The United States was represented at the OTI Festival 1979 with the song "", written and performed by Mario Alberto Milar. The participating broadcaster representing the country, the Spanish International Network (SIN), selected its entry through a national televised competition. The song, that was performed in position 20, placed ninth out of 21 competing entries, tying with the song from the Netherlands Antilles with 16 points.
National stage The Spanish International Network (SIN) held a national televised competition to select its entry for the 8th edition of the OTI Festival. This was the second edition of the National OTI–SIN Festival. In the final, each song represented a SIN affiliate, each of which had selected its entry through a local pre-selection.
Los Angeles pre-selection On Sunday 12 August 1979, KMEX-TV held a televised pre-selection at its studios in Los Angeles. This first edition of the Los Angeles Local OTI Festival featured twelve songs. It was broadcast on Channel 34.
The jury was composed of Claudio Román, Orlando López, Lupita Morán, Catarina Schindler, and Eduardo Quezada.
The winner, and therefore qualified for the national final, was "", written and performed by Yari Moré.
+ Result of the Local OTI Festival – Los Angeles 1979 Song Artist Songwriter(s) Points Result 1 "" Juan M. de la Cruz 37 4 2 "" Yari Moré Yari Moré 44 3 "" Carlos Skewes 32 8 4 "" Olinsser 31 9 5 "" Juan Guillermo Aguirre "Santiago" 40 2 6 "" Olinsser 39 3 7 "" Carlos Skewes 29 11 8 "" Gayle Caldwell 31 9 9 "" Loy García 33 6 10 "" 29 11 11 "" 34 5 12 "" 33 6
+ Detailed Vote of the Local OTI Festival – Los Angeles 1979 Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 ""66107837 2 ""101089744 3 ""6566932 4 ""6755831 5 ""9879740 6 ""78510939 7 ""7546729 8 ""7574831 9 ""5777733 10 ""44291029 11 ""5669834 12 ""6688533
Central California pre-selection On Sunday 12 August 1979, KFTV also held a televised pre-selection at the KMEX-TV studios in Los Angeles. This second edition of the Central California Local OTI Festival featured three songs. It was held on the same show as the Los Angeles pre-selection, and used the same jury. It was broadcast live on Channel 21.
The winner, and therefore qualified for the national final, was "", performed by Antonio López.
+ Result of the Local OTI Festival – Central California 1979 Song Artist Songwriter(s) Points Result 1 "" Jesús Leiva 26 3 2 "" Miguel Hernández 29 2 3 "" Antonio López 47
+ Detailed Vote of the Local OTI Festival – Central California 1979 Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 ""6534826 2 ""5638729 3 ""101099947
Final The final was held on Friday 9 November 1979 in San Antonio, featuring nine songs. It was broadcast live on all SIN affiliates. The winner was "", written and performed by Mario Alberto Milar.
+ Result of the final of the National OTI–SIN Festival 1979 Song Artist Affiliate Result "" Mario Alberto Milar 1 "" Yari Moré KMEX-TV–Los Angeles "" Antonio López KFTV–Fresno
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. Mario Alberto Milar performed "" in position 20, placing ninth out of 21 competing entries, tying with the song from the Netherlands Antilles with 16 points.
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 the United States Score Country 5 points Costa Rica 4 points El Salvador 3 points Netherlands Antilles 2 points Dominican Republic 1 point
+ Points awarded by the United States Score Country 5 points Panama 4 points Brazil 3 points Argentina 2 points Puerto Rico 1 point Honduras
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