Costa Rica was represented at the OTI Festival 1998 with the song "", written by Edwin Bonillas Rojas, and performed by Ana Yancy Contreras and Luis Duvalier Quirós. The Costa Rican participating broadcaster, (Teletica), selected its entry through a televised national final. In addition, (Repretel) was the host broadcaster and staged the event at the in San José. The song, which qualified automatically from the semi-final, was one of the finalists.
National stage (Teletica) held a national final to select its entry for the 27th edition of the OTI Festival.
Competing entries The broadcaster opened a song application period with a deadline of 15 September 1998, which had to be extended until 18 September. Of the 87 songs received, seven were shortlisted for the televised final. The selection committee was composed of Alfredo Moreno, Ricardo Sáenz, Willy Flores, Alexis Gamboa, José Bustos, Carlos Escalante, Mario Campos, and Rodrigo Maffioli. They considered three factors for the selection: composition, performance, and good arrangements.
+ Competing entries on the National OTI Festival – Costa Rica 1998 Song Artist Songwriter(s) "" Alfredo Flores Villegas "" Eduardo Alonso Vargas Alejandro Pérez "" Javier Orias Javier Orias "" Bernal Gutiérrez Bernal Gutiérrez "" Natalia Ramírez Natalia Ramírez "" José Francisco Castro José Francisco Castro "" Ana Yancy Contreras and Luis Duvalier Quirós Edwin Bonillas Rojas
National final Teletica held the National OTI Festival on Monday 12 October 1998, beginning at 20:20 CST (02:20+1 UTC), at El Greco hall of the San José Palacio Hotel in San José. It was hosted by and Lucía Alvarado; and was broadcast on . Groups Gaviota, Claroscuro, and Merecumbé made guest performances.
The jury was composed of Alberto Zúñiga, Luis Ángel Castro, Willie Flores, Pigo Maffioli, Marvin Araya, and Mario Campos. Before the event, the jury disqualified the song "" because its composers had informed the competition organizers that they were going to register it in another contest.
The winner was the song "", written by Edwin Bonillas Rojas, and performed by Ana Yancy Contreras and Luis Duvalier Quirós.
+ Result of the National OTI Festival – Costa Rica 1998 Song Artist Result 1 "" Eduardo Alonso Vargas 2 "" Javier Orias 3 "" Bernal Gutiérrez 4 "" Natalia Ramírez 5 "" José Francisco Castro 6 "" Ana Yancy Contreras and Luis Duvalier Quirós 1
At the OTI Festival On 13–14 November 1998, the OTI Festival was held at the in San José, hosted by (Repretel), and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. As the host country, Costa Rica had a guaranteed place in the final; where Ana Yancy Contreras and Luis Duvalier Quirós performed "" in position 4, with conducting the event's orchestra. At the end, only the top three places were announced, and the Costa Rican entry was not one of them, remaining with the title of finalist.
Repretel broadcast both shows of the festival live on and .
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