Mexico was represented at the OTI Festival 1981 with the song "", written by Felipe Gil, and performed by Yoshio. The Mexican participating broadcaster, Televisa, selected its entry through a national televised competition with several phases. The song, that was performed in position 16, placed third with 22 points, tying with the entry from the United States, out of 21 competing entries. In addition, Televisa was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the National Auditorium in Mexico City.
National stage Televisa held a national competition with four televised qualifying rounds and a final to select its entry for the 10th edition of the OTI Festival. This tenth 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 qualifying rounds were held at Teatro de la Ciudad, while the final was held at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, all presented by Raúl Velasco. The musical director was , who conducted the orchestra when required. Hermanos Zavala, the single mixed backing choir, were credited on the songs they accompanied.
+ Competing entries on the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1981 Song Artist Songwriter(s) Conductor "" Natalia Baeza "" María del Sol Joan Sebastian Chucho Ferrer "" David Haro "" Ramiro José Esperanza Eduardo Magallanes "" Guadalupe Jimena Lázaro Muñiz "" Sergio Esquivel Sergio Esquivel Armando Noriega "" Arturo Castro Arturo Castro "" Armando Noriega "" Yuri José María Napoleón Julio Jaramillo "" Óscar Arnulfo M. Vega Rodolfo "Popo" Sánchez "" Matty Bello José Alberto Fuentes Rodolfo "Popo" Sánchez "" Sonia Rivas Sonia Rivas Chucho Ferrer "" Mario Pintor Mario Pintor Luigi Lazareno "" Felipe Gil Felipe Gil Chucho Ferrer "" Manuel Adrián Rodolfo "Popo" Sánchez "" Eduardo Magallanes "" Jorge Castro Jorge Castro Jr. "" Dulce Jorge García Castil Carlos Guerreros "" Yoshio Felipe Gil Rodrigo Álvarez "" Alberto Ángel Mario Patrón "" Sylvia Tapia Arturo Neri "" Joan Sebastian Joan Sebastian Jonathán Zarzosa "" Roberto Jordán Ricardo Toral "" Fernando Riba Eduardo Magallanes "" Carminna Rodolfo "Popo" Sánchez "" Carlos Lara Carlos Lara Eduardo Magallanes "" Laura Zapata José Domingo Julio Jaramillo "" Samuel Jesús Monárrez Lázaro Muñiz "" Martha Eugenia María Historia Chilo Morán "" Francisco Sahagún Baca Chucho Ferrer "" Prisma Sylvia Tapia Sergio Andrade "" Imelda Miller Eduardo Casanova "" Olinsser Olinsser Armando Noriega "" Gualberto Castro Nacho Méndez "" José Alberto Fuentes José Alberto Fuentes Rodolfo "Popo" Sánchez "" Doris Jonathán Zarzosa "" Fito Girón Jonathán Zarzosa "" Johnny Laboriel Ernesto Juárez Armando Noriega "" Víctor Cortés Chucho Ferrer "" Tirzo Paiz Tirzo Paiz Lázaro Muñiz
Qualifying rounds The four qualifying rounds were held on Saturdays 15, 22, and 29 August, and 5 September 1981. Each round featured ten entries, and the ten highest-scoring entries among the forty competing advanced to the final. Several expert jurors present in the hall and five remote provincial juries scored all the entries in each round.
+ Result of the qualifying rounds of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1981 Song Artist Points Result First qualifying round – 15 August 1981 1 "" Manuel Adrián 65 2 "" Samuel 61 3 "" 75 4 "" Fernando Riba 83 Qualified 5 "" Prisma 67 6 "" Yoshio 91 Qualified 7 "" Dulce 76 8 "" 74 9 "" 77 10 "" Gualberto Castro 83 Qualified Second qualifying round – 22 August 1981 1 "" Matty Bello 65 2 "" Óscar 62 3 "" Carlos Lara 65 4 "" Laura Zapata 76 5 "" 60 6 "" Tirzo Paiz 54 7 "" 79 8 "" María del Sol 75 9 "" Johnny Laboriel 81 10 "" 86 Qualified Third qualifying round – 29 August 1981 1 "" Olinsser 66 2 "" Carminna 71 3 "" Fito Girón 67 4 "" Doris 69 5 "" Roberto Jordán 79 6 "" Arturo Castro 65 7 "" Natalia Baeza 66 8 "" Sergio Esquivel 86 Qualified 9 "" Sonia Rivas 89 Qualified 10 "" Felipe Gil 89 Qualified Fourth qualifying round – 5 September 1981 1 "" José Alberto Fuentes 82 Qualified 2 "" 81 3 "" Martha Eugenia 70 4 "" Mario Pintor 79 5 "" 65 6 "" Ramiro José Esperanza 72 7 "" Guadalupe Jimena 70 8 "" Jorge Castro 72 9 "" Yuri 94 Qualified 10 "" Joan Sebastian 87 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 4 4 45 65 2 "" 4 4 3 2 4 44 61 3 "" 5 6 4 5 5 50 75 4 "" 6 7 4 4 5 57 83 5 "" 4 4 3 4 5 47 67 6 "" 5 5 5 5 5 66 91 7 "" 5 4 3 4 6 54 76 8 "" 6 6 3 5 5 49 74 9 "" 5 7 4 3 5 53 77 10 "" 5 4 5 4 5 60 83
+ 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 4 4 4 3 46 65 2 "" 5 3 4 4 3 43 62 3 "" 4 3 6 5 4 43 65 4 "" 5 3 5 4 4 55 76 5 "" 4 3 6 5 4 38 60 6 "" 3 3 4 4 3 37 54 7 "" 4 4 5 5 5 56 79 8 "" 3 4 5 5 3 55 75 9 "" 6 4 6 6 5 54 81 10 "" 7 4 5 6 7 57 86
+ 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 5 5 4 45 66 2 "" 5 4 5 5 4 48 71 3 "" 3 3 4 3 4 50 67 4 "" 4 3 4 4 4 50 69 5 "" 5 3 4 3 5 59 79 6 "" 4 3 4 4 3 47 65 7 "" 4 3 4 4 3 48 66 8 "" 6 4 6 4 2 64 86 9 "" 6 5 6 5 5 62 89 10 "" 5 3 4 6 6 65 89
+ 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 "" 4 4 5 5 4 60 82 2 "" 5 3 3 4 4 62 81 3 "" 3 3 4 4 4 52 70 4 "" 5 4 5 5 4 56 79 5 "" 3 3 3 4 4 48 65 6 "" 4 3 6 4 3 52 72 7 "" 4 4 3 4 3 52 70 8 "" 6 4 4 4 4 50 72 9 "" 5 6 4 5 5 69 94 10 "" 6 4 3 4 4 66 87
Final The final was held on Sunday 20 September 1981. The winner was "", written by Felipe Gil, and performed by Yoshio. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.
+ Result of the final of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1981 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Sonia Rivas 4 2 2 "" Yoshio 5 1 3 "" Joan Sebastian 0 4 "" Yuri 3 3 5 "" Sergio Esquivel 2 4 6 "" Gualberto Castro 1 7 7 "" Felipe Gil 2 4 8 "" Fernando Riba 2 4 9 "" 1 7 10 "" José Alberto Fuentes 0
Merit awards In the final, the jurors voted aloud for the Best Male and Female Performer, Best Musical Arrangement, and Breakout Artist among the three shortlisted artist in each category.
Yoshio received the Best Male Performer Award, Yuri the Best Female Performer Award, Rodolfo "Popo" Sánchez the Best Musical Arrangement Award for "", and and José Alberto Fuentes the Breakout Artist Award jointly.
+ Best Male Performer Artist Votes Result Johnny Laboriel 1 3 Yoshio 5 1 Gualberto Castro 4 2
+ Best Female Performer Artist Votes Result Dulce 3 2 María del Sol 1 3 Yuri 6 1
+ Best Musical Arrangement Song Arranger Votes Result "" Rodolfo "Popo" Sánchez 5 1 "" 3 2 "" 2 3
+ Breakout Artist Artist Votes Result 5 1 José Alberto Fuentes 5 1 Olinsser 0 3
Official album Las 10 finalistas del Festival OTI 81 is the official compilation album of the tenth edition of the Mexican National OTI Festival, released by RCA Victor in 1981. The vinyl LP features the studio version of the ten songs qualified for the national final.
At the OTI Festival On 5 December 1981, the OTI Festival was held at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, hosted by Televisa, and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. Yoshio performed "" in position 16, placing third with 22 points, tying with the entry from the United States, out of 21 competing entries.
Voting Each participating broadcaster, or group of broadcasters that jointly participated representing a country, assembled a jury who awarded 5–1 points to their five favourite songs in order of preference. Janet Arceo was the spokesperson who announced the Mexican jury's vote.
+ Points awarded to Mexico Score Country 5 points Nicaragua 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Mexico Score Country 5 points Puerto Rico 4 points Spain 3 points Argentina 2 points Chile 1 point Nicaragua
References