François Hollande's approval ratings fall again

The French love their polls.

Er...perhaps that should read the French media loves commissioning polls for readers and viewers.

There are certainly enough published week after week.

And if you believe them - because they're always right, aren't they - the French president, François Hollande isn't exactly what you would call popular at the moment.

Back in February, Hollande's approval ratings fell to just 30 percent, making him "the least popular president for 30 years".

Although those commissioning that particular poll (Le Figaro magazine) and interpreting the figures (Britain's Daily Telegraph) can hardly be said to be among the most pro-Hollande newspapers, the trend is one that has been repeated month after month since he came to power in May 2012.

And the latest poll, this time commissioned by Le Nouvel Observateur - the left-leaning weekly news magazine sometimes described as "the French intellectuals' parish magazine"-  puts those approval ratings even lower - 26 percent.

Not even a recent "charm offensive" as Hollande attempted to "meet and greet" and "press the flesh" in a mini-series of tours around the country, seem to have convinced the French that he really is the man they can trust to see them through the economic difficulties.

And his cause will not have been helped by the most recent front covers of three different weekly magazines to hit the news stands.

Each of them - in their own way - perhaps more cruel than the next and surely illustrating a real disaffection within much of the French media as to Hollande's leadership abilities.

L'Express went with a capitalised "Monsieur Faible". Le Point used Hollande's apparent nickname among Elysée staff to ask whether "'Pépère' est-il à l'hauteur?" while the slightly more "glossy" VSD chose "Hollande l'homme qui n'en savait jamais rien".



It cannot get any worse.

Or can it?

Which (French) celebs do the French find annoying?

The results of poll published in France this week reveal just which French celebrities are found to be the most annoying.

Oh yes, how the French seem to love their polls.

Er perhaps scrub that - the media seems to love reporting on the latest survey carried out among the French on its (the media's) behalf.

Well it fills airtime, helps keep a slow-moving news day rolling along and plays nicely into the game of speculation - especially when it comes to politics.

Of course not all polls are political, although with both presidential and parliamentary elections slated for 2012 they'll probably be trotted out at an alarmingly frequent rate with BVA, CSA, Ipsos, Opinionway, TNS Sofres and the like going into overdrive.

But just to round off the year that's coming to a close, the weekly magazine VSD commissioned Harris to canvass a representative sample (well that's what they always say, isn't it?) to come up with a list of the "Most annoying French celebrities or personalities " in several categories.

Poor old Ségolène Royal topped the list as far as the most annoying politicians were concerned.

Obviously the tears and emotion she showed after finishing a distant fourth in the first round of the Socialist party primaries didn't touch the hearts of many (apart from mine).



Dominique Strauss-Kahn (enough said) and the Greens' presidential candidate Eva Joly, rounded out the top three.

Among TV personalities, Benjamin Castaldi was far and away the "winner" as far as the poll was concerned. Proof maybe that years of presenting trashy TV reality shows has more than overshadowed any appeal he might have had among the French for being the grandson of the late, great actress Simone Signoret.

In Arts, it was the philosopher Bernard-Henry Lévy who, proving perhaps that he had made one too many declarations about how he had helped bring democracy to Libya, finished just ahead (or should that be behind) singer/actor Joey Starr.

If nothing else though BHL has, in the course of 2011, given the excellent satirical Les Guignols de l'info on Canal+ more than enough material.

And the sporting pain in the derrière according to VSD, was Bayern München's French international, Franck Ribéry.

Well that's what those polled apparently thought.

What about you though?

If you had been asked to choose someone in each of the four categories - politics, TV, arts and sport - who would you have plumped for, and why?

How about the following?

Politics: Jean-François Copé, the leader of the ruling centre-right party Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP).

Copé is of course very media savvy, but he just seems to be on the box a little too often and appears to enjoy making life hard for the admittedly less charismatic but somehow more dependable prime minister François Fillon.

Maybe Copé should concentrate more on the here and now and less on his ambitions for 2017.

Sport: Well ordinarily there would be one man who stands out head and shoulders as truly annoying - Raymond Domenech.

Thankfully though he seems to have slipped off the radar in recent months so the choice would have to be between sports journalist Nelson Monfort and the country's fastest sprinter, Christophe Lemaitre.

Monfort undoubtedly has linguistic skills but his habit of resorting to almost-simultaneous translation when interviewing breathless sportsmen and women immediately after an event is, to say the least, irritating.

There must surely be many a French TV viewer willing him to keep quiet.

And that's perhaps advice Lemaitre should heed as he proves the point that few sportsmen and women from whatever field, have anything truly original or inspiring to say.

Great athlete - definitely. Great orator - definitely...NOT.

As far as TV presenters go, Laurent Ruquier finds himself and his own humour just too hilarious. On the radio he's great - most of the time. But on telly...well, he sniggers and that's just plain unattractive.

Finally Arts - and proving that the term can be used in its very loosest term, it's time to "keep it in the family" so to speak, with the nod going to BHL's other half "actress/singer/director/model/muse (her description)" and generally all round famous for being famous celebrity, Arielle Dombasle.

Her latest album "Diva Latina" was proof yet again that as a singer she simply doesn't cut the mustard - far from it.

Dombasle's rendition of Jeanette's original "Porque te vas" testament to the fact that some people shouldn't be allowed within 500 kilometres of a recording studio.





Over to you.

Sarkozy: Popularity and death threats - a newsday in the life of a president

The two stories are unrelated, but both broke on the same day here in France, and centre on the country's president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Treat it as "two for the price of one" if you will.

On the same day a poll was released indicating a rise in Sarkozy's popularity, there was also news that he had been sent another letter, with a bullet, threatening both his life and that of members of his family.

First that poll, which as any sceptic will know can always be interpreted in more than one way.

For sure there have been plenty of them released with alarming regularity ever since Sarkozy entered office in May 2007.

And while most in recent months have put him at, or around, the 40 per cent mark, the latest one, conducted by the research institute, Conseils Sondages Analyses CSA) on behalf of the the weekly news, celebrity (how appropriate you might be thinking) and leisure magazine Vendredi, Samedi, Dimanche (VSD) shows a reversal in that trend.

Asked the simple question, "Is he a good president?" 53 per cent of those questioned said "Yes". That's a whopping 12 point increase from a similar poll in May.

The explanation as far as Jean-Daniel Lévy from CSA is concerned is perhaps the timing of the poll. It's the first one to appear since Sarkozy's "malaise" or "nerve attack" as some media outlets first reported it, last month.

"After being taken ill, one could have expected the following reaction, 'The president is overdoing it'," he says.

"On the contrary though, the French seem to think that it's a sign of how much effort he (Sarkozy) puts into everything and the increase in popularity is an indication of how much he 'gives' the country," he adds.

"The fact that he shows some weaknesses and recognises like the rest of the world them just makes him more likeable."

No comment perhaps.

While the poll's findings might make pleasant beach reading for the French president as he relaxes in the south of France, the news that "Le Corbeau" is back to his old habits certainly won't.

That's the nickname given to the person (or people) who earlier this year sent letters containing death threats and a bullet to Sarkozy and a number of top-ranking political figures (you can read more about that here).

This week another letter, also containing a bullet and further threats to Sarkozy and his family, was intercepted before it had made its way to the Elysée palace.

It was discovered at the central sorting office in the southern city of Montpellier, the same source of the previous letters, and immediately handed over to the anti-terrorist squad in Paris.

Alongside the threats aimed at the French president, several other high profile political figures are also reportedly mentioned, including the current and former culture ministers, Frédéric Mitterrand and Christine Albanel.

In March, a 47-year-old military reservist from Montpellier was taken in for questioning after being "denounced" by his former girlfriend, but later released without being charged.