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Pop princess Nadine Coyle warned she could get emotional when she takes to the stage to launch the UK's first City of Culture in Londonderry.
The Girls Aloud singer, now based in Los Angeles, has not performed in her home town for nearly seven years.
She said: "I am so, so excited about it. I cannot tell you how excited I am. It is so huge. It is emotional. It is a lot to take in. I just hope I don't get too emotional."
Coyle is among a host of stars taking part in the Sons and Daughters concert which is the first major celebration of 2013.
It is being staged in The Venue, a new purpose-built pavilion in the former military barracks at Ebrington Square.
She added: "It's Derry and it's great to get the chance to perform here. It's not somewhere that we always come back to. I am always having to beg people to let me come back."
It is hoped the City of Culture will help change perceptions of a city once blighted by some of the worst violence of Northern Ireland's troubled past.
Coyle added: "I really love the Peace Bridge. I will have to make it my business to get out and about and see all the other things."
The concert aims to showcase a host of Northern Ireland artists with international reputations to reflect Derry's cultural achievements through music, word and song. Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody, whose mother is from the Fountain estate in Londonderry, is among the other headline acts.
Neil Hannon, The Undertones, Dana, James Nesbitt, Amanda Burton and Phil Coulter - who has penned a new anthem specifically for the City of Culture - complete the line-up.
