OTI Festival 1996

The festival was held on Saturday 14 December 1996, beginning at 18:00 ECT (23:00 UTC). It was presented by Christian Johnson and Ximena Aulestia. The musical director was Claudio Jácome Harb, who conducted the orchestra when required. The stage was designed by Oswaldo Guayasamín.

The winner was the song "Manos" performed by Anabel Russ representing Spain; with "Cuánto te amo" by Guillermo Guido [es] representing Argentina placing second; and "Bendito amor" by Carmina Cannavino [es] representing Peru placing third. The first prize was endowed with a monetary amount of US$30,000, the second prize of US$20,000, and the third prize of US$10,000.^[2] The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.

Results of the OTI Festival 1996^[1]

R/O	Country	Song	Artist	Place
1	Peru	"Bendito amor"	Carmina Cannavino [es]	3
2	Venezuela	"Junto a tu boca"	Dina	—N/a
3	Costa Rica	"Qué bonito sería"	Sergio Coto	—N/a
4	Mexico	"Del piso a la nube"	Sergio Arzate	—N/a
5	Colombia	"Eres"	Duo Voz en Off	—N/a
6	Portugal	"A minha ilha"	Elaisa	—N/a
7	Cuba	"Me queda la canción"	Eduardo Antonio	—N/a
8	Uruguay	"Quiero estrenar"	Los Iracundos	—N/a
9	Panama	"Sin tu cielo azul"	Omar Argel Espinosa	—N/a
10	Guatemala	"Para encontrar la paz"	Álvaro Aguilar	—N/a
11	Spain	"Manos"	Anabel Russ	1
12	Argentina	"Cuánto te amo"	Guillermo Guido [es]	2
13	Chile	"Te confieso"	José Luis Moya	—N/a
14	Dominican Republic	"Una historia más"	Frank Ceara	—N/a
15	Puerto Rico	"Ay, amor"	Grupo Porto Latino	—N/a
16	Paraguay	"Por ti mujer"	Jorge Castro	—N/a
17	Nicaragua	"Oh, luna"	Manuel Salvador Baltodano	—N/a
18	El Salvador	"Con alguien más"	Juan Manuel Bolaños	—N/a
19	United States	"Basta ya"	Raffy	—N/a
20	Honduras	"Rosas y espinas"	Millicent Viera	—N/a
21	Bolivia	"Has estado con él"	Huáscar Bolívar Vallejo	—N/a
22	Ecuador	"Y vuela"	Aldo y Gianny Salvador	—N/a

The members of a single jury selected their favourite songs in a secret vote. Only the top three places were revealed. The members of the jury were:

• Marcos Llunas – singer, won the festival for Spain in 1995
• Alejandro Abad – singer-songwriter, wrote the winning entries for Spain in 1993 and 1995
• Luis Padilla Guevara [es] – composer, wrote the entries representing Ecuador in 1985 and 1989
• Victoria Puig de Lange – composer, wrote the entry representing Ecuador in 1978
• Omar Fierro – television host
• Ana Bárbara – singer
• Carlos Bonavides [es] – actor
• Alberto Plaza [es] – singer-songwriter, represented Chile in 1995
• Astrid Gruber [es] – actress
• Betty Pino – radio host

The festival was broadcast in the 22 participating countries where the corresponding OTI member broadcasters relayed the contest through their networks after receiving it live via satellite.

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref.
Spain	TVE	La Primera	José Luis Uribarri	[3]