This Central Américan country made its debut in the

OTI festival OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción, pt, Festival OTI da Canção), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) ...

in 1974 when the contest was being held in the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

tourist city of

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and its OTI member TV Station, Televisiete participated in the event almost uninterruptedly and withdrew only twice, in 1978 and 1979. The participation of

Ricardo Arjona Edgar Ricardo Arjona Algadeoro (born 19 January 1964), known as Ricardo Arjona (), is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter. Arjona is one of the most successful and best-selling Latin American artists of all time, with more than 80 million records so ...

, who represented his country in 1987, is of particular note. Although he only managed to get the 12th place, he rose quickly to stardom.

History

Although Guatemala sent some well known names to the OTI Festival, this country had a lustreless trajectory in the festival. The Guatemalan Broadcaster never managed to win the festival. This country placed second in 1974, their debut year, with Tanya Zea. The country managed to reach the top 10 again in 1976 with Hugo Leonel Baccaro and in 1980 with Grupo Madrigal. Since then, the Central American Country got only moderate placings.

National Final

Following the example of

México Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and later

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, Televisiete also created its own national selection process for Guatemala. The Guatemalan national OTI festival was celebrated every year in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

since the debut of the country in the festival. As in the other countries where a preselection was organised, the winner act, who would represent the country in the Song Contest was elected by a professional jury who voted for their favourite performers.

Contestants

References

{{OTI Festival OTI Festival Guatemalan music