Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and its OTI member station, Telemundo Puerto Rico (Now WKAQ-TV) was one of the founding countries of 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) ...

and debuted in the show in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, competing uninterruptedly from the very first edition until the last show held in

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 ...

in 2000.

History

Puerto Rico, whose broadcaster selected its performers internally, had a promising start in the OTI Song Contest. In fact, the broadcaster always selected big names in order to compete in the event. The

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

island won the contest on two occasions, the first time with

Nydia Caro Nydia Caro (born June 7, 1948) is a Puerto Rican singer. Early years Caro was born in New York City to parents from Rincón, Puerto Rico, initiated her career in the arts at a very young age while living in New York. She attended James Monroe H. ...

and her song "Hoy sólo canto por cantar" (Today I just sing for singing) in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. This song, composed by Ricardo Cerrato, was enormously popular and very controversial for being considered an "anti-protest" song. Six years later, 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 ...

, the Puerto Rican branch of Telemundo recorded its second victory in the festival with

Rafael José Dr. Rafael José Diaz (born April 22, 1955) is a Puerto Rican actor, singer and television host. Biography Early life Rafael was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico, where his father, a physician born in the Dominican Republic, was the medical ...

and his song "Contigo, mujer" (With you woman), which was composed by Laureano Brizuela and

Ednita Nazario Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican musician, singer, and composer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three (23) studio ...

. Apart from their victories, the country managed to reach the top 10 in 8 occasions, but from 1983 on, the results of Puerto Rico in the contest started declining, In fact, since then, Telemundo was unable to reach the top ten positions again, until the last edition of the show in 2000, when the country got the second place with the media personality,

José Vega Santana José Vega Santana, known by his stage name "Remi" (born February 28, 1958) is a singer and clown from Puerto Rico. His career as a clown, spanning over 35 years, began with the group "Los Dulces Payasos" ("The Sweet Clowns") after developing t ...

and his song "Con una canción" (With one song). Telemundo Puerto Rico, hosted the OTI Festival in 1975 after the victory of Nydia Caro the previous year, according to the original rules of the show. The venue of the contest were the TV Studios of Telemundo in San Juan. The broadcaster created a colorful stage with a central platform and an orchestra section in the background.

Contestants

;Table key

References

{{OTI Festival OTI Festival Puerto Rican music