I'm participating for the second time. It is always nice to do something good. It's just a nice atmosphere here. All the colleagues are really great singers. The program is always very beautiful and sparkling, and you hear all these famous pieces. So why not?

I think that when you receive a gift of life, you should use this gift the right way and give it to other people. The gift is for everybody, not only for me. This is not about individual persons but about the soul of the world. We are swimming together there, like in an ocean.

To earn my livelihood by singing opera is a great joy and a privilege. Every time I get up onstage, I'm aware of how lucky I am. We always hope that we touch somebody and move them. Then, on top of that, to have the chance to do something good for other people in a concrete way is an even greater privilege. Expressed in selfish terms, doing good makes you feel very good about yourself.

I think that being born and growing up in a country like Norway, you realize at a certain point that you are one of the few that won the golden ticket to life. In an economically prosperous country, you have many benefits that are simply part of society. So I think it is very important to help and support those who are less fortunate, who have not won that golden ticket.

I'm very happy to be here and to make my small contribution to this AIDS gala. It is an important cause, and the foundation does very credible charitable work.

I'm here not because it's a purely entertainment event, but instead to recall the victims of this terrible illness and to remind people that it still goes on. AIDS remains a taboo subject: Nobody really wants to talk about it. I'm here to raise awareness in the public at large.