Televisa held a national competition with three televised qualifying rounds, a playoff, a semi-final, and a final to select its entry for the
16th edition of the
OTI Festival. This sixteenth edition of the National OTI Festival featured twenty-four songs in the qualifying rounds, twelve in the semi-final, and six in the final. The top-three entries were awarded at the end. In addition to the general competition, awards were also given for Best Male Performer, Best Female Performer, Best Musical Arrangement, Breakout Male Artist, Breakout Female Artist, and Best Group among all the competing artists. The qualifying rounds were held at Studio 2 of
Televisa San Ángel in
Mexico City, presented by , while the semi-final and the final were held in
Querétaro, presented by
Raúl Velasco, all broadcast on . The musical director was , who conducted the orchestra when required.
Qualifying rounds The three qualifying rounds were held on Saturdays 5, 12, and 19 September 1987. Each round featured eight entries, of which the three highest-scoring advanced to the semi-final. In each round, after all the competing entries were performed, each of the nine jurors cast one vote for each of their three favorite entries. In case of a tie for qualification, the president of the jury decided between the tied entries. The nine jurors in the qualifiying rounds were:
Shanik Berman, Alma Elena Quintana, Jesús Gallegos, Enrique Okamura,
Tomás Méndez, Moisés Ortega Medina, Marcos Olivares, Andrea Cotto, and Juan Calderón as chairperson.
Playoff The playoff was held on Saturday 19 September 1987 following the third qualifying round. To select the last three semi-finalists, each of the nine jurors cast one vote for each of their three favorite entries among the fifteen not qualified.
Semi-final The semi-final was held on Saturday 3 October 1987. After all the competing entries were performed, each of the eleven jurors cast one vote for each of their six favorite entries, and the six most voted songs went on to the final.
Final The six-song final was held on Sunday 4 October 1987. The final was held in two rounds. In the first round, each of the eleven jurors cast aloud one vote for each of their three favorite entries, and the three most voted songs went on to the superfinal. In the superfinal, after the three songs were performed again, each juror announced aloud one vote for their favourite entry. The eleven jurors were:
Silvia Pinal, Enrique Okamura,
Rocío Banquells, Alma Elena Quintana, Tomás Méndez, Juan Calderón (chairperson), Shanik Berman, Moisés Ortega Medina, Marcos Olivares, Andrea Cotto, and Jesús Gallegos. The winner was "", written and performed by
Ana Gabriel. The festival ended with a reprise of the winning entry.
Merit awards In the final, the jurors voted for the Best Male and Female Performer, Best Musical Arrangement, Breakout Male and Female Artist, and Best Group among the three shortlisted artist in each category. Álvaro Dávila received the Best Male Performer Award; Ana Gabriel the Best Female Performer Award; the Best Musical Arrangement Award for ""; José María Lobo the Breakout Male Artist Award; the Breakout Female Artist Award, and
Pandora the Best Group Award.
Official album 12 finalistas del Festival OTI 1987 is the official compilation album of the sixteenth edition of the Mexican National OTI Festival, released by Melody Internacional in 1987. The vinyl LP features the studio version of the twelve songs qualified for the semi-final. == At the OTI Festival ==