OTI Festival 1994

OTI Festival 1994
Dates and venue
Semi-final	14 October 1994 (1994-10-14)
Final	15 October 1994 (1994-10-15)
Venue	Teatro Principal Valencia, Spain
Organization
Organizer	Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI)
Production
Host broadcaster	Televisión Española (TVE)
Director	José Luis Moreno [es]
Musical director	José Fabra
Presenters	Ana Obregón Francisco [es]
Participants
Number of entries	24
Number of finalists	12
Non-returning countries	Canada
Participation map      Finalist countries     Countries eliminated in the semi-final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1994
Vote
Voting system	Each member of a single jury awards 5–1 points to its five favourite songs in a secret vote
Winning song	Argentina "Canción despareja"
1993 ← OTI Festival → 1995

The OTI Festival 1994 (Spanish: Vigésimo Tercer Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Vigésimo Terceiro Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 23rd edition of the OTI Festival. It consisted of a semi-final on 14 October and a final on 15 October 1994, held at Teatro Principal in Valencia, Spain, and presented by Ana Obregón and Francisco [es]. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE), who staged the event after winning the 1993 festival for Spain with the song "Enamorarse" by Ana Reverte [es].

Broadcasters from twenty-four countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "Canción despareja" performed by Claudia Carenzio representing Argentina; with "Cuestión de suerte" by Ana María representing Spain placing second; and "Enfurecida" by Luis Silva [es] representing Venezuela placing third.

Teatro Principal, Valencia – host venue of the OTI Festival 1994.

For the third consecutive year, the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) designated Televisión Española (TVE) as the host broadcaster for the 23rd edition of the OTI Festival. TVE staged the event again in Valencia. The selected venue was the venue that hosted the two previous editions, Teatro Principal, a theatre opened in 1832 that was designed by Filippo da Pistoia.

Broadcasters from twenty-four countries participated in this edition of the OTI festival. The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Spain, Portugal, and twenty-two Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America signed up for the festival. From the countries that participated in the previous edition, only Canada was absent.

Some of the participating broadcasters, such as those representing Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, and the United States, selected their entries through their regular national televised competitions. Other broadcasters decided to select their entry internally.

Two performing artists had previously represented the same country in previous editions: Ricardo Padilla [es] had represented Costa Rica in 1980 and 1982, and Rocky Belmonte [es] had represented Peru in 1988 and 1990.

Participants of the OTI Festival 1994[1]

Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Argentina		Claudia Carenzio	"Canción despareja"	Spanish	Bibi Albert
Bolivia		Gilka Gutiérrez	"Para poder hablar de amor"	Spanish	Edwin Castellanos [es]
Brazil		Zé Renato	"Mulher"	Portuguese	C. Mesquita S. Cabral
Chile	TVN UCTV Chilevisión CCT Megavisión	María Inés Naveillán [es]	"La vida va"	Spanish	Luis Poncho Venegas
Colombia		Jorge Hernán Baena	"Quiero saber"	Spanish	Francesco
Costa Rica		Ricardo Padilla [es]	"Como vino... se fue"	Spanish	Ricardo Padilla
Cuba	ICRT	Osvaldo Rodríguez	"Amor y cadenas"	Spanish	Osvaldo Rodríguez	Guillermo Valverde
Dominican Republic		Miriam Cruz	"Con agua de sal"	Spanish	Manuel Jiménez
Ecuador		Felipe y Francisco Terán (Contravía [es])	"Temporada baja"	Spanish	Francisco Terán
El Salvador	TCS	Claudia Basagoitia	"Tú, sólo tú"	Spanish	José Balter
Guatemala		Noris	"Sor Juana Inés y el ángel"	Spanish	Álvaro R. Aguilar
Honduras		Delma Adriana Reyes	"Espera hasta que den las tres"	Spanish	Reniery Seaman Silva
Mexico	Televisa	Fuga de Goya	"Rompe el cristal"	Spanish	José María Frías Carlos Muñoz
Netherlands Antilles	ATM	Boy Thode	"Libre"	Spanish	Erroll Colina Frank Cafsia
Nicaragua		Álvaro Villagra [es]	"La sombra del sol"	Spanish	Francis Leticia Boruckin
Panama		Armando Valdivieso	"Mi ciudad"	Spanish	A. Almanza Armando Valdivieso
Paraguay		Cristina Vera Díaz	"Tierra herida"	Spanish	Belisario Cristina Vera R.A. Bucak
Peru		Rocky Belmonte [es]	"Mía"	Spanish	Armando Massé [es]
Portugal	RTP	Mafalda Sacchetti [pt]	"Eu quero um planeta azul"	Portuguese	Rosa Lobato de Faria João Mota [pt]
Puerto Rico	Telemundo Puerto Rico	Jessica Cristina	"Lo que te toca vivir"	Spanish	José Luis Melendez	Pedro Rivera
Spain	TVE	Ana María	"Cuestión de suerte"	Spanish	Chema Purón [es]	José Fabra
United States	Univision	Héctor Galaz	"Ganas de gritar"	Spanish	Omar Sánchez
Uruguay	Sociedad Televisora Larrañaga	Laura Canoura	"Tus sentidos"	Spanish	Laura Canoura Hugo Fattoruso
Venezuela		Luis Silva [es]	"Enfurecida"	Spanish	J. Leonardo Luis Silva L. Oliver

The festival consisted of a semi-final on Friday 14 October and a final on Saturday 15 October 1994. It was directed by José Luis Moreno [es] and presented by Ana Obregón and Francisco [es]. Francisco had presented the festival in 1993. The musical director was José Fabra, who conducted the 60-piece orchestra when required. The shows featured guest performances by Lola Flores, Sergio Dalma, Los Panchos, The Platters, José Feliciano, Emmanuel, Mireille Mathieu, El Consorcio, and María Vidal.[2]

The semi-final was held on Friday 14 October 1994, beginning at 22:30 CET (21:30 UTC). The twenty-four participating entries were performed in the semi-final, of which only twelve advanced to the final. The position of the entries was not revealed, only the qualifiers were announced.

Results of the semi-final of the OTI Festival 1994[1]

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Result
1	Nicaragua	Álvaro Villagra [es]	"La sombra del sol"	—N/a
2	Puerto Rico	Jessica Cristina	"Lo que te toca vivir"	—N/a
3	Argentina	Claudia Carenzio	"Canción despareja"	Qualified
4	Brazil	Zé Renato	"Mulher"	Qualified
5	Honduras	Delma Adriana Reyes	"Espera hasta que den las tres"	—N/a
6	Mexico	Fuga de Goya	"Rompe el cristal"	Qualified
7	Peru	Rocky Belmonte [es]	"Mía"	—N/a
8	Cuba	Osvaldo Rodríguez	"Amor y cadenas"	Qualified
9	Guatemala	Noris	"Sor Juana Inés y el ángel"	—N/a
10	Chile	María Inés Naveillán [es]	"La vida va"	Qualified
11	United States	Héctor Galaz	"Ganas de gritar"	Qualified
12	Colombia	Jorge Hernán Baena	"Quiero saber"	—N/a
13	Panama	Armando Valdivieso	"Mi ciudad"	—N/a
14	Ecuador	Felipe y Francisco Terán (Contravía [es])	"Temporada baja"	Qualified
15	Portugal	Mafalda Sacchetti [pt]	"Eu quero um planeta azul"	Qualified
16	Dominican Republic	Miriam Cruz	"Con agua de sal"	Qualified
17	Netherlands Antilles	Boy Thode	"Libre"	—N/a
18	Costa Rica	Ricardo Padilla [es]	"Como vino... se fue"	—N/a
19	Bolivia	Gilka Gutiérrez	"Para poder hablar de amor"	Qualified
20	El Salvador	Claudia Basagoitia	"Tú, sólo tú"	—N/a
21	Paraguay	Cristina Vera Díaz	"Tierra herida"	—N/a
22	Venezuela	Luis Silva [es]	"Enfurecida"	Qualified
23	Uruguay	Laura Canoura	"Tus sentidos"	—N/a
24	Spain	Ana María	"Cuestión de suerte"	Qualified

The final was held on Saturday 15 October 1994, beginning at 22:30 CET (21:30 UTC).

The winner was the song "Canción despareja" performed by Claudia Carenzio representing Argentina; with "Cuestión de suerte" by Ana María representing Spain placing second; and "Enfurecida" by Luis Silva [es] representing Venezuela placing third. The first prize was endowed with a monetary amount of US$50,000, the second prize of US$30,000, and the third prize of US$20,000. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

Results of the final of the OTI Festival 1994[3]

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Points	Place
	Argentina	Claudia Carenzio	"Canción despareja"	31	1
	Brazil	Zé Renato	"Mulher"	0	11
	Mexico	Fuga de Goya	"Rompe el cristal"	9	5
	Cuba	Osvaldo Rodríguez	"Amor y cadenas"	3	9
	Chile	María Inés Naveillán [es]	"La vida va"	3	9
	United States	Héctor Galaz	"Ganas de gritar"	0	11
	Ecuador	Felipe y Francisco Terán (Contravía [es])	"Temporada baja"	6	7
	Portugal	Mafalda Sacchetti [pt]	"Eu quero um planeta azul"	6	7
	Dominican Republic	Miriam Cruz	"Con agua de sal"	10	4
	Bolivia	Gilka Gutiérrez	"Para poder hablar de amor"	8	6
	Venezuela	Luis Silva [es]	"Enfurecida"	16	3
	Spain	Ana María	"Cuestión de suerte"	28	2

The members of a single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote. The members of the event's orchestra acted collectively as one juror. The members of the jury were:[4]

• José Feliciano – singer
• Simón Díaz – singer
• Rosita Amores – performer
• Rafael Basurto – singer, member of Los Panchos
• Jayme Marques [es] – composer
• Rafael Beltrán – composer
• Marco Quelhas [pt] – composer
• Event's orquestra

Each of the members of the jury awarded 5–1 points to its five favourite songs in order of preference, and wrote its vote anonymously on a ballot. In the semi-final, only the qualifiers were announced. In the final, the counting was conducted publicly, with the hosts announcing the results of each ballot, which were picked in random order.

The festival was broadcast in the 24 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.
Netherlands Antilles	ATM	TeleCuraçao	All shows[a]		[5]
Spain	TVE	La Primera	All shows	No commentary	[6][7]

The Venezuelan entry, "Enfurecida" by Luis Silva was used as the opening theme song for the telenovela Pura sangre.