The OTI Festival 1994 (, ) 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 . It was organised by the (OTI) and host broadcaster (TVE), who staged the event after winning the 1993 festival for Spain with the song "" by .

Broadcasters from twenty-four countries participated in the festival. The winner was the song "", written by Bibi Albert, and performed by Claudia Carenzio representing Argentina; with "", written by Chema Purón, and performed by Ana María representing Spain, placing second; and "", written by J. Leonardo, L. Oliver, and , and performed by Silva himself representing Venezuela, placing third.

Location

For the third consecutive year, the (OTI) designated (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.

Participants 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 had represented Costa Rica in 1980 and 1982, and had represented Peru in 1988 and 1990.

+ Participants of the OTI Festival 1994 Country Broadcaster(s) Song Artist Songwriter(s) Language Conductor Argentina "" Claudia Carenzio Bibi Albert Spanish Bolivia "" Gilka Gutiérrez Spanish Brazil "" Zé Renato Portuguese Chile "" Luis "Poncho" Venegas Spanish Colombia "" Jorge Hernán Baena Francesco Spanish Costa Rica Repretel "" Ricardo Padilla Ricardo Padilla Spanish Cuba ICRT "" Osvaldo Rodríguez Osvaldo Rodríguez Spanish Guillermo Valverde Dominican Republic "" Miriam Cruz Manuel Jiménez Spanish Ecuador "" Felipe y Francisco Terán () Francisco Terán Spanish El Salvador TCS "" Claudia Basagoitia José Balter Spanish Guatemala "" Noris Álvaro R. Aguilar Spanish Honduras "" Delma Adriana Reyes Reniery Seaman Silva Spanish Mexico Televisa "" Fuga de Goya Spanish Netherlands Antilles ATM "" Boy Thode Spanish Nicaragua "" Francis Leticia Boruckin Spanish Panama "" Armando Valdivieso Spanish Paraguay "" Cristina Vera Díaz Spanish Peru "" Spanish Portugal RTP "" Portuguese Puerto Rico Telemundo Puerto Rico "" Jessica Cristina José Luis Melendez Spanish Pedro Rivera Spain TVE "" Ana María Chema Purón Spanish José Fabra United States Univision "" Héctor Galaz Omar Sánchez Spanish Uruguay "" Laura Canoura Spanish Venezuela "" Spanish

Festival overview The festival consisted of a semi-final on Friday 14 October and a final on Saturday 15 October 1994. It was directed by and presented by Ana Obregón and . 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.

Semi-final 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 Country Song Artist Result 1 Nicaragua "" 2 Puerto Rico "" Jessica Cristina 3 Argentina "" Claudia Carenzio Qualified 4 Brazil "" Zé Renato Qualified 5 Honduras "" Delma Adriana Reyes 6 Mexico "" Fuga de Goya Qualified 7 Peru "" 8 Cuba "" Osvaldo Rodríguez Qualified 9 Guatemala "" Noris 10 Chile "" Qualified 11 United States "" Héctor Galaz Qualified 12 Colombia "" Jorge Hernán Baena 13 Panama "" Armando Valdivieso 14 Ecuador "" Felipe y Francisco Terán () Qualified 15 Portugal "" Qualified 16 Dominican Republic "" Miriam Cruz Qualified 17 Netherlands Antilles "" Boy Thode 18 Costa Rica "" Ricardo Padilla 19 Bolivia "" Gilka Gutiérrez Qualified 20 El Salvador "" Claudia Basagoitia 21 Paraguay "" Cristina Vera Díaz 22 Venezuela "" Qualified 23 Uruguay "" Laura Canoura 24 Spain "" Ana María Qualified

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

The winner was the song "", written by Bibi Albert, and performed by Claudia Carenzio representing Argentina; with "", written by Chema Purón, and performed by Ana María representing Spain, placing second; and "", written by J. Leonardo, L. Oliver, and , and performed by Silva himself 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 Country Song Artist Points Place Argentina "" Claudia Carenzio31 1 Brazil "" Zé Renato0 11 Mexico "" Fuga de Goya9 5 Cuba "" Osvaldo Rodríguez3 9 Chile "" 3 9 United States "" Héctor Galaz0 11 Ecuador "" Felipe y Francisco Terán ()6 7 Portugal "" 6 7 Dominican Republic "" Miriam Cruz10 4 Bolivia "" Gilka Gutiérrez8 6 Venezuela "" 16 3 Spain "" Ana María28 2

Jury 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: José Felicianosinger Simón Díazsinger Rosita Amoresperformer Rafael Basurtosinger, member of Los Panchos composer Rafael Beltráncomposer composer Event's orquestra

Detailed voting result 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.

Broadcast 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) Commentator(s) Repretel Final ATM TeleCuraçao All shows TVE All shows

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

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