| Panama | |
| Member Station: | TVN (Panama) |
| National Selection Event: | Internal Selection |
| Apps: | 27 |
| First: | 1972 |
| Best: | 2º in 1972 |
| Worst: | 17th in 1981 |
| Website: | TVN website |
Panama and its OTI member station, TVN started participating in the OTI Festival in the first show, which was held in Madrid in 1972. Since then, the national broadcaster of this Central American country participated in every contest until the last, held in Acapulco in 2000.
Although Panama, which selected their performers internally, never withdrew from the event, the national broadcaster never managed to achieve victory, although in their debut year, the performer Basilio and his song "¡Oh señor!" (Oh, my lord!) came second.[1] In spite of the promising start of this Central American country, the following participations of TVN in the event were not as satisfactory. In 1978 the country ended in the top 5 for the last time. From then on, Panama's trajectory in the OTI Festival was lustreless as happened with the most of the Central American countries with the exception of Nicaragua.
| Year | Artist | Song | Place | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Jorge Bordanea | Un mañana mejor (A better tomorrow) | |||
| 1998 | Luis Arteaga | Por la vida (For the life) | Desc. | ||
| 1997 | Ricardo y Alberto | ¿De qué nos vale? (Is it worth for us?) | |||
| 1996 | Omar Argel Espinosa | Sin tu cielo azul (Without your blue sky) | |||
| 1995 | Tony Cheng | Has hecho trampa (You have cheated) | |||
| 1994 | Armando Valdivieso | Mi ciudad (My city) | |||
| 1993 | Tony Cheng | Canción a mi madre (Song for my mother) | |||
| 1992 | Eduardo Carrizo | Memorias (Memories) | |||
| 1991 | Juan Carlos y Loló | Océano y gaviota (Ocean and seagull) | |||
| 1990 | Vielka Plummer | Dos amigas (Two friends) | |||
| 1989 | Christian | Era tan solo ayer (It was only yesterday) | |||
| 1988 | Paulette | Ven (Come) | 14 | 0 | |
| 1987 | Cecilia de Obaldia | Blanco y Negro (Black and white) | |||
| 1986 | Paulette | Quizás no es el momento(maybe it's no the moment) | |||
| 1985 | Rafael De las Heras | Con las manos atadas(With the hands tied) | |||
| 1984 | Dany Dini y Dany | Hagamos un pacto (Let's make a deal) | |||
| 1983 | Betzaida | Recuerdos (Memories) | |||
| 1982 | Ediza Moreno | Mi pueblito (My little village) | 14 | 13 | |
| 1981 | Roger Barés | Pero ayer fuiste solo María(But yesterday you were only Mary) | 17 | 7 | |
| 1980 | Solinka | Puede ser (It can be) | 16 | 8 | |
| 1979 | Tony Espino | Sueños (Dreams) | 13 | 12 | |
| 1978 | Roger Barés | Te cantaré, yo te amaré(I'll sing you, I'll love you) | 5 | 18 | |
| 1977 | Leopoldo Hernández | Canta a la vida (Sing about life) | 11 | 2 | |
| 1976 | Pablo Azael | Gracias amor (Thanks love) | 9 | 3 | |
| 1975 | Pablo Azael | Tú y yo (You and me) | 14 | 2 | |
| 1974 | Orlando Morales y Max | La tierra es de todos (This land belongs to everybody) | 15 | 1 | |
| 1973 | Orlando Morales | Soy feliz (I'm happy) | 12 | 2 | |
| 1972 | Basilio | Oh Señor (Oh my lord!) | 2 | 10 |