By pure coincidence and through friend in common, manager and promoter Carlos Blum, Dangond officially met accordionist Juancho De la Espriella during a serenata (De la Espriella was grouped with singer Peter Manjarrez).
He then won in 1980 with the song "Solo noi", and subsequently finished second in six editions: in 1984 with the song "Serenata" ("Serenade"), in 1987 with "Figli" ("Sons" or "Children"), in 1988 with "Emozioni" ("Emotions"), in 1989 with the song "Le mamme" ("The Mamas"), in 1990 with Ray Charles with the song "Gli amori" ("Loves", but entitled "Good Love Gone Bad" in Charles' version) and in 2005 with Annalisa Minetti with the song "Come noi nessuno al mondo" ("No One Else in the World Like Us").