The fifth esctoday.com TOP TEN list continues today with the place no. 1 being announced. As announced on Saturday, this week's topic are the TOP TEN longest running spin-offs and imitations.
The list features shows and contests that are either real spin-offs of the Eurovision Song Contest organised by the EBU or contests that follow a similar idea.
So we continue:
No. 1 – Festival OTI de la Canción (1972-2000)
The Festival OTI de la Canción was an international contest organised by the OTI, an organisation similar to the EBU for Ibero-American countries, between 1972 and 2000 and it was actually a spin-off of the Mexican Festival de la canción Latina, which had been held in 1969 and 1970. Countries that competed in the contest included almost all states in South America as well as Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain and Portugal. The rules were very similar to the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest including the big rule of the winning country hosting the contest the next year. The only country that won without ever hosting the contest after winning was Nicaragua in 1978 and it can therefore be considered the Monaco of OTI.
Spain and Mexico are the most successful countries in the contest having both won six times. However, Spain's record is even more impressive as they managed to reach the top five twenty times. Other winning countries were Argentina (four times), Brazil (three times), Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the United States and Chile (twice) as well as Nicaragua (once).
Some contestants have a connection to the Eurovision Song Contest. José Cid, who represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 as well as a band member in 1998, had already finished third in the 1979 OTI festival. Adelaide finished second for Portugal in 1984, one year before she achieved a second last place in the Eurovision Song Contest. Dulce Pontes was the 1991 Portuguese representative both in OTI and Eurovision. Marco Llunas won the 1995 OTI festival for Spain and two years later he would also take part in Dublin. Furthermore, Paloma San Basilio, Spanish representative in 1985, co-hosted the contest three times.
Marco Llunas winning in 1995 with a song written by Alejandro Abad:
This concludes out fifth top ten list. Tomorrow, we will introduce some spin-offs and imitations that did not make the list. Furthermore, we will reveal next week's topic, which will be a very special one. So stay tuned!
