The Netherlands Antilles was represented at the OTI Festival 1978 with the song "", written by , and performed by Trio Huazteca. The Netherlands Antillean participating broadcaster, (ATM), selected its entry through a televised national final for the first time. The song, that was performed in position 7, placed tenth out of 19 competing entries with 9 points.
(ATM), held a national final for the first time to select its entry for the 7th edition of the OTI Festival. The broadcaster had internally selected its four previous entries in the festival. A maximum of twenty-four songs would be selected for the televised final, ten each from Aruba and Curaçao, and two each from Bonaire and the Dutch Windward Islands.
The live broadcast of the national final marked a milestone in the history of television broadcasts in the Netherlands Antilles, as it was the first live broadcast outside of a studio and the first in which the cameramen followed a broadcasting script.
The Aruban pre-selection was held on Sunday 9 July 1978, beginning at 20:00 AST (00:00+1 UTC), at the Rembrandt Room of the Sheraton Hotel in Palm Beach, to select ten songs for the national final from among twenty-four candidates. The show was presented by Ito Tromp and . Roberto Montiel was the musical director.
The twenty-four competing acts were: Shalene Tromp, Roy Laclé, , Edwin Abath, Trio Hueasteca, Kenneth Ecury, Amado Rosina, Dennis Raghunath, Gilbert Raven, Phyllis Gumbs, Rudy Herrera, Tony Laclé, Edwin Coutinho, Otto Rondon, Henk Liesdek, Siegfried Fradl, John Kelly, Efrem Benita, Debbie de Cuba, Jeff Lind, Carmen Ruiz-Herrera, Inneke Atma, Katijn Werleman, and Tirso Steba.
Shalene Tromp won the Voz supremo di Aruba award with "", with Edwin Abath in second place with "", and Tirso Steba in third place with "". Roy Laclé won the award for most popular singer. "" by Shalene Tromp, "" by Edwin Abath, "" by Tirso Steba, "" by Trio Hueasteca, "" by Efrem Benita, "" by Sharon Rose, "" by Siegfried Fradl, "" by Roy Laclé, "" by Rudy Herrera, and "" by Jossy Brokke jr., qualified for the national final.
ATM held the national final on two consecutive evenings, on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 September 1978, at Centro Pro Arte in Willemstad. All twenty-one competing entries were performed the first evening, with ten advancing to the second evening. The second evening was broadcast on TeleCuraçao.
The overall winner was "", written by , and performed by Trio Huazteca. One performer per region was also awarded: Trio Huazteca from Aruba, Humberto Fernan from Curaçao, and Vernon Jacobs from the Dutch Windward Islands. Ministers Stanley Rogers and Frank Rozendal presented the awards.
On 2 December 1978, the OTI Festival was held at the Municipal Theatre in Santiago, Chile, hosted by (TVN), (UCTV), (UTV), and (UCVTV), and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. Trio Huazteca performed "" in position 7, with Roberto Montiel conducting the event's orchestra, and placing tenth out of 19 competing entries, with 9 points.
The festival was broadcast on delay on 9 December at 22:00 AST (02:00+1 UTC) on TeleCuraçao.
Each participating broadcaster, or group of broadcasters that jointly participated representing a country, assembled a jury who awarded 5âÂÂ1 points to their five favourite songs in order of preference. ATM instead used its stand-in delegate present at the festival venue to vote for the Netherlands Antilles.