In January 2018, it was revealed that Rybak would be taking part in the Norwegian national selection "Melodi Grand Prix 2018", to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with the song "That's How You Write a Song". The song initially received very mixed reviews. Rybak stated that he wanted to take part mostly for pleasure, rather than wanting to win the competition, stating that Norwegian singer Jahn Teigen, who participated fourteen times in the Norwegian selection and won three times, was his inspiration.