Mexico was represented at the OTI Festival 1980 with the song "", written and performed by José Roberto. The Mexican participating broadcaster, Televisa, selected its entry through a national televised competition with several phases. The song, that was performed in position 17, placed eighth out of 23 competing entries, with 21 points.

National stage Televisa held a national competition with four televised qualifying rounds and a final to select its entry for the 9th edition of the OTI Festival. This ninth edition of the National OTI Festival featured forty songs, of which ten reached the final. In addition to the general competition, awards were given for Best Male Performer, Best Female Performer, Best Musical Arrangement, and Breakout Artist, among all the competing artists.

The shows were held at Teatro de la Ciudad in Mexico City, were presented by Raúl Velasco, and were broadcast on . The musical director was , who conducted the Single Union of Music Workers of Mexico orchestra when required. Hermanos Zavala, the single mixed backing choir of four voices, were credited on the songs they accompanied.

+ Competing entries on the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1980 Song Artist Songwriter(s) Conductor "" Irasema Irasema "" Amparo Rubín Amparo Rubín Eugenio Castillo "" Manuel Adrián "" Johnny Laboriel Alberto Candela "" Joan Sebastian Joan Sebastian Chucho Ferrer "" Amparo Rubín "" María del Sol Armando Noriega "" Héctor Meneses Héctor Meneses "" Carlos Lara Carlos Lara Eduardo Magallanes "" Luis Daniel and Sergio Héctor Meneses "" Martha Eugenia Armando Noriega "" Rosalba "" Fabián Lavalle Jorge Carlos Castro "" Yoshio Guillermo Méndez Guiú "" Arturo Castro Arturo Castro "" Laura Zapata Roberto Robles Luis Cárdenas "" Lupita Deneken Nacho Méndez "" Grupo Tabasco Grupo Tabasco Chucho Ferrer "" Hernán Rocha Hernán Rocha Rodolfo Rey "" Sergio Esquivel Sergio Esquivel "" Sola Jonathán Zarzosa "" José Alberto Fuentes José Alberto Fuentes Jonathán Zarzosa "" Javier de León Edmon Nayen "" Aria 8 Armando Noriega "" Juan Diego José María Napoleón Chucho Ferrer "" Gualberto Castro Roberto Cantoral Chucho Ferrer "" Gilda Sergio Esquivel "" Ramiro José Esperanza Ramiro José Esperanza Guillermo Méndez Guiú "" Lila Deneken Roberto Cantoral Chucho Ferrer "" José Roberto José Roberto Javier Macías "" Natalia Baeza Natalia Baeza Eduardo Magallanes "" Prisma Sylvia Tapia "" Víctor Arce "" Benny Ibarra "" Roy Enrique Esparza Oteo "" Víctor Yturbe Álvaro Dávila Guillermo Méndez Guiú "" Yvonne and Guillermo Guillermo Méndez Guiú "" Ga-bí Enrique Velázquez "" Felipe Gil Felipe Gil Chucho Ferrer "" Ricardo López Chamín Correa

Qualifying rounds There were four qualifying rounds with ten entries each, of which the ten highest-scoring entries among the 40 competing advanced to the final. Ten expert jurors were present in the hall, and five provincial juries of five members each were located remotely. Each of the present ten jurors and the five remote juries scored between 2 and 7 points all the entries. The provincial juries, which voted via telephone, had a stand in juror each in the hall in case of communication failure during voting. In case of a tie for tenth place, the jurors in the hall would break the tie so that only ten entries would pass to the final.

The jurors present in the hall were: Guillermo Infante, Gustavo Páez, Juan Calderón, Lourdes Guerrero, Raúl Cervantes Ayala, Eduardo Linares, Eduardo Laso, Sergio Romano, , and Alicia Colmenares, who was the chairperson. Ignacio Morales was the stand in juror, in case any juror could not vote due to a conflict of interest.

Each of the performers received on stage a diploma of participation after their performance. The fourth qualifying round featured a guest performance by Angélica María.

+ Result of the qualifying rounds of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1980 Song Artist Points Result First qualifying round – 16 August 1980 1 "" Prisma 73 2 "" Roy 57 3 "" Rosalba 57 4 "" Manuel Adrián 69 5 "" Javier de León 73 6 "" Luis Daniel and Sergio 63 7 "" Irasema 75 8 "" 42 9 "" Amparo Rubín 79 10 "" Johnny Laboriel 77 Second qualifying round – 23 August 1980 1 "" Yvonne and Guillermo 51 2 "" Fabián Lavalle 57 3 "" Ricardo López 75 4 "" Gilda 73 5 "" Héctor Meneses 69 6 "" 68 7 "" Ga-bí 59 8 "" Laura Zapata 80 Qualified 9 "" José Roberto 90 Qualified 10 "" 73 Third qualifying round – 30 August 1980 1 "" Aria 8 60 2 "" José Alberto Fuentes 77 3 "" Sola 65 4 "" Felipe Gil 89 Qualified 5 "" Martha Eugenia 70 6 "" Juan Diego 59 7 "" Arturo Castro 77 8 "" Sergio Esquivel 85 Qualified 9 "" Lupita Deneken 83 Qualified 10 "" Gualberto Castro 93 Qualified Fourth qualifying round – 6 September 1980 1 "" Grupo Tabasco 55 2 "" Hernán Rocha 66 3 "" María del Sol 86 Qualified 4 "" Joan Sebastian 72 5 "" Carlos Lara 55 6 "" Ramiro José Esperanza 63 7 "" Natalia Baeza 65 8 "" Víctor Yturbe 86 Qualified 9 "" Lila Deneken 89 Qualified 10 "" Yoshio 93 Qualified

+ Detailed Vote of the first qualifying round Song Provincial juries scope="col" rowspan=2 Total scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" 1 "" 4 4 4 3 4 54 73 2 "" 4 5 4 3 5 36 57 3 "" 4 5 4 2 5 37 57 4 "" 5 4 5 3 5 47 69 5 "" 5 5 4 3 6 50 73 6 "" 5 4 3 3 5 43 63 7 "" 6 6 5 5 6 47 75 8 "" 4 3 3 2 5 25 42 9 "" 6 5 5 3 6 54 79 10 "" 6 6 6 5 7 47 77

+ Detailed Vote of the second qualifying round Song Provincial juries scope="col" rowspan=2 Total scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" 1 "" 4 3 4 3 3 34 51 2 "" 4 4 4 3 6 36 57 3 "" 6 6 7 4 5 47 75 4 "" 4 5 4 3 4 53 73 5 "" 4 2 3 2 2 56 69 6 "" 5 5 5 4 4 45 68 7 "" 4 5 6 3 3 38 59 8 "" 4 5 4 3 3 61 80 9 "" 6 6 5 4 5 64 90 10 "" 5 5 4 3 3 53 73

+ Detailed Vote of the third qualifying round Song Provincial juries scope="col" rowspan=2 Total scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" 1 "" 4 3 4 4 5 40 60 2 "" 5 4 4 4 4 56 77 3 "" 4 5 4 5 6 41 65 4 "" 6 4 4 6 6 63 89 5 "" 4 5 4 4 6 47 70 6 "" 4 2 3 3 4 43 59 7 "" 5 4 4 4 5 55 77 8 "" 7 6 5 6 6 55 85 9 "" 4 4 4 4 5 62 83 10 "" 5 7 6 5 7 63 93

+ Detailed Vote of the fourth qualifying round Song Provincial juries scope="col" rowspan=2 Total scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" 1 "" 2 3 4 3 4 39 55 2 "" 3 3 4 3 4 49 66 3 "" 4 5 5 4 5 63 86 4 "" 4 3 4 4 5 52 72 5 "" 2 4 3 3 3 40 55 6 "" 3 3 4 5 4 44 63 7 "" 3 3 4 3 4 48 65 8 "" 6 6 6 4 5 59 86 9 "" 5 7 6 7 6 58 89 10 "" 6 6 7 6 6 62 93

Final The final was held on Sunday 21 September 1980. The same jurors present in the hall for the qualifying rounds were also present for the final, to which five international jurors also present were added. After all the competing entries were performed, each of the fifteen jurors announced aloud one vote for their favourite entry. The three songs with the most votes were awarded first, second, and third prize. In the event that the jurors unanimously voted for a single song, the score in the qualifying rounds would be taken into account for the remaining prizes. In case of a tie for the prizes, the jurors would break the tie between the tied entries, and if the tie persisted, the chairperson would decide.

The winner was "", written and performed by José Roberto; with "", written by Roberto Cantoral and performed by Gualberto Castro, placing second; and "", written by Roberto Cantoral and performed by Lila Deneken, placing third. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

+ Result of the final of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1980 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Gualberto Castro 4 2 2 "" Laura Zapata 0 3 "" Lupita Deneken 1 4 4 "" Felipe Gil 0 5 "" Víctor Yturbe 0 6 "" Yoshio 0 7 "" Sergio Esquivel 0 8 "" María del Sol 1 4 9 "" Lila Deneken 4 3 10 "" José Roberto 5 1

+ National International

Merit awards In the final, the fifteen jurors voted aloud for the Best Male and Female Performer Awards, Best Musical Arrangement Award, and Breakout Artist Award among the shortlisted artist in each category.

Gualberto Castro received the Best Male Performer Award; Lila Deneken the Best Female Performer Award; the Best Musical Arrangement Award for ""; and Javier de León the Breakout Artist Award.

+ Best Male Performer Artist Votes Result Yoshio 4 2 Gualberto Castro 11 1 Johnny Laboriel 0 3

+ Best Female Performer Artist Votes Result María del Sol 1 2 Ga-bí 0 3 Lila Deneken 14 1

+ Best Musical Arrangement Song Arranger Votes Result "" 5 1 "" 4 2 "" Chucho Ferrer 3 3 "" Eugenio Castillo 3 3

+ Breakout Artist Artist Votes Result Javier de León 10 1 Laura Zapata 3 2 Prisma 2 3

Official album Las 10 finalistas del Festival OTI 80 is the official compilation album of the ninth edition of the Mexican National OTI Festival, released by Raff in 1980. The vinyl LP features the studio version of the ten songs qualified for the national final.

At the OTI Festival On 15 November 1980, the OTI Festival was held at the Martín Coronado hall of the in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hosted by (ATC), and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. José Roberto performed "" in position 17, placing eighth out of 23 competing entries, with 21 points.

Voting Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury who awarded 5–1 points to their five favourite songs in order of preference.

+ Points awarded to Mexico Score Country 5 points 4 points Honduras 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Mexico Score Country 5 points Puerto Rico 4 points Chile 3 points Colombia 2 points Spain 1 point Costa Rica

Notes

References