Chile was represented at the OTI Festival 1976 with the song "", written by and Óscar Cáceres, and performed by Fuentes himself. The Chilean participating broadcasters, (TVN) and (UCTV), jointly selected their entry through a national televised competition with several phases. The song, that was performed in position 8, placed third out of 19 competing entries, with 12 points.
National stage (TVN) and (UCTV), used the second edition of as a national competition to select their entry for the 5th edition of the OTI Festival. The festival featured twenty entries in two televised qualifying rounds of ten songs each, of which ten reached the final. In addition to the general competition, awards were given for Best Performer and for Originality to one song.
The shows were held at Teatro Astor in Santiago, were presented by Antonio Vodanovic and Marisa Sepúlveda, and were broadcast on TVN's , with UCTV's broadcasting only the final. The musical director was , who conducted the orchestra when required.
+ Competing entries on 1978 Song Artist Songwriter(s) "" Los Alfiles Negros Fernando Ferrada "" Patricio Carvallo "" Juan Eduardo "" Ricardo de la Fuente Ricardo de la Fuente "" Norman Jaime Sasmay "" Eduardo Santa "" Osvaldo Carrasco "" Jorge Cavada "" "" Silverio Pintor Silverio Pintor "" Patricia Maldonado Luis Miguel Silva "" Gloria Benavides Luis Riderelli "" Yolanda Urrutia Yolanda Urrutia "" Luis "Poncho" Venegas "" Mariela González Mariela González "" Samuel Valenzuela Samuel Valenzuela "" Osvaldo Díaz María Angélica Ramírez "" Verónica Hurtado Nelson Soza Montenegro "" Silvana Bianchi Juan Pablo Mellado "" Alejandro
Qualifying rounds The two qualifying rounds were held on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 October 1976, beginning at 22:00 CLST (01:00+1 UTC). There were ten entries in each round, of which the ten highest-scoring entries in each round advanced to the final. The first round featured guest performances by , , and Coco Legrand, and the second round guest performances by the cast of , Roberto Valdés, and Jorge Cruz.
The jury in both rounds was composed of the following six record label executives: Roberto Inglez, Jorge Undurraga, Jorge Oñate, , Luis Torrejón, and Cristian Livingstone.
+ Result of the first qualifying round of 1978 Song Artist Result 1 "" Osvaldo Díaz Qualified 2 "" Gloria Benavides Qualified 3 "" Ricardo de la Fuente Qualified 4 "" Silvana Bianchi 5 "" Silverio Pintor 6 "" Osvaldo Carrasco Qualified 7 "" Mariela González 8 "" Los Alfiles Negros 9 "" Norman 10 "" Patricia Maldonado Qualified
+ Result of the second qualifying round of 1978 Song Artist Result 1 "" Qualified 2 "" Qualified 3 "" Jorge Cavada 4 "" Verónica Hurtado 5 "" Eduardo Santa 6 "" Patricio Carvallo Qualified 7 "" Alejandro 8 "" Juan Eduardo 9 "" Yolanda Urrutia Qualified 10 "" Samuel Valenzuela Qualified
Final The final was held on Wednesday 13 October 1976, beginning at 22:00 CLST (01:00+1 UTC). It featured guest performances by Juan Carlos Calderón, Sergio y Estíbaliz (who performed among other songs ""), Don Francisco, and Mandolino.
The jury in the final consisted of seven members, of which each of the broadcasters appointed three: TVN appointed Camilo Fernández, Horacio Hernández, Oro Colodro; UCTV appointed , Raúl de Ramón, and Valentín Trujillo; and Octavio Espinoza was the seventh juror. Each of them had three votes to distribute as they wished.
The winner was "", written by and Óscar Cáceres, and performed by Fuentes himself; with "", written by María Angélica Ramírez, and performed by Osvaldo Díaz placing second; and "", written and performed by Ricardo de la Fuente, and "", written by Luis "Poncho" Venegas, and performed by both placing third. The first prize was endowed with a monetary amount of CLP$20,000, the second prize of CLP$10,000, and the third prize of CLP$5,000; with all participants, both performers and songwriters, receiving a golden key. Luz Eliana also received the Best Performer Award, and Silverio Pintor for "" the Originality Award.
+ Result of the final of 1978 Song Artist Votes Result "" Patricio Carvallo 0 "" Ricardo de la Fuente 1 3 "" Osvaldo Carrasco 0 "" 11 1 "" Patricia Maldonado 0 "" Gloria Benavides 0 "" Yolanda Urrutia 0 "" 1 3 "" Samuel Valenzuela 0 "" Osvaldo Díaz 8 2
+ Detailed vote of the final of 1978 Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total "" 0 "" 1 1 "" 0 "" 1 1 2 1 2 1 3 11 "" 0 "" 0 "" 0 "" 1 1 "" 0 "" 1 1 1 2 1 2 8
At the OTI Festival On 30 October 1976, the OTI Festival was held at the of the in Acapulco, Mexico, hosted by Televisa, and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. José Alfredo Fuentes performed "" in position 8, with Horacio Saavedra conducting the event's orchestra, placing third out of 19 competing entries, with 12 points.
The festival was broadcast on TVN's and UCTV's on delay at 22:05 CLST (01:05+1 UTC). With Antonio Vodanovic and presenting the local opt-out from the TVN studios, and with Vodanovic acting as spokesperson who announced the Chilean jury's vote.
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