One week before she walks on stage at Alfheim, it's a mystery to Lene Marlin that she still hasn't become panic-stricken.

OSLO: - Only to think that there is just one week left. Time has passed so incredibly quickly.

Lene Marlin is laughing, and is shaking her head.

- I just thought it was June, but now the festival is just around the corner. I can hardly believe it.

Second concert in the home town

Following Lene Marlin's great breakthrough at the end of the 90-ies, Tromsø's own pop star has only held one concert in the home town: In the Tromsø Hall in 2004, together with Bertine Zetlitz and Morten Abel.

Now Lene Marlin thinks it's time for her being able to share her music with Tromsø again.

She says that the main reason for thanking yes to perform at Døgnvill, is that the festival is being staged just in her own home town.

- Yes, I must say this weighed heavily, Lene Marlin smiles.

- I went a few extra rounds with myself before I said yes, and I wouldn't necessarily have given the same answer if the arrangement had been in another city.

- Do you feel ready?

- Yeah, at least I will be before the time I'm going on stage. Just now I'm wildly looking forward to the concert.

Lene Marlin is drumming persistently her nails at the table. Artificially nervously.

- In reality, I ought to be like this now, perhaps, she smiles, while she's increasing the intensity of the drumming.

- Why am I not panic-stricken?

Well and mixed

Pepsi Max is being poured in delicious glasses on newly ironed white sheets at the restaurant Bølgen og Moi at the better part of Oslo west. Even though it says "practice", "practice", "practice" in just about every column on Lene Marlin's time schedule this week, she has still taken the time to do a couple of selected interviews about the concert at Alfheim Stadium.

- I'm feeling it goes really well now. It feels good playing together with the band, and we have started to figure out all the songs we will be playing at the festival.

- What are we going to be hearing?

- He he, I'm not revealing anything, Lene Marlin laughs, before she does just that anyway:

- I have gradually obtained quite the material to choose from, so there will probably be both old and new songs.

During the performance in Tromsø in 2004, just over 2.000 people had bought a ticket for the concert. This time around, that number could probably be multiplied with five - there is expected over 10.000 in the audience on the grass plains at Alfheim Stadium.

- Do you choose other types of songs when you're playing for such a large audience?

- No, not really. We have no rules for what we're going to be playing, we are rather choosing what works best in the practice sessions, says Lene Marlin, and is telling that even though the band practice sessions may last until 10 in the evening, she still doesn't manage to end the day when she's going home.

- I might be staying up until 2 in the morning, while everything is chewing inside of me: What songs are we going to include? Should we change the order? Perhaps we should change a couple of things on this or that song?

Lene Marlin is smiling again.

- There are, in other words, a lot of music in my head these days. It's almost as I'm about to go mad, she laughs.

However, despite the preparations for Døgnvill being able to remove the night's sleep from Lene Marlin, there is still something good coming out of it.

- I'm getting very inspired when I'm surrounded by music all the time, she says, and tells that she has entered a very creative period - something that puts good speed on the songwriting.

- I'm really the world's worst concert audience. Even though the music is really great, I'm always having the urge to leave there halfway through the concert. I get so fired up, and just want to get home and be writing songs, says Lene Marlin, who in the latter time has delivered songs to other great stars - among others the American Rihanna.

New album?

Whether the bubbling creativity will result in a new album from her side, Lene Marlin cannot give a true answer.

- I have no definite plans of a new album now, she says, and hurriedly adds:

- I do indeed know that nobody believes me when I say that, since the last album was launched totally out of the blue, I mean.

- However, what I can say, is that the next record will come when I'm ready and feel the urge.

Lene Marlin claims that she is very stringent with herself when she's creating music. Therefore, she would not release anything before she's hundred percent satisfied.

- However, perhaps I'm suddenly thinking: "Damned, now I'm going to release an album", she says, while snapping her fingers for illustrating how quickly things can happen.

- I will admit, indeed, that I have many songs lying around.

Døgnvill praise

Lene Marlin is telling that many of her friends in the capital will take the trip to Tromsø for listening to the concert next Saturday.

- I'm noticing there is a great interest in this concert. It's a lot of fuss, but that doesn't really hurt me much. That is just fun, she says, and adds that she already has gotten a very good impression of the Døgnvill Festival.

- I do really have a liking for the setup.

- And I'm just so glad that everything went okay with the serving of beer. If there hadn't been any beer, I don't know if I would have dared to tell that to my friends. They would hardly have become especially happy about standing a whole day at a concert drinking soft drinks.

- Will your family also come to the concert?

- I'm counting on that, she laughs.

- Yes, damned it. They really ought to do that.