Last Sunday the yearly QX Gaygala, an event organised by the gay magazine QX, took place in Cirkus, Stockholm. During the gala, different celebrities are awarded with prizes such as "Homo of the year", "Hetero of the year", "Artist of the year" to name a few, combined with music entertainment.

This year Marie Fredriksson joined the gala and performed a beautiful version of "Tro", together with her husband Mikael Bolyos, who played the piano. According to Aftonbladet, Marie received standing ovations and had a big smile on her face throughout the performance.

This time around the Gaygala was not broadcast on TV, but some fans have managed to find short snippets of the performance on Hotgossip.se and on Aftonbladet.

The Daily Roxette has gotten reports that the international version of Arn - Tempelriddaren (Arn - The Knight Templar) contains "Där du andas" by Marie Fredriksson - in English! "Where Your Love Lives" is its English title. It is available on the compilation album "Mix Megapol 1."

The international version of the two movies Arn - Tempelriddaren and Arn - Riket vid vägens slut is a combined version of the two, much shorter - less than half actually - and more concise. There will also be a longer version on TV4 sometime during 2009.

STOCKHOLM - The Daily Roxette had a chance for a brief interview with Marie Fredriksson.

When The Daily Roxette asks Marie how she is feeling, Marie responds "I feel great, thanks!" Marie is currently on a break from the "Stjärnklart" tour, after playing five nights in Stockholm, she will play in Malmö tomorrow and until Friday, and in Gothenburg next week. Marie explains how everything started with this show; "They asked me, I thought about it and said yes. It's been a challenge and a pleasure." And it surely seems to have been the right decision, as Marie adds, after having more than half of the tour behind her, "It's great being on stage again."

Last Saturday, day of one of the shows in Stockholm, was a special day for many. Fans travelled from far outside of Sweden to see Marie live and had the chance to meet Marie. Marie, how did that feel? "It was a lot of fun, especially when someone [note: Rosa Planas from Spain] gave me a really really old record of 'Strul.' They were sweet and friendly as always," says Marie to The Daily Roxette.

As you may know, Marie not only composes music, she is also an artist, and has already had three art exhibitions, the last one in Gothenburg in October, "It was great in Gothenburg, even better than Stockholm." The Daily Roxette wonders if there are any plans for another exhibition, "I paint and I write music whenever I get the feeling, so we'll see what happens first," Marie smiles.

As Marie has mentioned often in the past, she takes a step at a time and has no fixed plans for the future. When we ask about more possible shows, or a solo album or with Roxette, she again answers "We'll see, one step at a time."

STOCKHOLM/BILBAO - Marie Fredriksson is currently touring with the show "Stjärnklart". Fans coming from Spain, Germany, Romania and Russia attended the show on Saturday, November 29 in Stockholm and this is their story about the show.

The night started with a meet & greet. Meeting point was the ticket office, a sign requested fans from the above mentioned countries to follow "this way," they were welcomed by the show organizers in a big room, where they waited for Marie while standing around some tables. Marie and Mikael Bolyos appeared a couple of minutes later, and spent a great amount of time talking with the more than the 30 fans present. "Marie was smiling all the time, she took her time to speak to everybody, one could see she was very glad to meet her fans again," says one of the fans. Photos were taken, albums were signed, until it was time for Marie to go backstage and get ready for the show.

Fans then headed to the concert hall, and got seated. The show was about to start. 

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STOCKHOLM - The Stjärnklart tour with some of Sweden's top artists started yesterday in Norrköping. One of the performers in the show is Marie Fredriksson who hasn't toured since her brain tumor was discovered and treated in 2002.

"It is wonderful to be here," she told the audience from the stage of the Louis De Geer concert house. According to Expressen, the other artists of the show sang duets and had dance numbers, but Marie had a more peaceful moment between the acts. She performed three songs, "Ännu doftar kärlek," "Så skimrande var aldrig havet" and "Tro."

The tour continues on November 25 in Stockholm. More shows will follow in Malmö and Gothenburg until December 13.

Marie Fredriksson's "Där du andas," the theme song for the movie Arn - Riket vid vägens slut - debuts this week right at #1 on the Swedish singles chart. This is Marie's first #1 solo single ever! Congratulations!

According to MarieFredriksson.se, Marie is filming a video for the new single “Där du andas,” which is taken from the soundtrack of "Arn - Riket vid vägens slut." A 1-track CD single will be released August 20, two days before the movie opens.

Update August 13: You can now watch the video on TV4 following this link.

GOTHENBURG - Lilla Galleriet, an art gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city, will host an exhibition of Marie's artwork from September 20 to October 5. An invitation-only reception will kick off the show.

The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday, from noon until 4 pm.

(Updated) - All of a sudden, EMI-Odeón Argentina has just decided to release the latest compilation by Marie, "Tid för tystnad." What makes this even stranger is that the company refused to release both "The Change" and "Son Of A Plumber," which were sung in English (and hence, had a wider potential market).

The CD looks exactly like the European edition, and it has an sticker in the back that reads (in Spanish): "Product to be sold exclusively in South America, except Brazil." Just for the record, this is the first Swedish album by Marie to be available out of Sweden since the Japanese edition of "I en tid som vår" in 1997.

This is the first Marie (or Per) solo album ever printed and released in Argentina. Some of their older albums used to be available at the stores, but they were imports.

Update: The album charts at #16 according to the Argentinian Chamber of Commerce.

STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson will be singing the title song for the upcoming sequel to last year's "Arn" movie. The song, "Där du andas (Where You Breathe)," is written by Niklas Strömstedt and Anders Glenmark. Marie was asked to record the song and she says "It was an easy choice to say yes, and of course, it is great to participate in such a big Swedish film."

"Arn – Tempelriddaren (Arn – The Knight Templar)" is a 2007 epic film based on Jan Guillou's trilogy about the fictional Swedish Knight Templar Arn Magnusson. The film was released in December 2007 and the sequel, "Arn – Riket vid vägens slut (Arn - The Kingdom at Road's End)," will be released August 22 , 2008. While the films are mostly in Swedish and most of the production was made in Sweden, they are a joint production between Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Germany. With a total budget of around US$30 million, it's the most expensive production in Scandinavian film history.

This song, as well as several others inspired by Arn, will be released on the album "Alla himlens änglar (All the Angels of Heaven)" on August 27. Anders Glenmark is the producer. The song will be released on July 23.

Other singers include Sonja Aldén, Uno Svenningsson, Helena Paparizou, Tommy Körberg and Fred Johansson. Composers include Anders Glenmark, Niklas Strömstedt, Mauro Scocco, Uno Svenningsson, Tomas Andersson Wij, Patrik Isaksson, Bobby Ljunggren and Eva Dahlgren.

Listen to a snippet at Expressen.

Additional reporting by "Strest" and Ted Holgersson.