury in the order of participation via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1972 festival are listed below.

  •  Bolivia – María Eugenia Ruiz[c]
  •  Spain – José Luis Uribarri
  •  Uruguay – Antonio Carrizo[d]
  •  Argentina – Antonio Carrizo[d]
  •  Panama – Eduardo Frangias
  •  Dominican Republic – Adriano Rodríguez[c]

Detailed voting results

Each participating broadcaster assembled a national jury located in its respective country, composed of five members each. Each juror gave one vote to its favorite entry and could not vote for the entry representing its own country. Each participating broadcaster had also a delegate present in the hall to stand in for its jury if it was not receiving the event live, or in case of communication failure during the broadcast or voting. In the event of a tie for first place, the stand-in delegates from the countries not affected by the tie would vote to select the winning song from among the tied ones. In the event of a tie for second or third place, no tiebreaker would be held. All the countries gave their votes remotely by telephone, except for Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, who used the stand-in delegates since they were not receiving the event live. The voting was supervised by OTI representative Amaury Daumas.[6]

Voting process

  Winner
Detailed voting results of the OTI Festival 1972
Voter:
  National jury
  Stand-in delegate
 Voting countries Classification
Bolivia
Chile
Puerto Rico
Spain
Colombia
Peru
Uruguay
Argentina
Portugal
Venezuela
Brazil
Panama
Dominican Republic
 Votes Place
Contestants
 Bolivia 1 1 1 3 9
Chile 2 1 1 4 7
Puerto Rico 1 2 1 2 6 4
Spain 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 3
Colombia 1 1 1 3 9
Peru 1 1 1 3 9
Uruguay 1 1 1 3 9
Argentina 1 1 1 3 9
Portugal 1 1 2 1 5 6
Venezuela 1 1 1 1 2 6 4
Brazil 1 1 1 1 1 5 10 1
Panama 1 2 1 4 8 2
Dominican Republic 2 1 1 4 7

Broadcast

The festival was broadcast in the 13 participating countries and in Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States, where the corresponding OTI member broadcasters relayed the contest through their networks. This marked the first time in history that so many countries linked together via satellite to participate in a song contest. From Madrid, the television signal was sent via the Intelsat IV satellite to the Americas, where eight ground stations were responsible for distributing it to the broadcasters within their reach. Of the participating countries, only Bolivia and the Dominican Republic did not receive the event live, as they neither had a satellite ground station nor were within reach of one.[8]

Since most broadcasters in the Americas used the 525 lines television system, TVE produced the festival in color natively in that system to avoid intermediate conversions. The signal was subsequently converted to the 625 lines system by the receiving broadcasters in Argentina, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay.[8]

Although Spain and the American countries are separated by a wide time difference, the show was an enormous success and was watched by over one hundred million people. Mexico was the country where the viewing figures were the highest, although the country did not participate in the competition.[9]

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) Commentator(s) Ref.
 Colombia Inravisión Canal Nacional[e] [10]
 Puerto Rico WKAQ-Telemundo Canal 2 [11]
 Spain TVE TVE 1 No commentary [12]
Radio Popular[f] [13]
Cadena SER[g] [14]

Notes

  1. ^ TVE had previously declined the right granted to it by the rules to accept or reject songs, so the decision to reject the Mexican song was made solely by the OTI Program Commission.
  2. ^ Which was actually Sunday 26 November in peninsular Spain.
  3. ^ a b The stand-in delegates of Bolivia and the Dominican Republic announced their votes themselves on stage.
  4. ^ a b Uruguay and Argentina shared the spokesperson since the juries of both countries were located in the same facilities in Buenos Aires.
  5. ^ Delayed broadcast on 26 November at 22:05 COT (03:05+1 UTC)
  6. ^ Simulcast on Radio Popular de Mallorca.[13]
  7. ^ Simulcast on Radio Castellón [es],[14] Radio Rioja,[12] and Radio Valladolid [es].[15]

References

  1. ^ "FESTIVAL OTI (1972 – 1976) – TAL COMO LO VIVIMOS". www.serlesa.com.mx (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  2. ^ "Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos". Fundación Arquitectura (in Spanish).
  3. ^ "1972.- MADRID". La OTI. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  4. ^ "Comienzan los problemas en el Festival de la OTI". El Adelantado de Segovia [es] (in Spanish). Segovia, Spain. 20 November 1972. p. 8 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
  5. ^ Amiguet, Teresa (26 November 2022). "Prohibido cantar contra la guerra". La Vanguardia (in Spanish).
  6. ^ a b c d I Festival de la canción OTI 1972 (Television programme) (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Televisión Española (TVE). 25 November 1972.
  7. ^ "Orden de actuación en el Festival OTI". 7 Fechas [es] (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. 14 November 1972. p. 17 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
  8. ^ a b c "Hoy el I festival de la canción de la OTI" [Today the first OTI song festival]. Diario de Barcelona (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 25 November 1972. p. 22 – via Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona [ca].
  9. ^ Maffei, Evangelina (2011-04-30). "Festivales de la Canción Popular: 1972 - I FESTIVAL IBEROAMERICANO DE LA CANCIÓN - OTI - Madrid". Festivales de la Canción Popular. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  10. ^ "Televisión" [Television]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia. 26 November 1972. p. 2-A. Retrieved 20 October 2025 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Galán, Gilda (25 November 1972). "Hoy televisan festival OTI". El Imparcial (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 22.
  12. ^ a b "Radio - TV". La Rioja [es] (in Spanish). Logroño, Spain. 25 November 1972. p. 22 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
  13. ^ a b "Radio". Baleares [es] (in Spanish). Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 25 November 1972. p. 2 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
  14. ^ a b "Programas de las emisoras castellonenses". Mediterráneo [es] (in Spanish). Castellón de la Plana, Spain. 25 November 1972. p. 4 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
  15. ^ "Radio y Televisión" [Radio and Television]. Libertad (in Spanish). Valladolid, Spain. 25 November 1972. p. 4 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers [es].
  • 1st OTI Festival, Madrid 1972 at RTVE Play (in Spanish)
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