The Netherlands Antilles was represented at the OTI Festival 1983 with the song "", written by Ricardo del Carmen González and , and performed by Philips himself. The Netherlands Antillean participating broadcaster, (ATM), selected its entry through a televised national final. The song, that was performed in position 21, placed in the top-5, out of 21 competing entries. It was the best-ever place of the Netherlands Antilles in the festival.
(ATM), held a national final to select its entry for the 12th edition of the OTI Festival. Sixteen songs would be selected for the televised final, seven each from Aruba and Curaçao, and one each from Bonaire and the Dutch Windward Islands. Eventually, eight each were selected in the Aruban and Curaçaoan pre-selections.
TeleCuraçao organized a televised pre-selection to select its eight songs for the national final. It was staged on Saturday 3 September 1983 at ATM studios in Willemstad, beginning at 18:00 AST (22:00 UTC).
The Aruban pre-selection was held on Sunday 11 September 1983 at the Aruba Palmbeach Hotel in Palm Beach, to select eight songs for the national final from among sixteen candidates. Beginning at 20:00 AST (00:00+1 UTC), it was presented by Gerda Salas and Tico Kuiperi. The show was opened with Sharon Rose, who had won the national final the previous year, guest performing the national anthem, and the sixteen participants singing the festival theme song "".
The sixteen competing acts were Teddy Phillips, Doodle Sofia, Marienne, Papito Rafael, Beatrix Ras, Daphney Martijn, Dennis Raghunath, Marcelino Paesch, Edwin Abath, Olivia Murray, Tommy and Francis, Efrem Benita, Jeanice Tromp, Juancho Ignacio, , and The Young Voices.
The jury consisted of Martha Figaroa, Sharon Rose, Tirso Steba, and Rafi Camacho, and Gemma Orman, who assisted chairman .
Edwin Abath won both Voz di oro and Voz supreme male awards with ""; but since the rules didn't allow receiving both titles, the Voz di oro male award went to Claudius Philips with "". Jeanice Tromp won the Voz supreme female award with "" and Olivia Murray won the Voz di oro female award with "". Franklin Granadillo won the award for best arranger, Roberto Montiel for best conductor, and Jeanice Tromp for most popular singer. The songs performed by Dennis Raghunath, Marcelino Paesch, Edwin Abath, Olivia Murray, Tommy and Francis, Efrem Benita, Claudius Philips, and The Young Voices qualified for the national final.
ATM held the national final on Sunday 25 September 1983, beginning at 18:00 AST (22:00 UTC), at its studio 1 in Willemstad. It was broadcast live on both TeleCuraçao and TeleAruba.
The winner was "", written by Ricardo del Carmen González and Claudius Philips, and performed by Philips himself.
On 29 October 1983, the OTI Festival was held at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., United States, hosted by the Spanish International Network (SIN), and broadcast live throughout Ibero-America. Claudius Philips performed "" in position 21, with Franklin Granadillo conducting the event's orchestra. At the end, only the top five places were announced, and the Netherlands Antillean entry was one of them.
The festival was broadcast live on TeleAruba and TeleCuraçao.
Each participating broadcaster, or group of broadcasters that jointly participated representing a country, appointed a juror who secretly scored each entry in a scale of 5âÂÂ1 points, except for the entry representing its own country. The Netherlands Antillean juror was Joy Kock.