Carla Bruni-Sarkozy parody at theatre awards - mother "not amused"

Last weekend saw the annual La Nuit des Molières in Paris, the French national theatre awards ceremony.

The event, now in its 25th year, gives thespians and fellow luvvies from the French theatre world the chance to indulge in some self-congratulatory back slapping.

It's broadcast live on French television because of course it's part of the country's cultural heritage, but sadly it doesn't really pull in very high ratings.

This year's edition, carried on France 2, attracted fewer than two millions viewers; a shame really as the show was far from being as dull as many might have feared and indeed featured something of a highlight that made quite a buzz both on the Net and the mainstream media.

It was the performance given by Michel Fau.

Michel Fau, (screenshot from YouTube clip)

The actor-director wasn't actually at the ceremony to be awarded anything.

Instead he was what might be called "light relief"

He entered dressed to the nines as an opera diva and gave a rather special version of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's "Quelqu'un m'a dit".

The whole thing was an excerpt from his 2010 show in Paris "L'Impardonnable Revue Pathétique Et Dégradante De Monsieur Fau" in which he performed music-hall style tributes in appropriate garb of some of his favourite singers.

It was of course a parody and most in the audience seemed to find it amusing, including the minister of culture Frédéric Mitterrand and two women rather close to France's first lady; her sister, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, and her mother Marisa Borini.

Well that's how some initially interpreted the reaction of Bruni-Sarkozy's family.

But as the website of, among others, the weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur pointed out, the smiles of the two women looked just a little too determined and forced for the camera.

Borini in particular was apparently far from pleased at Fau's onstage antics.

And according to the French celebrity website Purepeople.com, the first lady's mother allowed her "displeasure to be felt backstage, after the awards ceremony was over."

Oh well, it was just a bit of harmless entertainment, and surely Borini has heard more harmful comments and statements directed towards her daughter over the years.

And let's face it, Fau's performance gives the song...er...something extra.

Take a listen to both videos for a direct comparison.

Enjoy and oh yes, don't forget to smile.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's "yes" to Woody Allen film role

France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has confirmed that she'll be performing in US film maker Woody Allen's next film.

The former supermodel and singer admits she doesn't know what role she'll be playing, but has nonetheless agreed to an offer made by the Oscar-winning director and promised him not to do a film with anyone else beforehand.

Appearing on the mid-evening French television news magazine "Le Grand Journal" on Canal + on Monday evening, Bruni-Sarkozy said that the possibility of working alongside Allen was too good to pass up.

"I am not at all actress and maybe I'll be hopeless," she said. "but I cannot miss an opportunity like this," she added.

When I'm a grandmother I'll be able to say I've been in a Woody Allen film."

Speculation of a possible role for France's first lady in Allen's next movie had been rife since the summer, when the 73-year-old director was in Paris to promote his most recent film, "Whatever works".

During an appearance on the very same Canal + programme back in June, Allen had expressed his desire to work with Bruni-Sarkozy, saying she was "an accomplished artist, very beautiful," and that he was "sure she had a gift for acting."

Bruni-Sarkozy has made a big screen appearance before - a brief one as "herself" in the late Robert Altman's 1994 fashion satire "Prêt-à-Porter" ("Ready to wear").

And of course her "character" recently made it to the small screen in an episode of the US animated television sitcom, "The Simpsons", as a rather unflattering "wine-swigging, chain-smoking man- eater."

In spite of Bruni's-Sarkozy's limited experience, perhaps Allen's faith in her potential could be based on what he describes as her "charisma" and also on the fact that she has a family acting pedigree.

Her mother, Marisa Borini, has appeared in several films and of course her older sister, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, is an accomplished film, television and theatre actress and director.

Filming for Allen's next movie is scheduled to begin in Paris next year.

Carla Bruni to hit the big screen?

Isn't it just the news you've been waiting for? France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is rumoured to be set to appear at a cinema near you sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Well that's if the Spanish national daily newspaper El Mundo is to believed.

It claims that the wife of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has accepted an offer from the US director Woody Allen to appear in his next movie which begins filming in 2010.

But according to the French daily, Le Parisien, it's far from being a "done deal" with unnamed "members of her entourage denying that she has been signed up by the US director."

Speculation of a possible role for Bruni-Sarkozy in Allen's next movie has of course been rife since June, when the 73-year-old director was in Paris to promote his most recent film, "Whatever works".

During and appearance on the mid-evening television news magazine "Le Grand Journal" on Canal +, Allen was full of praise for France's first lady.

"I would love to work with Carla Bruni, he said.

"She's an accomplished artist, very beautiful and I'm sure she has a gift for acting," he added.

"I would really like to offer her a role in my next film and what's more I promise that her participation wouldn't create any embarrassment for the president or the image of France."

Should Bruni-Sarkozy - and it's probably still a might big "should" in spite of the story in El Mundo - really have accepted Allen's offer, it wouldn't be the first time she'll have appeared in a film.

She has been seen on the big screen before, albeit briefly and playing herself in the 1994 fashion satire "Prêt-à-Porter" ("Ready to wear") directed by the late Robert Altman.

And acting is certainly in her blood. Her mother, Marisa Borini, as well as having been a concert pianist has also appeared in several films.

And of course Bruni-Sarkozy's older sister, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, is an accomplished film, television and theatre actress and director.

So after modelling and singing (who can forget the hullaballoo that accompanied the release of her third album just months after her marriage to the French president? If you're curious about that and want even more coverage of her musical exploits it's all here) could Bruni-Sarkozy now be ready for the big screen?

Perhaps more importantly, are the French ready to see their first lady slip into a new role as a performer or would it be, as the entertainment and celebrity news site Purepeople.com puts it, simply be "too much"?