OTI Festival 1985

OTI Festival 1985
Date and venue
Final
  • 21 September 1985 (1985-09-21)
VenueTeatro Lope de Vega
Seville, Spain
Organization
OrganizerOrganización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI)
Production
Host broadcasterTelevisión Española (TVE)
DirectorFrancisco Navarrete
Musical directorEduardo Leiva
Presenters
Participants
Number of entries21
Returning countries Uruguay
Non-returning countries Brazil
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Ibero-AmericaArgentina in the OTI FestivalBolivia in the OTI FestivalBrazil in the OTI FestivalChile in the OTI Festival 1985Colombia in the OTI FestivalCosta Rica in the OTI FestivalDominican Republic in the OTI FestivalEcuador in the OTI FestivalEl Salvador in the OTI FestivalGuatemala in the OTI FestivalHonduras in the OTI FestivalMexico in the OTI Festival 1985Netherlands Antilles in the OTI Festival 1985Netherlands Antilles in the OTI Festival 1985Nicaragua in the OTI FestivalPanama in the OTI FestivalParaguay in the OTI FestivalPeru in the OTI FestivalPortugal in the OTI FestivalPuerto Rico in the OTI FestivalSpain in the OTI FestivalUnited States in the OTI Festival 1985United States in the OTI Festival 1985Uruguay in the OTI FestivalVenezuela in the OTI Festival
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1985
Vote
Voting systemEach member of a single jury awards 5–1 points to its five favourite songs in a secret vote
Winning song Mexico
"El fandango aquí"

The OTI Festival 1985 (Spanish: Decimocuarto Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Décimo Quarto Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana) was the 14th edition of the OTI Festival, held on 21 September 1985 at Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville, Spain, and presented by Paloma San Basilio and Emilio Aragón. It was organised by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE).

Broadcasters from twenty-one countries participated in the festival, with Brazil not participating for the first time. The winner was the song "El fandango aquí", written by Marcial Alejandro, and performed by Eugenia León representing Mexico; with "Y tú prohibida", written by Alejandro Vezzani and Miguel Lorena, and performed by Marcelo Alejandro representing Argentina, and "La Niña, la Pinta y la Santa María", written by Luis Padilla Guevara, and performed by Jesús Fichamba representing Ecuador, both placing second; and "Para poder vivir", written by Hernán Duque and Juan Carlos Duque, and performed by Juan Carlos Duque himself representing Chile, placing third.

Location

Teatro Lope de Vega, Seville – host venue of the OTI Festival 1985.

The Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) designated Televisión Española (TVE) as the host broadcaster for the 14th edition of the OTI Festival. TVE staged the event in Seville. The venue selected was the Teatro Lope de Vega, a theatre built as part of the Pavilion of Seville at the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. The event made use of both the theatre and the casino that formed the Pavilion, that was designed by Vicente Traver y Tomás.

TVE had initially planned to hold the event outdoors at the old Roman amphitheatre in Italica, but the idea was scrapped due to the impossibility of guaranteeing that it would not rain during the event or during the weeks of preparations and rehearsals.[1]

Participants

Broadcasters from twenty-one countries participated in this edition of the OTI festival. The OTI members, public or private broadcasters from Spain, Portugal, and twenty Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America initially signed up for the festival, with Uruguay returning after having missed the previous edition. Brazil, who had initially signed up, ultimately did not participate for the first time because the winner of its national selection was under 18, and the performers at the festival had to be over that age. The OTI member in Bolivia justified its absence by lacking the financial resources required to participate.[2]

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

Festival overview

The festival was held on Saturday 21 September 1985, beginning at 23:30 CEST (21:30 UTC). It was directed by Francisco Navarrete and presented by Paloma San Basilio and Emilio Aragón. The musical director was Eduardo Leiva, who conducted the 47-piece orchestra when required. The draw to determine the running order (R/O) was held on 20 August at La Rábida Friary in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva).[4] Participants began rehearsing at the Teatro Lope de Vega on 16 September.[1]

The show was opened with the hosts singing together "La música". In between the competing songs, the Ciudad de Sevilla ballet made a performance dancing sevillanas and Paloma San Basilio sang the song "Por culpa de una noche enamorada". The interval act featured a star guest performance by Rocío Jurado singing the songs "¡Decir Sevilla!" and "Necesito estar sola", and a medley of her hits "Ese hombre", "Lo siento mi amor", "Si amanece", "Como una ola", and "Señora", accompanied by the orchestra conducted by José Luis Sanesteban. Due to a three-way tie for first place during the voting, Rocio Jurado had to improvise and extend her performance to give the jury time to determine the result.[5]

The winner was the song "El fandango aquí", written by Marcial Alejandro, and performed by Eugenia León representing Mexico; with "Y tú prohibida", written by Alejandro Vezzani and Miguel Lorena, and performed by Marcelo Alejandro representing Argentina, and "La Niña, la Pinta y la Santa María", written by Luis Padilla Guevara, and performed by Jesús Fichamba representing Ecuador, both placing second; and "Para poder vivir", written by Hernán Duque and Juan Carlos Duque, and performed by Juan Carlos Duque himself representing Chile, placing third. There was a trophy for each of the first three places. The first prize trophy was delivered by Guillermo Cañedo, president of OTI; the second prize trophy by Manuel del Valle, mayor of Seville; and the third prize trophy by Nicanor González, president of the OTI programs committee. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry followed by all the participants singing together "La música".[6]

  Winner

Jury

Each of the seven members of the single jury awarded 5–1 points to its five favourite songs in a secret vote. Initially the jury was composed of eight members, but Raúl Velasco had to return hastily to Mexico due to the 1985 Mexico City earthquake that had occurred two days earlier. Only the top three places were revealed, with second place awarded to two songs jointly. The members of the jury were:

Broadcast

The festival was broadcast in the 21 participating countries and in Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, and Haiti, where the corresponding OTI member broadcasters relayed the contest through their networks after receiving it live via satellite.[7]

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

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Delayed broadcast at 21:30 CLT (01:30+1 UTC)
  2. ↑ Delayed broadcast at 21:00 CST (03:00+1 UTC)
  3. ↑ Delayed broadcast at 17:30 CST (23:30 UTC)
  4. ↑ Delayed broadcast at 20:00 AST (00:00+1 UTC)
  5. ↑ Delayed broadcast later that day by all SIN affiliates, each in their own time zone.

References

  1. 1 2 "Las ruinas de Itálica no serán el escenario de la OTI" [The ruins of Italica will not be the setting for the OTI]. El Adelantado de Segovia (in Spanish). Segovia, Spain. 15 August 1985. p. 22 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  2. ↑ "Hoy se celebra en Sevilla el Festival de la OTI" [The OTI Festival is being held in Seville today]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 September 1985.
  3. 1 2 XIV Festival de la canción OTI 1985 (Television programme) (in Spanish). Seville, Spain: Televisión Española (TVE). 21 September 1985.
  4. ↑ "El Salvador abrirá Festival OTI" [El Salvador will open the OTI Festival]. Diario de Burgos (in Spanish). Burgos, Spain. 21 August 1985. p. 14 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  5. ↑ "Paloma San Basilio y Emilio Aragón, presentarán OTI-85" [Paloma San Basilio y Emilio Aragón, will present OTI-85]. La Tribuna de Albacete (in Spanish). Albacete, Spain. 25 August 1985. p. 22 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  6. ↑ "Méjico ganó el Festival de la Canción de la OTI" [Mexico won the OTI Song Festival]. El Adelantado de Segovia (in Spanish). Segovia, Spain. 23 September 1985. p. 9 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  7. ↑ "Veinticuatro países verán el festival de la OTI" [Twenty-four countries will watch the OTI festival]. Mediterráneo (in Spanish). Castellón de la Plana, Spain. 10 September 1985. p. 39 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  8. ↑ "Televisión". La Nación (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 21 September 1985. p. 30. Retrieved 30 November 2025 – via Archivo de la Palabra Impresa by Diego Portales University.
  9. ↑ "T.V." (PDF). La Prensa Libre (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. 21 September 1985. p. 20. Retrieved 28 May 2026 – via Sistema Nacional de Bibliotecas.
  10. ↑ "Programación de televisión para hoy sábado" [Television programming for today, Saturday]. El Informador. Guadalajara, Mexico. 21 September 1985. p. 12-C. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Agenda Curaçao". Amigoe (in Dutch). Willemstad, Curaçao. 21 September 1985. p. 2 – via Delpher.
  12. ↑ "Radio - TV". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal. 21 September 1985. p. 23 – via Casa Comum.
  13. ↑ "Radio - TV". Diario de Burgos (in Spanish). Burgos, Spain. 21 September 1985. p. 34 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
  14. ↑ "TV tonight". The San Bernardino Sun. San Bernardino, United States. 21 September 1985. p. C-10 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
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