Off to Miami for National Competition : Photographer Has a Winner in Spanish Song Contest

“Some day your luck will change,” sang Alex Enamorado, but it didn’t change for the 27-year-old Guatemalan crooner whose surname means “in love.”

Like most of the other finalists in the Los Angeles segment of the Organization of Iberian-American Television (OTI) international Spanish song competition, Enamorado was hoping his composition-- “Algun Dia” (Some Day)--would take him from the small East Los Angeles nightclubs where he normally plays to Miami for the national finals.

Instead, Roberto Cisneros, a 58-year-old free-lance photographer originally from Durango, Mex., will go to Miami. If he wins there against entries from about 20 other American cities, he will move on to Seville, Spain, where the festival winner will be crowned.

Prefers the Traditional

Cisneros, an amateur songwriter who says he prefers to write traditional rancheras , seemed surprised that “ Regalame Un Minuto “ (Give Me a Minute), his first attempt at the Spanish pop genre balada , won the contest, held Thursday night in the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador.

“I never thought I’d win here,” said an excited Cisneros in his northern Mexican accent. “All the other songs, they were so beautiful.”

Nearly 400 Los Angeles-area songwriters--professional and amateur--entered the regional OTI competition, which was sponsored by KMEX-TV, the Los Angeles Spanish-language television station. The United States and Brazil are the only non-Spanish-speaking countries that participate in the festival, which generates enormous interest in Latin American countries.

“This is the Olympics of Music,” said Danny Villanueva, vice president and general manager of KMEX. “In Latin countries, it’s one of the premier events of the year, rivaled only by the Olympics and World Cup soccer.”

Performers Became Stars

Past OTI festivals have produced balada superstars Camilo Sexto, Jose Jose and Jose Luis Rodriguez, who in his native Venezuela is considered the equal of Spanish pop king Julio Iglesias, according to Villanueva.

The contest’s visibility among Los Angeles’ Latino community has grown tremendously since KMEX first sponsored a local elimination round in its studios seven years ago.

“We had about 15 entries our first year, and now we’re in the Cocoanut Grove,” Villanueva said.

The rules of the contest stipulate that the songs must be original compositions, in Spanish, and “must not offend the disposition of the Hispanic community.” The composers don’t have to be Latino, but they must live in the Los Angeles area.

“During the preliminary judging, we had a big box for the songs that weren’t so good, and a little box for the ones that were,” said KMEX publicist Laura Valverde, adding that the songs themselves, and not the performances, were judged.

Eight Finalists Picked

And so it came down to the final eight, presented under the Cocoanut Grove’s green neon palm trees before a five-judge jury and an audience of about 500 guests.

Enamorado was the only composer to perform his own song. Ary Vivavoz, a young Brazilian, sang accomplished Chilean composer Erick Ramirez’s inspirational “ Patria de Amor ,” (Fatherland of Love), and aging Mexican singer Melon offered songwriter Memo de Anda’s catchy tune, “ El Cielo o El Infierno “ (Heaven or Hell).

But it was Cisneros’ simple love song, performed by Memo Valdez, that captured the first-prize trophy, which Luis, one of the composer’s seven children, was busy polishing after the show.

“He’s got better songs at home,” said Luis.