June 26, 2008. Copyright 2008, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Carla Bruni strikes the right note
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, June 26, Graphic News:  To some, Carla Bruni, the willowy Italian former model and current first lady of France, is possibly the best thing about the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy. Even those who first doubted that Ms Bruni would fit in the hallowed salons of the Elysee Palace have had to admit that the husky-voiced pop singer has considerable charm.

Bruni, 40, is credited with boosting the ratings of Sarkozy, whom she married at the start of the year following a whirlwind romance. Her appearances at the presidentÕs side on his state visit to England left many commentators as besotted with her as he is.

The press has long forgotten the scandal of her relationship with Raphael Enthoven, the married son of her former lover, writer Jean Paul Enthoven. Bruni had a son with Raphael and the whole affair was fictionalised in a book by his spurned wife, Justine Levy. The book describes a cunning femme fatale with a ÒTerminator smileÓ.

Still, thereÕs no doubting that her current role is an unusual one for Bruni, a famed free spirit who was born into a wealthy family in Turin in 1967 and spent years on the catwalk before releasing her debut album in 2002. A second album was successful too, and she is about to release a third, but Bruni has vowed she wonÕt perform live again until Sarkozy leaves the Elysee.

Most surprising to some is that Ms Bruni, who has expressed leftwing views in the past, should pair up with the centre-right Sarkozy. But then her choice of past boyfriends is nothing if not eclectic, reportedly including Mick Jagger, Kevin Costner, Eric Clapton and Donald Trump, and she has professed a weakness for intellectual types, even gushing about the French presidentÕs Òfive or six brainsÓ.

Whether scheming femme fatale or bohemian chanteuse, for now France has clutched Carla to its bosom.
/ENDS