The participation of Chile in the OTI Festival first began at the inaugural OTI Festival in 1972 held in Madrid and continued continuously until the last edition in 2000 held in Acapulco. Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), Canal 13, Chilevisión, Megavisión, and La Red, members of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), were responsible in turn –or jointly– for the Chilean participation.
Chile won the contest in two occasions: in 1984 with the singer-songwriter Fernando Ubiergo with the song "Agualuna",[1] and in 1998 with the rapper and comedian Florcita Motuda with the song "Fin de siglo, es hora de inflamarse deprimirse o transformarse".[2]
In addition to these victories, their placed second with and the song "Canción contra la tristeza" in 1995. They also got three third places: in 1976 with and the song "Era solo un chiquillo", in 1985 with and the song "Para poder vivir", and in 1992 with and his song "Para poder vivir".
Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) and Canal 13, organised jointly the event two times: in 1978, due to the refusal of the Nicaraguan broadcaster –the previous year's winner– to organise the event because of the Nicaraguan Revolution, and in 1986. Both events were held in the Municipal Theatre of Santiago.
Chile was one of the few OTI Festival participating countries who organised an annual national final in order to select their participating entrant in the contest, produced in turn –or jointly– by TVN, Canal 13, Chilevisión, Megavisión, and La Red. The winner, who was elected by a professional jury, would later represent the country in the festival.
The Festival OTI Nacional, which was the official name of the selection process, was also very popular between the local audience and in fact, many famous musicians participated in the national final in order to represent their country in the main event.
| + Table key | ||
| 1 | First place | |
| 2 | Second place | |
| 3 | Third place | |
| F | Finalist | |
| SF | Semi-finalist | |
| X | Contest cancelled |
| Year | Participant | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Conductor | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | TVN | "Una vez, otra vez" | Eddy Guerín | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1973 | TVN | Antonio Zabaleta | "Cuando tú vuelvas" | Antonio Zabaleta | 6 | 5 | |
| 1974 | TVN | "Amor, volveré" | José Alfredo Fuentes | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1975 | TVN | "Las puertas del mundo" | Luis "Poncho" Venegas | Horacio Saavedra | 5 | 5 | |
| 1976 | TVN | José Alfredo Fuentes | "Era sólo un chiquillo" | Horacio Saavedra | 3 | 12 | |
| 1977 | Canal 13 | Capri | "Oda a mi guitarra" | 11 | 2 | ||
| 1978 | Florcita Motuda | "Pobrecito mortal, si quieres ver menos televisión descubrirás que aburrido estarás por la tarde" | Florcita Motuda | Horacio Saavedra | 7 | 17 | |
| 1979 | Patricia Maldonado | "La música" | Juan Salazar | 14 | 10 | ||
| 1980 | Canal 13 | "Sin razón" | Nino García | Gonzalo García | 14 | 9 | |
| 1981 | Florcita Motuda | "Si hoy tenemos que cantar a tanta gente, ¡pensémoslo!" | Florcita Motuda | Juan Salazar | 5 | 10 | |
| 1982 | Canal 13 | Juan Pablo Méndez | "Si no hubieras estado tú" | Juan Pablo Méndez | Francisco Aranda | 11 | 14 |
| 1983 | Teleonce | "La misma vida, el mismo modo" | Wildo | Francisco Aranda | – | – | |
| 1984 | Teleonce | Fernando Ubiergo | "Agualuna" | Fernando Ubiergo | Francisco Aranda | 1 | – |
| 1985 | Canal 13 | "Para poder vivir" | Juan Carlos Duque | Francisco Aranda | 3 | – | |
| 1986 | "Desde las nubes" | Pancho Puelma | Francisco Aranda | – | – | ||
| 1987 | Canal 11 | "Chocando paredes" | Eduardo Valenzuela | Francisco Larraín | – | – | |
| 1988 | Canal 13 | Cecilia Castro | "Es mi libertad" | Miguel Pizarro | 7 | 6 | |
| 1989 | TVN | "La movida" | Scottie Scott | Toly Ramírez | – | – | |
| 1990 | Canal 11 | Osvaldo Díaz | "Si no te tuviera a ti" | Eduardo Carrasco | Miguel Zabaleta | – | – |
| 1991 | Canal 13 | Claudio Escobar | "Haciendo música" | Scottie Scott | SF | – | |
| 1992 | TVN | "Te prometo" | Andrés Pollak | 3 | – | ||
| 1993 | RTU | "María y Manuel" | Keko Yunge | Marc Friedler | – | – | |
| 1994 | Megavisión | "La vida va" | Luis "Poncho" Venegas | Francisco Aranda | 9 | – | |
| 1995 | Canal 13 | "Canción contra la tristeza" | Alberto Plaza | Roberto Trujillo | 2 | – | |
| 1996 | TVN | José Luis Moya | "Te confieso" | José Luis Ubiergo | Hugo Manzi | – | – |
| 1997 | Megavisión | Rachel | "Nunca sabrás cuánto te amo" | Alejandro Afani | René Calderón | F | – |
| 1998 | La Red | Florcita Motuda | "Fin de siglo: Es tiempo de inflamarse, deprimirse o transformarse" | Florcita Motuda | Olivia Alarcón | 1 | – |
| 1999 | Contest cancelled X | ||||||
| 2000 | Canal 13 | Magdalena Matthey | "Tú, naturaleza" | Magdalena Matthey | Tilo González | – | – |
| Year | Host broadcasters | City | Venue | Hosts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Santiago | Municipal Theatre | [3] | ||
| 1986 | [4] |