Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will start singing live again and is planning to release a new album of songs in the autumn, her promoter confirmed today.
There are even rumors of France’s outgoing First Lady starring in a new biopic about her family history.
News of Carla Bruni’s desire to revive her showbiz career came as her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, was pictured at his first public engagement since losing the French presidential election.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 57, announced his retirement from politics after Sunday’s election defeat, which made him the first French head of state to be rejected after just one term for 31 years.
In the event, the vote was closer than many had predicted, and Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted his loss was not humiliating.
Despite claiming he “loves life too much to be bitter”, however, Nicolas Sarkozy appeared visibly tense today while accompanying Francois Hollande to a ceremony marking the 67th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
The former rivals laid a wreath at the tomb of the untold soldier, beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Despite winning their bitter contest, Francois Hollande looked almost as strained as the outgoing president.
Nicolas Sarkozy is facing an uncertain future – his poor English means he is unlikely to be able to make money on the lucrative US lecture circuit, and he has ruled out any return to politics.
Veronique Rampazza, spokeswoman for Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, said: “Carla did not put her career on hold during Nicolas Sarkozy’s five years in office. She continues to compose.
“What she gave up for practical reasons was her public concerts, which she is now able to start again.”
Carla Bruni, 44, has a recording studio in her Paris townhouse and will release her new album in time for Christmas.
She is hoping to repeat the success of Quelqu’un m’a dit (Somebody Told Me), which came out 10 years ago, and sold around 2 million copies, mostly in France.
While critics praised the charming, folksy effort, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s later albums, No Promises and Comme si de rien n’était (As If Nothing Had Happened), were less well received.
After her marriage to Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 following a whirlwind romance of just 80 days, Carla Bruni was never out of the limelight.
There were cover photo shoots for glossy magazines like Vanity Fair and Vogue – including a controversial one on the roof of the Elysee Palace – and she took a role in the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s actress sister, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, is producing a movie about the history of their multi-millionaire family, and the outgoing first lady may play herself.
In an interview in 2008 Nicolas Sarkozy said he would “start to make money” when he quit frontline politics.
This has led to speculation that he will follow the lead of his friend Tony Blair and try and establish himself as a multi-millionaire lecturer and international trouble shooter.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s problem in this respect is that he speaks poor English, and would struggle to impress backers in the United States, where political celebrities like Tony Blair and former American president Bill Clinton can earn up to $400,000 plus expenses per talk.
Nicolas Sarkozy is unlikely to return to his first career as a lawyer, either, but thanks to his Italian-born wife’s $30 million plus personal fortune he does not need to work again.
What it certain is that Nicolas Sarkozy will have a lot more time to spend with the couple’s seven month old baby daughter, Giulia.
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