Miguel’s Own Song Is Good Enough to Win

Juan Miguel, a young man who makes a living imitating popular Mexican singer Juan Gabriel, stepped from behind his shadow Wednesday night at the Hollywood Palace to sing his own song and take his chances in Latin America’s most glamorous talent show.

What Miguel got for his try was a first place and a chance to represent Los Angeles at the OTI (Iberoamerican Television Organization) semifinals in Miami on Sept. 28.

If Miguel--whose real name is Miguel Enriquez Soto, wins, he’ll qualify for the OTI finals in Buenos Aires in November, said contest sponsors at Spanish-language KMEX-TV Channel 34 in Los Angeles.

KMEX will carry the Los Angeles contest on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. The broadcast will include guest performances by Armando Manzanero and Maria Medina.

Although the initials for the songwriting and singing contest may be new to English-language audiences, its competitors know that OTI prizes have brought stardom and record contracts to their winners since the contest was started in 1972 by an international Spanish-language TV news programming cooperative.

But Miguel, a native of the Mexican gulf coast city of Veracruz, believed he had the edge over his nine competitors--selected by contest judges from 350 applicants--the instant that he drew the ninth spot in the program. “I wanted the number,” he said breathlessly. “And when I drew it, I knew I would win. I’m very superstitious.”

The singer attributed the inspiration for his song “La Verdad” (“The Truth”) to a real romance. Several guests in the audience, however, were not as taken with the songs composed by Miguel and the other performers. “Honestly, they didn’t look like finalists,” said Silvia Rivera, a long-time OTI fan from Los Angeles. “They were more like beginners.”

Leo Ramos, KMEX’s assistant general manager, said the poor quality of the sound the audience heard may explain Rivera’s reaction. “We were very disappointed with the audio,” Ramos said. But he predicted “a first-rate TV show.”