The United States was represented at the OTI Festival 1981 with the song "", written by Vilma Planas and Héctor Garrido, and performed by Aldo Matta. The participating broadcaster representing the country, the Spanish International Network (SIN), selected its entry through a national televised competition. The song, that was performed in position 6, placed third with 22 points, tying with the entry from Mexico, out of 21 competing entries.
National stage The Spanish International Network (SIN) held a national televised competition to select its entry for the 10th edition of the OTI Festival. This was the fourth edition of the . In the final, each song represented a SIN affiliate, each of which had selected its entry through a local pre-selection.
Los Angeles pre-selection On Sunday 30 August 1981, KMEX-TV held a televised pre-selection at the Grand Theatre of the Los Angeles Trade–Technical College in Los Angeles, beginning at 21:30 PDT (04:30+1 UTC). This third edition of the Los Angeles Local OTI Festival featured ten songs, shortlisted from 410 received. It was presented by Eduardo Quezada and Sonia Vorhauer, and broadcast live on Channel 34. The show featured a guest performance by , the previous year's winner.
The jury was composed of Mario Alberto Millar, Elisabeth Waldo, Erich Bulling, Lupita Morán, Dinorah Pérez, Teresa Medina, and Paco Calderón as chairperson. The president of the jury only decided in the event of a tie, the rest of the jurors scored each song between 1 and 5 points.
The winner, and therefore qualified for the national final, was "", written and performed by Guillermo Fernández.
+ Result of the Local OTI Festival – Los Angeles 1981 Song Artist Songwriter(s) Points Result "" Guillermo Fernández Guillermo Fernández "" Carla Carla 2 "" Hugo Enrique 18 "" Ramón Pecina Ricardo Martel 5 "" Xavier Zaragoza 5 "" José María Lobo 13 "" Carlos Alejandro 8 "" Trinity 9 "" Kissy 10
Final The final was held on Saturday 10 October 1981 at the Fontainebleau Hilton Hotel in Miami Beach, beginning at 20:00 EDT (00:00+1 UTC), and featuring eight songs. It was presented by Omar Marchant and , and broadcast live on all SIN affiliates and on FM 92. The show featured guest performances by Iva Zanicchi, Luis Aguilé, and previous year's winner Rammiro Velasco.
Each of the eight competing SIN affiliates assembled a jury that awarded their favorite entries, except their own, between 1 and 5 points in order of preference.
The winner was "" representing WXTV–New York, written by Vilma Planas and Héctor Garrido, and performed by Aldo Matta; with "" representing KMEX-TV–Los Angeles, written and performed by Guillermo Fernández, placing second; and "" representing KWEX-TV–San Antonio, written and performed by Sergio Ruiz, placing third. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.
+ Result of the final of the Song Artist Songwriter(s) Affiliate Points Result 1 "" Luis de Neri Luis de Neri KDTV–San Francisco 11 5 2 "" Sergio Ruiz Sergio Ruiz KWEX-TV–San Antonio 21 3 3 "" Guillermo Fernández Guillermo Fernández KMEX-TV–Los Angeles 23 2 4 "" Aldo Matta WXTV–New York 32 1 5 "" Ramón Pecina Fernando Figueroa KFTV–Fresno 5 8 6 "" José "Palomo" Abarca José "Palomo" Abarca WCIU–Chicago 7 6 7 "" Nattacha Amador Pedro Tamayo WLTV–Miami 15 4 8 "" Juan Alejandro Rodríguez and José Manuel Sandoval Juan Alejandro Rodríguez KCSO–Modesto 6 7
At the OTI Festival On 5 December 1981, the OTI Festival was held at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, Mexico, hosted by Televisa, and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. Aldo Matta performed "" in position 6, with Héctor Garrido conducting the event's orchestra, and placing third with 22 points, tying with the entry from Mexico, out of 21 competing entries.
Voting Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury who awarded 5–1 points to their five favourite songs in order of preference.
+ Points awarded to the United States Score Country 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
+ Points awarded by the United States Score Country 5 points Colombia 4 points Mexico 3 points Argentina 2 points Spain 1 point Venezuela
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