The participation of Peru 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. Panamericana Televisión and América Televisión, members of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI), were responsible for the Peruvian participation.
Peru never won the OTI festival, but during their uninterrupted participation the country achieved many successes and placed in the top 10 several times. Their first participant, Betty Missiego, would represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1979 placing second.
Even though the debut of Peru in the festival was not successful, the following entries, which were selected internally, were much more promising. In fact, one year later, in Belo Horizonte, the performer Gabriela de Jesús, placed second with her song "El mundo gira por tu amor".
In 1977, again in Madrid, the singer Cecilia Bracamonte managed to place sixth for Peru with her song "Lando" which turned into a hit in the South American country.[1]
Some years later, in 1982, when Lima hosted the event for first time, the singer Elsa María Elejalde managed again to take the country to the top 10 with a seventh place.
In 1988, in Buenos Aires, the singer achieved third place for Peru with the song "Partiré Buscaré"[2] and in 1996 in Quito, the Peruvian broadcaster ended in the same place with and her song "Bendito amor". The last Peruvian representative in the event was Anna Carina, who, although she didn't manage to reach the top 10, turned into a well known personality in the country.[3]
Rocky Belmonte, who represented Perú in the OTI Festival in 1988, placing third, returned to the event in 1994 in, Valencia with his song "Mía" getting the 12th place.
| + 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 | Betty Missiego | "Recuerdos de un adiós" | Román Alís | 9 | 3 | |
| 1973 | Gabriela de Jesús | "El mundo gira por tu amor" | Ivan Pablo | 2 | 10 | |
| 1974 | "Mujer Primera" | 18 | 0 | |||
| 1975 | Gladys Mercado | "Que lindo es el amor" | Enrique Lynch | 10 | 3 | |
| 1976 | Fernando Llosa | "Al salir el sol" | 15 | 1 | ||
| 1977 | Cecilia Bracamonte | "" | Pancho Sáenz | 6 | 3 | |
| 1978 | "Mujer mujer" | Amadeo Lozano | 12 | 6 | ||
| 1979 | José Escajadillo | "Benito Gazeta" | Víctor Cuadros | 11 | 14 | |
| 1980 | "Un buen motivo para amar" | Víctor "Coco" Salazar | 11 | 13 | ||
| 1981 | Gladys Mercado | "Hombre de mis sueños" | 13 | 11 | ||
| 1982 | Elsa María Elejalde | "El signo en la frente" | Víctor Cuadros | 7 | 20 | |
| 1983 | Arturo Morales | "Cierra la puerta" | Víctor Cuadros | 15 | 46 | |
| 1984 | "Todos los días pueden ser Navidad" | 15 | – | |||
| 1985 | Luis Alonso | "Señora de nadie" | Víctor Cuadros | – | – | |
| 1986 | Francesco Petrozzi | "Aprenderé" | – | – | ||
| 1987 | Jenny Higginson | "He aprendido a volar" | Emilio Pepe Ortega | – | – | |
| 1988 | "Partiré, buscaré" | Jorge Manuel Tafur | 3 | 16 | ||
| 1989 | Mache | "Nadie me ama como tú" | Luis Dibos | – | – | |
| 1990 | Rocky Belmonte | "Viajero" | Jorge Manuel Tafur | – | – | |
| 1991 | Eva Ayllón y Fahed Mitre | "Enamorada de estar aquí" | Miguel "Chino" Figueroa | SF | – | |
| 1992 | Tania Helfgott | "Así como te doy, te quito" | Óscar Cavero | – | – | |
| 1993 | Gian Marco Zignago[4] | "Volvamos a Empezar" | Emilio Pepe Ortega | 10 | – | |
| 1994 | Rocky Belmonte | "Mía" | José Fabra | SF | – | |
| 1995 | "Brillo en la Piel" | Carlos Wong | F | – | ||
| 1996 | "Bendito amor" | Víctor "Coco" Salazar | 3 | – | ||
| 1997 | Fabiola de la Cuba | "Un lugar sin Fronteras" | Víctor "Coco" Salazar | F | – | |
| 1998 | Lupe Eslava | "Te llevo en el Alma" | Álvaro Esquivel | SF | – | |
| 1999 | Contest cancelled X | |||||
| 2000 | Anna Carina | "Un planeta, un corazón" | Hernando Hernández | F | – | |
| Year | City | Venue | Hosts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Lima | Coliseo Amauta | [5] | |
| 1997 | Plaza Mayor | [6] |