- OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS, OUR NEXT GUEST
WENT FROM THE COVER OF "VOGUE" AS AN INTERNATIONAL SUPERMODEL
TO THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN FRANCE AS THE FIRST LADY.
TAKE A LOOK.
- [singing in French]
- FOR OVER 20 YEARS, CARLA BRUNI,
THE FORMER FIRST LADY OF FRANCE,
HAS BEEN KNOWN AS
ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD.
SHE BEGAN HER CAREER
AS ONE OF THE TOP SUPERMODELS IN FASHION
AND SOON BECAME HEADLINE NEWS
WITH HIGH-PROFILE RELATIONSHIPS
WITH MICK JAGGER AND ERIC CLAPTON.
AT THE AGE OF 30, SHE TRANSITIONED TO MUSIC
AND BECAME A CRITICALLY- ACCLAIMED SINGER/SONGWRITER.
- [singing] TRY FOR A LITTLE FRENCH SONG
- IN 2008, SHE MARRIED THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE,
NICOLAS SARKOZY,
AND INSTANTLY BECAME
ONE OF THE MOST STYLISH FIRST LADIES IN HISTORY.
- [singing in French]
- AFTER SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE PALACE TWO YEARS AGO,
SHE'S RETURNED TO HER MUSIC
AND IS NOW TOURING UNITED STATES FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN SUPPORT OF HER LATEST CD, "LITTLE FRENCH SONGS."
- [singing in French]
- PLEASE WELCOME CARLA BRUNI.
BONJOUR. - BONJOUR, ELLEN.
- THAT'S ALL I KNOW.
- BUT YOU KNOW WELL.
BONJOUR. - BONJOUR.
- BONJOUR.
- AND THAT'S ALL I'LL SAY.
'CAUSE I-- I'M SO BAD AT ACCENTS,
I COULDN'T EVEN TRY IT IF YOU TAUGHT ME A SENTENCE,
I COULDN'T SPEAK FRENCH.
DO YOU SPEAK ONLY FRENCH AND ENGLISH,
OR DO YOU SPEAK OTHER LANGUAGES?
- I WAS BORN ITALIAN. - OH.
- I BECAME FRENCH ONLY WHEN I GOT MARRIED AT 40 YEARS OLD.
SO I SPEAK ITALIAN, YEAH.
- YOU BECAME FRENCH WHEN YOU GOT MARRIED?
- YES. - THAT'S HOW IT WORKS?
- OH. [laughter]
SEE, NO, THE THING IS THAT PROBABLY IF YOU HAD ANOTHER JOB,
YOU KNOW, MY MAN, MAYBE I WOULD HAVE REMAINED ITALIAN.
BUT SINCE HE WAS THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE,
THEN I THOUGHT IT WAS POLITE, YOU KNOW?
- TO BECOME FRENCH? - YEAH.
[laughter] - THAT WAS POLITE OF YOU.
- HALF FRENCH, HALF ITALIAN,
BECAUSE I KEPT MY-- BOTH PASSPORTS.
- BUT YOU SOUND MORE FRENCH.
DID YOU HAVE A THICK ITALIAN ACCENT BEFORE?
- NO, BUT YOU THINK I HAVE A FRENCH VOICE?
- YES, I DO.
- OH, BECAUSE I HAVE ITALIAN VOICE.
- REALLY? - YEAH.
- THAT SHOWS HOW MUCH I KNOW.
[laughter]
I NEVER GET OUT OF THIS PLACE.
IT'S LIKE A CASINO FOR ME.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS.
[laughter] I DON'T KNOW...
WHAT DAY IT IS.
SO WHAT A LIFE YOU'VE HAD.
SO YOU WERE A MODEL, A SUPERMODEL,
AND THEN YOU BECAME A MUSICIAN
AND STARTED--AND THEN YOU MEET
THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, NICOLAS SARKOZY, AND--
HOW DID YOU MEET THE PRESIDENT?
WERE YOU JUST AT A PARTY?
- BLIND DATE. - NO.
WELL, IT CAN'T BE BLIND.
YOU KNEW WHO HE WAS, RIGHT?
YEAH.
I KNEW WHO HE WAS.
HE JUST GOT DIVORCED,
WHICH IS VERY STRANGE FOR A PRESIDENT, YOU KNOW,
SO THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS LIKE--
[gasps] HUH? - YEAH.
- AND THEN--AND THEN WE HAVE A COMMON FRIEND,
AND I WAS SINGLE
FOR LIKE A YEAR WITH MY LITTLE BOY.
AND SO THEY SAID, "WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME FOR DINNER
AND WE INVITE NICOLAS SARKOZY?"
AND I SAID, "YEAH."
I MEAN... both: WHY NOT?
- AND THEN WE MET AT THE DINNER AND WE LEFT TOGETHER,
AND IT WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW?
- WAS IT LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?
- YEAH. - YEAH.
- FOR BOTH OF YOU?
- IT EXIST--YEAH, IT EXISTS.
SO--YES, I BELIEVE IT.
I'M--HAPPENED FOR ME.
SO-- SO AND THEN HOW LONG AFTER--
HOW LONG DID YOU DATE BEFORE YOU GOT MARRIED?
- WE DIDN'T DATE FOR LONG.
UH...TWO MONTHS?
THAT'S NOT LONG. - YEAH, THAT'S NOT LONG.
YEAH. YEAH.
WE MET ON THE 13 OF NOVEMBER,
AND WE GOT MARRIED ON THE 2ND OF FEBRUARY.
- WOW.
AND YOU'VE BEEN TOGETHER HOW LONG NOW?
- 7 1/2 YEARS. - 7 1/2 YEARS.
THAT'S FANTASTIC.
SO WHAT'S IT LIKE TO ALL THE SUDDEN BE THE FIRST LADY?
LIKE, THAT'S-- THERE'S RESPONSIBILITIES.
- SCARY, YEAH. - YEAH.
- I GOT REALLY SCARED,
AND I TRIED TO CONCENTRATE
SO I DON'T MAKE MISTAKES, YOU KNOW?
- LIKE, DID YOU HAVE TO LEARN CERTAIN ETIQUETTE
THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW?
- THEY SHOW YOU THE WAY VERY MUCH.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S, LIKE, PROTOCOL PEOPLE
THAT TELLS YOU "GO THERE, AND THEN GO HERE AND"--
I DID IT WRONG AT THE BEGINNING.
YOU KNOW, I WAS ALWAYS ON THE WRONG SIDE.
- OH, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO--
YOU HAVE TO BE BY THE FLAG BASICALLY, YOU KNOW,
AND SAY HELLO TO PEOPLE,
SO THAT'S VERY EASY TO BE KIND, YOU KNOW?
BUT SOMETIMES I WOULD GO THE WRONG DIRECTION, YOU KNOW?
AND I DIDN'T KNOW--YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO STAND BY YOUR MAN
WHILE HE'S GIVING SPEECHES,
AND THAT'S SO WEIRD AS IF HE WAS STANDING NEXT TO ME
WHILE I'M SINGING, RIGHT?
OR IF YOUR GIRL WAS STANDING THERE WHILE YOU'RE--YOU KNOW?
SO YOU HAVE TO STAND-- BECAUSE IT'S A POSITION
WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE NEXT TO HIM.
YES.
- IN A VERY REPRESENTIVE WAY.
YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH TO DO.
- YEAH, BUT DID YOU FEEL LIKE-- BECAUSE YOU STOPPED SINGING.
YOU WERE--YOU HAD A CAREER.
AND WAS IT--WAS IT HARD FOR YOU TO GIVE UP YOUR CAREER?
- WELL, I KEPT SINGING ALL NIGHT.
POOR HUSBAND, EH?
THAT JOB IN THE DAY AND THEN ME SINGING AT NIGHT.
UM, NO, I NEVER REALLY STOPPED SINGING, YOU KNOW?
I RELEASED AN ALBUM.
I STOPPED TOURING WHICH WAS EMBARRASSING.
I COULDN'T BE TOURING.
WITH THE SECURITY, YOU KNOW, AND--
- YEAH. - IMPOSSIBLE.
- YEAH, THAT'S KIND OF HARD. - AND SO I STOPPED TOURING.
BUT I WAS NEVER TOURING SO MUCH BEFORE.
YOU KNOW, I STARTED BEING A SONGWRITER QUITE LATE.
AND SO I STOPPED TOURING, BUT I COULD PLAY MY MUSIC AS MUCH--
ANYWAY, I PLAY MY MUSIC AT NIGHT.
YOU KNOW, SO I WRITE IT AT NIGHT--
- SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO STOP. - NO.
- AND NOW I HEAR THERE'S A RUMOR
THAT HE MAY RUN FOR PRESIDENT AGAIN.
IS THAT A GOOD THING?
DO YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO BEING FIRST LADY?
DO YOU WANT HIM TO BE PRESIDENT AGAIN?
- NO, I WANT HIM TO BE HAPPY.
AND I CARE ABOUT MY COUNTRY.
BUT I WISH--NO.
IF--LIKE, AS A WOMAN, YOU KNOW, I WISH HE WASN'T GOING BACK.
AS A FRENCH CITIZEN...
- YEAH. - [laughs]
- YOU WISH HE WAS GOING BACK?
- HMM...
YEAH, I--I WISH HE--
HE NEVER STOPS ME DOING ANYTHING I LIKE.
HE'S SUPPORTING ME ALL THE TIME, WHATEVER I DO, YOU KNOW?
HOW STRANGE, YOU KNOW, FOR A MAN TO BE WITH AN ARTIST,
FOR SOMEONE THAT HAS SUCH A POLITICAL CAREER
TO BE WITH SOMEONE SO, YOU KNOW,
A LITTLE STRANGE LIKE ARTISTS CAN BE.
AND HE NEVER MINDS.
HE NEVER COMMENTS ANYTHING.
HE JUST ENCOURAGES ME.
SO I DON'T SEE MYSELF SAYING, "DON'T DO IT."
YOU KNOW, IF HE WAS TRYING TO DO IT.
- IT WAS AMAZING, BECAUSE DURING REHEARSAL,
CARLA WAS OUT HERE REHEARSING,
AND HE'S IN THE AUDIENCE WATCHING YOU REHEARSE.
AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS SO COOL.
I MEAN, WE'VE HAD-- THAT'S JUST--
- HE'S SO COOL. - YEAH, HE'S A COOL GUY.
- OH, YEAH. - HE'S A REALLY COOL GUY.
- SO COOL. - AND I HEAR--
AND YOU'RE GONNA PERFORM WHEN WE COME BACK,
BUT I HEAR THAT YOU HAVE MAJOR STAGE FRIGHT BEFORE YOU PERFORM.
DO YOU HAVE--ARE YOU--RIGHT NOW, ARE YOU--DO YOU HAVE--
- EVEN BEFORE--EVEN JUST LIKE HERE, I HAD STAGE FRIGHT.
IT'S JUST COMING IN FRONT OF THESE WONDERFUL PEOPLE
AND TALKING TO YOU.
- ARE YOU RELAXED NOW? - EVERYBODY DANCING.
- ARE YOU RELAXED NOW?
- YEAH, WELL-- [laughter]
SO RELAXED.
- I CAN'T IMAGINE, LIKE, TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT
EVERY TIME BEFORE YOU SING THAT YOU HAVE MAJOR--
YOU DIDN'T SEEM LIKE IT IN REHEARSAL.
- NO, I KNOW IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THAT,
BUT IT'S LIKE THAT INSIDE.
BUT I--I LIKE IT.
PROBABLY I LIKE IT, BECAUSE I KEEP PUTTING MYSELF
IN THIS POSITION, SO I MUST LIKE IT.
I MUST LIKE IT.
- YOU MUST LIKE IT. - YEAH.
- ALL RIGHT. - SUBCONSCIOUSLY.
- WELL, YOU'RE ABOUT TO ENJOY THE HELL OUT OF IT IN A MINUTE,
BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA-- [laughter]
WE'RE GONNA WATCH CARLA GET REALLY SCARED INSIDE AFTER THIS.
[cheers and applause]