Carla Bruni: The Latest YouTube Sensation

What do Susan Boyle and Carla Bruni have in common? Not much, except they’re both youtube sensations now. The new hit video shows the former chanteuse, Bruni, and French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, exchange lover’s words and tender caresses in front of a group of women’s magazine readers. More than 100,000 have clicked on the YouTube video to hear Carla call the French President "my little cauliflower." This is the first time we see the couple flirting in the Elysée Palace’s private apartments. The video shows Sarkozy walking into an exclusive interview between Carla and a small group of Femme Actuelle readers. The French President sits down with the women and compliments Carla saying "Doesn’t she look great?" She blushes and puts her hand over her mouth to cover up her huge smile. The two lovebirds are not shy when it comes to public displays of affection. After a few minutes, as the French President gets up to leave, Bruni calls out encouragingly, "Bon courage!" Let’s be honest. The world can’t get enough of Carla and "Sarko". And it’s no wonder. How often do you get a first lady who went from being a tyre manufacturing heiress to making millions on her own as a supermodel to releasing three albums as a solo singer/guitarist? Besides being in the spotlight when she’s hosting heads of State or accompanying the President on official visits, Carla knows how to get publicity for herself. She’s still a cover girl, but now of a different kind. She graced the cover of Vanity Fair last September and a few months later sat down with David Letterman in front of millions of American television viewers. Just when you thought Bruni had more careers than former lovers, France’s first lady is embarking on a new career path as an inspired humanitarian. The magazine’s chief online editor, Gwendeline Michaelis, said the request for a meeting with its readers was put in more than a year ago. The interview was finally arranged so that Bruni could announce her plans for a foundation that will help underprivileged youth in France’s suburbs. In the video Carla says she wants to use her very public image to promote a good cause. When Bruni is not accompanying her husband where protocol dictates, she will be concentrating on her non-profit foundation, saying young children today are "afraid" and that she will try to spend as much time as possible "in the field" with troubled youth. The meeting had many lighter moments, including Bruni opening up her large handbag to reveal a small toy given to her by her seven year old son, a pair of reading glasses for her waning eyesight and a small notebook she uses to jot down ideas for new songs. The impromptu arrival of the President was preceded by the couple’s new Labrador Sarkozy received as a gift from the state of Quebec. The couple has named the lab Clara and when one of the guests mistakenly called the dog Carla, Sarkozy joked "I’m glad you made this mistake, and not I." The couple is unmistakably in love and what better than to describe this love affair with Bruni’s own lyrics from the album, "As if nothing had happened.  You are my drug. More lethal than heroin from Afghanistan, more dangerous than Columbia white."