Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and its member station Canal 13 Paraguay (Now Red Paraguaya de Comunicación RPC), debuted 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 its seventh edition, which was held in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

in 1978. The first Paraguayan representative in the contest was the veteran Rolando Percy, who got a disappointing 18th place with zero points. The same singer would return to the event in 1990 and 1995 with disappointing placings. Since their debut, the Guarani country participated almost uninterruptedly except in 1982, their only withdrawal from the contest.

History

Just like the most of the participating countries and broadcasters in the OTI Festival, Canal 13 Paraguay selected its entrants internally. Their participants in the contest were not very successful, but in 1981, the country reached the top 10 for first time with Alberto de Luque and his song "Vos y yo seremos todos" (You and me will be everybody) which placed 8th. After a withdrawal in 1982, the next year in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Paraguay recorded one of its most successful participations with the folk singer Marco de Brix and his song "Soñaremos como ayer" (We will dream just like yesterday) which placed fourth after receiving a warm welcome by the members of the jury. The same singer, five years later, returned to the event in 1988 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

with his song "Un mundo diferente" (A different world) which was even more successful than his previous entry achieving second place with 25 points. Since then, the South American country never managed to reach the top 10 again.

Contestants

References

{{OTI Festival OTI Festival Paraguayan culture