Mexico was represented at the OTI Festival 1985 with the song "", written by , and performed by Eugenia León. The Mexican participating broadcaster, Televisa, selected its entry through a national televised competition with several phases. The song, that was performed in position 8, placed first out of 21 competing entries, winning the festival. This was the third entry from Mexico that won the OTI Festival, after winning in 1973 and in 1975.

National stage Televisa held a national competition with four televised qualifying rounds, a playoff, two semi-finals, and a final to select its entry for the 14th edition of the OTI Festival. This fourteenth edition of the National OTI Festival featured twenty-eight songs in the qualifying rounds, twelve in the semi-finals, and six in the final. In addition to the general competition, awards were given for Best Male Performer, Best Female Performer, Best Musical Arrangement, Breakout Male Artist, and Breakout Female Artist among all the competing artists.

The qualifying rounds were held at Studio 2 of Televisa San Ángel, while the semi-finals and the final were held at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, all presented by Raúl Velasco, and broadcast on . The musical director was , who conducted the orchestra when required.

+ Competing entries on the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Songwriter(s) Conductor "" Gil Rivera Gil Rivera Jesús Medel "Blue demon blues" Jaime López Jaime López "" Ana Gabriel Chucho Ferrer "" Jorge Muñiz Jorge Muñiz Luigi Lazareno "" Prisma Sylvia Tapia Julio Jaramillo "" Eugenia León Eduardo Magallanes "" Marcos Flores Jesús Medel "" Juan Santana Rubén Zepeda "" Sandra Lhor Gustavo A. Santiago "" José Alberto Fuentes Sergio Andrade Sergio Andrade "" María del Sol Carlos Lara Ricardo Toral "" Liliana Jorge Javier Martínez Chucho Ferrer "" Beatriz Adriana Marco Antonio Solís Rubén Zepeda "" Sonia Rivas Jorge René González "" Mario Pintor Mario Pintor Julio Jaramillo "" Julián Loro Jesús Medel "" Fernando Riba Ricardo Toral "" Manuel Ascanio Juan Ramón Ibarra Salomón Jiménez "" Ricky Luis Ricky Luis David Rojas "" Sergio Andrade Sergio Andrade "" José Roberto José Roberto Chucho Ferrer "" María María Nora Betancourt Luigi Lazareno "" Vitorino Luigi Lazareno "" Morenita Sylvia Tapia Chucho Ferrer "" Crystal Rubén Zepeda Rubén Zepeda "" Mariana Maesse Mary Reina Marcos Lizama "" Roco Damián Damián Ontiveros Jesús Medel "" Arturo Vázquez Luigi Lazareno

Qualifying rounds The four qualifying rounds were held on Saturdays 3, 10, 17, and 24 August 1985. Each round featured seven entries, of which the two highest-scoring advanced to the semi-finals. In each round, after all the competing entries were performed, each of the eleven jurors cast one vote for each of their two favorite entries.

+ Result of the first qualifying round of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Juan Santana 9 Qualified 2 "" Julián 5 3 "" María María 5 Qualified 4 "" Mariana Maesse 0 5 "" Morenita 3 6 "" Roco Damián 0 7 "" 0

+ Result of the second qualifying round of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" 0 2 "" Ana Gabriel 2 3 "" 10 Qualified 4 "" 2 5 "" Fernando Riba 1 6 "" Mario Pintor 5 Qualified 7 "" Ricky Luis 2

+ Result of the third qualifying round of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Beatriz Adriana 1 2 "" Crystal 4 3 "" Gil Rivera 6 Qualified 4 "" Jorge Muñiz 9 Qualified 5 "" José Alberto Fuentes 1 6 "Blue demon blues" Jaime López 0 7 "" Sandra Lhor 1

+ Result of the fourth qualifying round of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Eugenia León 9 Qualified 2 "" José Roberto 2 3 "" Liliana 1 4 "" Manuel Ascanio 1 5 "" María del Sol 2 6 "" Prisma 6 Qualified 7 "" Sergio Andrade 1

Playoff The playoff was held on Saturday 24 August 1985 following the fourth qualifying round. To select the last four semi-finalists, each of the eleven jurors cast one vote for each of their four favorite entries among the twenty not qualified.

+ Result of the playoff of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Votes Result 1 "" 1 2 "" 0 3 "" 0 4 "" 0 5 "" 1 6 "" 0 7 "" 4 Qualified 8 "" 3 9 "" 1 10 "" 0 11 "" 3 12 "" 11 Qualified 13 "" 4 Qualified 14 "Blue demon blues" 0 15 "" 2 16 "" 2 17 "" 3 18 "" 3 19 "" 5 Qualified 20 "" 0

Semi-finals The semi-finals were held on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 August 1985. The twelve songs that had been qualified were distributed between the two semi-finals. In each semi-final, after all the competing entries were performed, each of the fifteen jurors cast one vote for each of their three favorite entries, and the three most voted songs from each semi-final went on to the final.

+ Result of the first semi-final of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Jorge Muñiz 3 2 "" Mario Pintor 8 Qualified 3 "" Prisma 5 4 "" María María 6 5 "" María del Sol 9 Qualified 6 "" 14 Qualified

+ Result of the second semi-final of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Gil Rivera 4 2 "" José Alberto Fuentes 9 Qualified 3 "" Crystal 8 Qualified 4 "" Ana Gabriel 3 5 "" Juan Santana 7 6 "" Eugenia León 14 Qualified

Final The six-song final was held on Sunday 1 September 1985. The final was held in two rounds. In the first round, each of the fifteen jurors cast one vote for each of their three favorite entries, and the three most voted songs went on to the superfinal. In the superfinal, each juror announced aloud one vote for their favourite entry.

The winner was "", written by , and performed by Eugenia León. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

+ Result of the final of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Crystal 5 4 2 "" José Alberto Fuentes 3 6 3 "" María del Sol 4 5 4 "" Mario Pintor 6 Qualified 5 "" Eugenia León 13 Qualified 6 "" 14 Qualified

+ Result of the superfinal of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1985 Song Artist Votes Result 1 "" Mario Pintor 0 3 2 "" Eugenia León 11 1 3 "" 4 2

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

José Alberto Fuentes received the Best Male Performer Award; the Best Female Performer Award; the Best Musical Arrangement Award for ""; Ricky Luis the Breakout Male Artist Award; and Eugenia León the Breakout Female Artist Award.

Official album Las 12 finalistas del Festival OTI 85 is the official compilation album of the fourteenth edition of the Mexican National OTI Festival, released by Melody in 1985. The vinyl LP features the studio version of the twelve songs qualified for the semi-finals.

At the OTI Festival On 21 September 1985, the OTI Festival was held at Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville, Spain, hosted by , and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. Eugenia León performed "" in position 8, with Chucho Ferrer conducting the event's orchestra, and placing first of 21 competing entries, winning the festival. This was the third entry from Mexico that won the OTI Festival, after winning in 1973 and in 1975.

References