A young songwriter walks across the room, sits at the piano and closes his eyes. He begins to play. When he's done, there's a moment of silence... then, the record company executive jumps up and says, "Kid, I'm gonna make you a star!" (Or something like that.)

The singer smiles and says, "I've been waiting my whole life to hear that."

Sure, it sounds corny - the kind of stuff that you'd expect to see in an old MGM movie from the 1940's. The role of the record executive would probably have been played by Edward G. Robinson, and the part of the singer would've gone to Jimmy Stewart.

Except for the fact that this really happened, and the part of the musician was played by Norwegian singer/songwriter Espen Lind. After conquering the charts in his native homeland of Norway, Espen was flown to New York to meet with the head of Universal Records.

He performed two songs, one of which, "When Susannah Cries," had been the number one single in Norway for six straight weeks. Says Lind, "That chance encounter made me realize that life all comes down to a few moments, and that was definitely one of them."

Espen Lind's RED has already taken Norway by storm and marks the beginning of a new international performer with an extraordinary voice. Since its initial Norwegian release this past May, RED is already on its way to double platinum status thanks to hit single"When Susannah Cries,"

a beautifully-written ballad with a soaring choral hook.

The song sets the tone for RED, an album featuring such infectious, buoyant pop gems as "Messin' With Me" and "Missing Her Then," as well as the soulful "Lucky For You," and the emotional piano ballad, "Niki's Theme." Lind makes every note count; his unique flair for melody, his soulful sensibility and his pop savvy make RED simply captivating.

Lind is also something of wunderkind: in addition to writing and singing all the songs on RED, he also played all the instruments and produced the album together with European producer Bluefish. RED was mixed by Bob Rosa, who's worked with superstars such as Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and Madonna.

Lind's career as a performer started in a shopping mall in Oslo at age three. "I was really hyperactive as a child," he explains, "And my mother could never get her shopping done. One day she figured out how to solve the problem: she brought me into a store and put me on the counter where I proceeded to sing my little heart out. The women who worked in the store began to applaud and the more they did, the more I sang. Meanwhile, my mother went off and shopped knowing that I'd still be singing by the time she was done." A star was born.

When he was five, his mother enrolled him in music school so he could learn how to read sheet music. By the time he'd turned seven, he was already playing the piano, violin, and guitar, as well as singing. Then came the Bee Gees and everything changed. "It was during the height of the 'Saturday Night Fever' period that I stopped listening to children's music and starting listening to pop records," says Espen. "I remember seeing the Bee Gees on a TV special in 1978 and it was a major eye-opener. I desperately wanted to be Barry Gibb at one point," he laughs. "I knew then that music was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

As a teenager, Espen played in three or four local bands where he always wound up being the youngest member and the main songwriter. Eventually, he decided he had to set out on his own. "I knew that to make it, I had to move to America,"

says Espen. So in 1993, he moved to Los Angeles with a suitcase full of demos - intent on getting himself a record deal. "Unfortunately," he laughs, "I couldn't even get arrested. Several people in the business suggested that I go back to Scandinavia and try to get a record deal there. That way I could come back to America with some kind of success story to build upon."

He returned to Norway and took a job in a studio, where he engineered local bands during the day and then stayed up all night working on his own self-financed album. He printed up CD singles of a pop song called "Yum Yum Gimme Some," and sent them to the local stations. The song quickly became one of the most-requested tracks at radio in Norway. A deal with Universal's Norwegian label followed and the resulting album, MMM…PREPARE TO BE SWAYED, was named one of the best albums of the year

by the European press. And while his hometown success is inspiring, Espen has his sights set on a larger mark. "My main ambition has always been to break outside Norway. Deep down, I knew that if I kept working, I would get my chance. I never doubted that. I'm just amazed at how quickly it's been happening once someone turned that key."Just like in the movies.