Mexico was represented at the OTI Festival 1973 with the song "", written by Celia Bonfil, and performed by . The Mexican participating broadcaster, Televisa, selected its entry through a national televised competition with several phases. The song, that was performed in position 13, placed first out of 14 competing entries tying with the song from Peru in 10 votes, and winning the festival after applying the tie-breaking rule.

However, the national final had been won by "", written by Felipe Gil and performed by Gualberto Castro, which became ineligible for the festival since it was later proven that it had been broadcast on the radio before the permitted date. "", which had been the runner-up in the national final, was sent instead. This was the first entry from Mexico to actually participate in the OTI Festival, since the previous year's entry was disqualified and no replacement was sent.

National stage Televisa held a national competition with three televised qualifying rounds and a final to select its debut entry for the 2th edition of the OTI Festival. This second edition of the National OTI Festival featured 23 songs, of which eight reached the final.

The shows were presented by Raúl Velasco, and were broadcast on within the show . The musical director was , who conducted the orchestra when required.

+ Competing entries on the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1973 Song Artist Songwriter(s) Conductor "" Grupo Juglaría "" "" Mónica Ygual Mónica Ygual "" José Luis Almada José Luis Almada "" Irma Carlón "" "" Fernando Allende "" Fátima Rocco y Alessandro "" Héctor Meneses Héctor Meneses "" Gualberto Castro Felipe Gil "" Manuel Carlos Blanco "" José Luis Almada José Luis Almada "" Fernando Allende Loustalot "" Celia Bonfil "" Grupo Juglaría Yoshio "" David Verduzco David Verduzco "" Luis Moreno Héctor Meneses "" Luis Moreno Roberto Magaña "" Fátima "" Fernando Allende Rocco y Alessandro "" Gualberto Castro Felipe Gil "" Irma Carlón Pedro Luis Bartilotti "" Jaime Moreno Sergio Esquivel

Qualifying rounds The three qualifying rounds were held on Sundays 30 September, and 7 and 14 October 1973. The eight highest-scoring entries among the 23 competing advanced to the final.

+ Result of the qualifying rounds of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1973 Song Artist Result First qualifying round – 30 September 1973 1 "" Grupo Juglaría Qualified 2 "" Irma Carlón Qualified 3 "" Manuel 4 "" 5 "" Fátima 6 "" Fernando Allende 7 "" José Luis Almada 8 "" Fernando Allende Second qualifying round – 7 October 1973 1 "" Gualberto Castro Qualified 2 "" José Luis Almada Qualified 3 "" Héctor Meneses Qualified 4 "" Qualified 5 "" Mónica Ygual 6 "" Irma Carlón 7 "" Luis Moreno 8 "" David Verduzco Third qualifying round – 14 October 1973 1 "" Grupo Juglaría 2 "" Fernando Allende 3 "" Fátima 4 "" Luis Moreno 5 "" 6 "" Qualified 7 "" Gualberto Castro Qualified

Final The final was held on Sunday 21 October 1973. The winner was "", written by Felipe Gil and performed by Gualberto Castro. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

+ Result of the final of the National OTI Festival – Mexico 1973 Song Artist Points Result 1 "" Gualberto Castro 146 1 2 "" 144 2 3 "" Gualberto Castro 137 3 4 "" Héctor Meneses 122 4 5 "" José Luis Almada 6 "" Grupo Juglaría 7 "" Irma Carlón 8 ""

Song replacement On 26 October 1973, "" became ineligible for the OTI Festival since it was proven that it had been broadcast on the radio before the permitted date. The runner-up in the national final, "", written by Celia Bonfil, and performed by , was signed up for the international competition instead.

At the OTI Festival On 10 November 1973, the OTI Festival was held at the in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, hosted by TV Itacolomi on behalf of Rede Tupi, and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America.

Imelda Miller performed "" in position 13, with Chucho Ferrer conducting the event's orchestra, and placing first out of 14 competing entries, in a tie in 10 votes with "" by Gabriela de Jesús representing Peru. In the tie-breaking vote, Mexico received 7 votes and Peru 5, making "" the winning song.

Voting Each participating broadcaster assembled a five-member jury, which each member voting for its favourite song.

+ Votes awarded to Mexico Score Country 3 votes Argentina 2 votes Brazil 1 vote

+ Votes awarded by Mexico Score Country 1 vote

References