The participation of Nicaragua in the OTI Festival first began at the third OTI Festival in 1974 held in Acapulco. Telenica and Televicentro, members of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), were responsible for the Nicaraguan participation. Its participation in the song contest was interrupted twice, in 1978 and 1979 when it has to withdrew for two years due to the Nicaraguan Revolution, and in 1986. Their entrant was selected by a national final.
Nicaragua was the most successful of the Central American countries in the OTI Festival. In fact, the broadcasters of the country got their first and only victory in Madrid in 1977 with the song "Quincho Barrilete" sung by performer Guayo Gonzalez and his song "Quincho Barrilete". Te song seemed to be a song for children, but the lyrics talked against the social injustices, denouncing the widespread poverty and the lack of sensitivity of the leading class, which was warmly welcomed by the audience and by the juries because its deep message. The song managed to win the national final despite the Anastasio Somoza Debayle regime.[1]
According to the initial rules of the song contest, after their win, they were supposed to host the OTI Festival 1978 in Managua, but that year marked the beginning of the Nicaraguan Revolution which ended in a civil war that killed many people and destroyed completely the country. Because of that situation, the host city was moved to Santiago and Nicaragua had to withdraw in 1978 and 1979.
They returned to the competition in 1980 selecting big names such as Carlos Mejía Godoy y los de Palancagüina, but the Nicaraguan results were not very successful until 1990. In the edition of 1990, which was held in Las Vegas, Katia Cardenal got a second place for her country with the song "Dame tu corazón".[2] Since then, Telenica and Televicentro took part in the competition until the last show in 2000, in which Lya Barrioz turned into the very last Nicaraguan entrant in the event.
Nicaragua, just like Mexico, Chile, Guatemala and later Cuba, held a national final which was annually organised both by Telenica and Televicentro. This national final was seen as a platform for young Nicaraguan talents who wanted to be recognised in Latin America. The usual venue of the "Nicaraguan National OTI Contest" was the Rubén Darío National Theatre and the winner of the preselection was elected by a jury composed by famous local singers, radio presenters and television personalities.[3] The end of the main OTI festival also led to the end of this national final which was seen as a tragedy for the local musicians.[4]
| + Table key | ||
| 1 | First place | |
| 2 | Second place | |
| 3 | Third place | |
| F | Finalist | |
| SF | Semi-finalist | |
| X | Contest cancelled |
| Year | Artist | Song | Conductor | Place | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | colspan="5" rowspan="2" | |||||
| 1973 | ||||||
| 1974 | Hernaldo Zúñiga | "Gaviota" | 7 | 4 | ||
| 1975 | Mauricio Peña | "Quiero agradecer al mundo" | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1976 | Peter Vivas | "De sol a sol" | 8 | 3 | ||
| 1977 | Guayo González | "Quincho Barrilete" | Manolo Gas | 1 | 12 | |
| 1978 | colspan="5" rowspan="2" | |||||
| 1979 | ||||||
| 1980 | Carlos Mejía Godoy y Los de Palacagüina | "La chavalita de España" | Horacio Malvicino | 10 | 15 | |
| 1981 | Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy | "Así te quiero, amor" | Chucho Ferrer | 8 | 15 | |
| 1982 | Deyanira Toruño | "Te canto porque te quiero" | Coco Betancourt | 19 | 3 | |
| 1983 | René Oliver | "Pobre de ti y de mi" | Héctor Garrido | 19 | 32 | |
| 1984 | Violeta Rostrán | "Vuela, canción" | Chucho Ferrer | – | – | |
| 1985 | María Eugenia Urroz | "Carta de amor para este tiempo" | Raúl Martínez | – | – | |
| 1986 | colspan="5" | |||||
| 1987 | María Lili Delgado | "La vida es solo sueño" | Andrés Sánchez | – | – | |
| 1988 | Raúl Hernández | "Niña" | Francisco Cedeño | 12 | 1 | |
| 1989 | Salvador y Katia Cardenal | "Días de amar" | – | – | ||
| 1990 | Katia Cardenal | "Dame tu corazón" | William Sánchez | 2 | – | |
| 1991 | Marta Baltodano | "América en mis entrañas" | César Prado | SF | – | |
| 1992 | Cristina Somarriba | "Tocando luz" | Eugenio Andrade | – | – | |
| 1993 | Walmaro Gutiérrez | "Cuando tengo tu amor" | Raúl Martínez | 20 | – | |
| 1994 | Álvaro Villagra | "La sombra del sol" | José Fabra | SF | – | |
| 1995 | Marta Baltodano | "Esa mirada" | César Prado | F | – | |
| 1996 | Manuel Salvador Baltodano | "Oh, luna" | Claudio Jácome Harb | – | – | |
| 1997 | Keyla Rodríguez | "Minuto a minuto" | SF | – | ||
| 1998 | Trío Tabú | "Somos" | SF | – | ||
| 1999 | Contest cancelled X | |||||
| 2000 | Lya Barrioz | "Libera corazón" | SF | – | ||