The Dutch participating broadcaster, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), selected its entry through a national final.

In addition, NOS was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the Nederlands Congresgebouw in The Hague, after winning the previous edition with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In.

Prior to the contest, there was controversy when some other national delegations laid accusations that "The Party's Over" plagiarised the 1968 Mary Hopkin hit "Those Were the Days".

All the acts were well-known hitmakers in the Netherlands, and an extra point of interest for viewers was that one of the other participants was Reemer's former singing partner Holten, now performing with his new partner Rosy: reportedly by 1976 Reemer and Holten were no longer on the best of terms, so there was much anticipation to see them competing against each other.

In the event, "The Party's Over" emerged the winner while Holten's song "I Was Born to Love" could only manage fourth place.