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OTI Festival 1986

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OTI Festival 1986
Date and venue
Final
  • 15 November 1986 (1986-11-15)
VenueMunicipal Theatre
Santiago, Chile
Organization
OrganizerOrganización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI)
SupervisorDarío de la Peña
Production
Host broadcaster
DirectorGonzalo Bertrán
Musical directorHoracio Saavedra
Presenters
Participants
Number of entries20
Debuting countries Canada
Returning countries Bolivia
Non-returning countries Netherlands Antilles
Nicaragua
Spain
  • A coloured map of the countries of Ibero-America
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1986
Vote
Voting systemEach member of a single jury awards 5–1 points to its five favourite songs in a secret vote
Winning song United States
"Todos"

The OTI Festival 1986 (Spanish: Decimoquinto Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Décimo Quinto Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 15th edition of the OTI Festival, held on 15 November 1986 at the Municipal Theatre in Santiago, Chile, and presented by Pamela Hodar and César Antonio Santis. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcasters Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), Corporación de Televisión de la Universidad Católica de Chile (UCTV), and Corporación de Televisión de la Universidad de Chile (UTV).

Broadcasters from twenty countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "Todos", written by Vilma Planas, and performed by Dámaris Carbaugh, Miguel Ángel Guerra, and Eduardo Fabián representing the United States; with "De color de rosa", written and performed by Sylvia Tapia under her stage name Prisma representing Mexico, placing second; and "A ti no te ha dicho", written by Pedro Favini and Mono Flores, and performed by Hugo Marcel representing Argentina, placing third.

The lead-up to the contest was met with controversy over calls for a boycott because it would being held under a military dictatorship. These came mainly from Spain, which did not participate for the first and only time in the history of the festival. The event itself was impacted by a power outage that affected major cities across the country and halted local broadcasting due to a bomb attack on a power tower.

Location

Municipal Theatre, Santiago – host venue of the OTI Festival 1986.

The Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) designated Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), Corporación de Televisión de la Universidad Católica de Chile (UCTV), and Corporación de Televisión de la Universidad de Chile (UTV), as the joint host broadcasters for the 15th edition of the OTI Festival. The broadcasters, who collectively presented themselves as La televisión chilena, staged the event in Santiago. The venue selected was the Municipal Theatre, which is the most important stage theatre and opera house in the country. It was opened in 1857 and was designed by Claudio Brunet des Baines. The theatre had already hosted the OTI Festival 1978.

Throughout the week prior to the festival, conferences and seminars were held at Hotel Carrera. On 14 November 1986, the participating delegations took a sightseeing tour visiting Santiago during the day, and attended a party at Hotel Carrera, hosted by the Paraguayan Embassy, in the evening.[1]

Participants

Broadcasters from twenty countries participated in this edition of the OTI festival. The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Portugal and nineteen Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America signed up for the festival. Canada participated for the first time and Bolivia returned after having missed the festival since 1983. From the countries that participated in the previous edition, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, and Spain did not return.

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

Festival overview

Mario Zúñiga conducting the festival orchestra for El Salvador.

The festival was held on Saturday 15 November 1986, beginning at 20:30 CLST (23:30 UTC). It was presented by Pamela Hodar and César Antonio Santis. The musical director was Horacio Saavedra, who conducted the 40-piece orchestra when required. Between the participating songs and during the interval act, fragments of the musical comedy La pérgola de las flores were performed.[3]

The winner was the song "Todos", written by Vilma Planas, and performed by Dámaris Carbaugh, Miguel Ángel Guerra, and Eduardo Fabián representing the United States; with "De color de rosa", written and performed by Sylvia Tapia under her stage name Prisma representing Mexico, placing second; and "A ti no te ha dicho", written by Pedro Favini and Mono Flores, and performed by Hugo Marcel representing Argentina, placing third. Each of these entries received two trophies, one for the songwriters and one for the performer. The first prize trophies were delivered by Nicanor González, president of the OTI programs committee; the second prize trophies by Carlos Bombal, mayor of Santiago Centro; and the third prize trophies by Alfredo Escobar, vice-president of the OTI programs committee. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.[4]

  Winner

Jury

Each of the nine members of the single jury awarded 5–1 points to its five favourite songs in a secret vote. The voting was supervised by OTI representative Darío de la Peña. Only the top three places were revealed. The members of the jury were:

Broadcast

The festival was broadcast in the 20 participating countries where the corresponding OTI member broadcasters relayed the contest through their networks after receiving it live via satellite. It was reported that it was additionally broadcast in other two countries.

Known details on the broadcasts of the festival in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Incidents and controversies

Calls for a boycott

Spain did not participate for the first and only time in the history of the festival. On 16 July 1986, Televisión Española (TVE) sent a telegram to OTI formalizing its withdrawal showing its rejection to the Military dictatorship of Chile.[9] Ramón Criado, the director of TVE, called on all other OTI members to follow TVE's decision and not participate in the festival.[10] This decision, which was taken under José María Calviño as the general director of the broadcaster, was reconsidered by Pilar Miró, the new general director who took office on 20 October, and tried to enter a song into the festival but was unsuccessful in such a short time.[11]

The Venezuelan Radio and Television Workers' Union decided that none of its members would participate in the festival, in solidarity with Spain and in condemnation of the military regime. For this reason, singer Nilda López was expelled from the union after participating in the festival.[12]

Power outage

Near the end of the performance of the competing entries, a power outage that affected most of the country impacted the venue. It not only affected the Santiago metropolitan area, but reportedly also other major cities in Chile, such as Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, and Concepción, where the television broadcast went down. The power outage was caused by a bomb attack on a power tower claimed by the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front. Neither the festival itself nor its international broadcast were affected and continued as if nothing had happened.[13][14][15]

Notes

  1. Delayed broadcast at 22:00 EST (03:00+1 UTC)
  2. Delayed broadcast at 19:45 CST (01:45+1 UTC)
  3. Delayed broadcast later that day by all SIN affiliates, each in their own time zone.

References

  1. "Competencia musical pondrá fin a semana de integración". La Nación (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 15 November 1986. p. 30. Retrieved 30 January 2026 – via Archivo de la Palabra Impresa by Diego Portales University.
  2. XV Festival de la canción OTI 1986 (Television programme) (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Televisión Nacional de Chile, Universidad Católica de Chile Televisión, and Universidad de Chile Televisión. 15 November 1986.
  3. "Últimos retoques para la gran noche". La Nación (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 15 November 1986. p. 30. Retrieved 30 January 2026 – via Archivo de la Palabra Impresa by Diego Portales University.
  4. "Canción de unión y amor ganó OTI". La Nación (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 16 November 1986. p. 37. Retrieved 30 January 2026 – via Archivo de la Palabra Impresa by Diego Portales University.
  5. "Saturday Evening". The Toronto Star. Toronto, Canada. 24 October 1987. p. Starweek 36. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Teleprogramas". La Nación (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 15 November 1986. p. 29. Retrieved 30 January 2026 – via Archivo de la Palabra Impresa by Diego Portales University.
  7. "Programación de T.V. para hoy Sábado" [TV schedule for today, Saturday] (PDF). La Prensa Libre (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 15 November 1986. p. 21. Retrieved 28 May 2026 – via Sistema Nacional de Bibliotecas.
  8. "TV tonight". The San Bernardino Sun. San Bernardino, United States. 15 November 1986. p. D8 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  9. "TVE no participará" [TVE will not participate]. El País (in Spanish). 17 July 1986.
  10. "Llamamiento de TVE en contra del Festival de la OTI en Chile" [TVE appeals against the OTI Festival in Chile]. Diario de Burgos (in Spanish). Burgos, Spain. 19 July 1986. p. 15 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  11. "Consejo de Administración de RTVE". Diario Palentino (in Spanish). Palencia, Spain. 13 November 1986. p. 22 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  12. "Expulsados por cantar en Chile" [Expelled for singing in Chile]. Diario de Burgos (in Spanish). Burgos, Spain. 25 November 1986. p. 35 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  13. "Apagón en 5 regiones" [Power outage in 5 regions]. La Nación (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 16 November 1986. p. 18. Retrieved 30 January 2026 – via Archivo de la Palabra Impresa by Diego Portales University.
  14. "Apagón en Chile" [Power outage in Chile]. El País (in Spanish). 17 November 1986.
  15. "Apagón y atentados en capial chilena" [Power outage and attacks in the Chilean capital]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia. 17 November 1986. p. 11-A. Retrieved 21 October 2025 – via Google Books.