Mrs Sarkozy meets Metallica on TV
Singer Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has given a rare performance, appearing alongside rock bands Metallica and Kings of Leon.
The acts were all on UK music TV show Later… with Jools Holland, where Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy told the host her husband was “very kind” about her music.
“I play it at home and I disturb him with it in the middle of the night,” the 40-year-old former model said.
She married Mr Sarkozy in February and released her third album in July.
The TV show, starting its 33rd series, is renowned for its eclectic mix of music.
Metallica provided a contrast to Carla Bruni on Jools Holland’s show
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Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy tapped her foot and clapped as heavy metal monsters Metallica performed tracks from their number one album Death Magnetic.
But their music could not be further apart, with Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy’s sultry, breathy chanson style evoking Parisian cafes, while Metallica normally soundtrack sweaty stadiums.
As well as the French first lady and Metallica, the program also featured the group at the top of the UK singles chart – Tennessee blues-rockers the Kings of Leon.
One edition of the show went out live on Tuesday, while another extended version was filmed to be broadcast on BBC Two on Friday.
Jools Holland, the former Squeeze musician turned TV host, interviewed Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy for both shows.
Her appearance came just days after she met Pope Benedict XVI, while she has also accompanied Mr Sarkozy meeting dignitaries such as the Queen and the Dalai Lama in recent months.
During the live episode, Holland asked what it was like mixing her roles as a singer-songwriter and president’s wife.
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  It’s not so hard – it’s just like playing in a film  Carla Bruni on being the French first lady
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“I don’t really mix them up – I separate them,” she replied. “I play my music and then I go with my husband when he needs me.”
He was involved in her music but did not act like a critic or a fan, she said – and it did not “drive him mad” when she played it in the middle of the night.
“It’s just a very different world for him,” she said. “But he’s very kind and he listens to all my doubts.”
Asked whether she wrote songs about her husband – who was not present for the TV show – she simply replied: “Well, I write songs about my life.”
Wearing an elegant trouser suit, Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy performed one song, Tu Es Ma Came, on the live show.
She translated it variously as: “You’re my junk, you’re my type, you’re my cup of tea.”
It was about “being addicted to someone in a toxic way and in a lovely way”, she said.
During the recorded show, she also performed L’Amoureuse, or The Woman in Love, with a chorus that repeats the line: “Je suis l’amoureuse.”
Carla Bruni and Nicolas Sarkozy met Pope Benedict XVI last week
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But she has said 95% of her latest album was written before she met Mr Sarkozy.
During the interview for Friday’s show, she gave further insights into her new life.
“I have my husband’s world,” she said. “It’s like I just try to be with him and be cool about it and not change everything I know and my way of living.
“It’s not so hard. It’s just like playing in a film.”
She then accompanied Holland on a version of US blues singer Bessie Smith’s song Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.
Security fears
Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy’s latest album, Comme Si De Rien N’Etait, went straight to number one in France.
It came six years after her first release, Quelqu’un M’a Dit, which sold two million copies around the world.
She had previously said she would not play any more live shows for security reasons until her husband leaves his job.
Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy was given a warm reception, but the biggest cheer of the night went to Metallica, who closed the recorded show with their 1991 piledriver Enter Sandman.
The other acts on the bill were UK rapper Sway, New Jersey singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins and British pop newcomer VV Brown.
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