Chile was represented at the OTI Festival 1979 with the song "", written by , and performed by Patricia Maldonado. The Chilean participating broadcasters, (TVN), (UCTV), and (UTV), jointly selected their entry through a televised national final. The song, that was performed in position 9, placed fourteenth out of 21 competing entries, tying with the song from the Dominican Republic with 10 points.
National stage (TVN), (UCTV), and (UTV), held a national final jointly to select their entry for the 8th edition of the OTI Festival. Eight songs were shortlisted for the televised final by a committee composed of: Juan Salazar, Valentín Trujillo, Pedro Flores, and Miguel Moreno Monroy.
+ Competing entries on the national final – Chile 1979 Song Artist Songwriter(s) "" Enrique Saa Enrique Saa "" Patricia Meza and Grupo Mesaluba "" Patricia Maldonado "" Nano Acevedo "" Luis "Poncho" Venegas "" Alexander Murray Alexander Murray "" Sebastián Lee Carlos Gómez "" Osvaldo Díaz
National final The national final was held on Saturday 10 November 1979, beginning at 21:30 CLST (00:30+1 UTC), and was presented by . Each of the competing performances was filmed beforehand in a different outdoor location, with audio recorded in a studio with an orchestra conducted by Juan Salazar. It was staged by UCTV at its central studios in Santiago,, and broadcast on TVN's , UCTV's , and UTV's .
The members of the jury were: María Olga Fernández, Homero Zamorano, , José Goles, and .
The winner was "", written by , and performed by Patricia Maldonado. The song, that tied with 23 points with "" and "", won after the tie-breaking vote.
+ Result of the national final – Chile 1979 Song Artist Points Result 1 "" Sebastián Lee 14 7 2 "" Alexander Murray 15 6 3 "" Patricia Meza and Grupo Mesaluba 23 2 4 "" Patricia Maldonado 23 1 5 "" 22 4 6 "" Osvaldo Díaz 18 5 7 "" 23 3 8 "" Enrique Saa 11 8
+ Detailed vote of the national final – Chile 1979 Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "" 3 2 3 3 3 14 2 "" 3 3 3 3 3 15 3 "" 5 3 5 5 5 23 4 "" 5 5 4 4 5 23 5 "" 4 3 5 5 5 22 6 "" 4 4 3 3 4 18 7 "" 5 5 4 5 4 23 8 "" 2 2 2 2 3 11
At the OTI Festival On 8 December 1979, the OTI Festival was held at the in Caracas, Venezuela, hosted by (RCTV), , (TVN), and (VTV), and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. Patricia Maldonado performed "" in position 9, with Juan Salazar conducting the event's orchestra, and placing fourteenth out of 21 competing entries, tying with the song from the Dominican Republic with 10 points.
The festival was broadcast live on TVN's , UCTV's , and UTV's .
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.
+ Points awarded to Chile Score Country 5 points 4 points Puerto Rico 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by Chile Score Country 5 points Guatemala 4 points Honduras 3 points Panama 2 points Paraguay 1 point Colombia
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References