Carla Bruni to perform New York gig

Carla Bruni is to return to the stage to perform for the first time since she married Nicolas Sarkozy, after the French president reluctantly agreed to let her perform at a New York concert to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday.

The gig will take place on July 18 at Madison Square Garden, and Bruni will perform an unspecified duet with former Eurythmics star Dave Stewart. Other acts already confirmed for the show include Aretha Franklin and Cyndi Lauper.

Bruni vowed to give up performing when she became the president's wife but the lure has proved too strong for the 41-year-old former model. Having received clearance from French security services, she has confirmed the New York date. "She thinks it's massively cool and can't wait to get back in front of a live audience," a Parisian music industry source told the Daily Mail.

She could certainly use some help in selling her CDs. Her most recent one, Comme Si De Rien N'était (As If Nothing Happened), has sold only 90,000 copies in her new home country since it was released last year and last month it emerged that Sarkozy's government was giving away thousands of copies to promote French culture across the globe.

For her fourth album, Bruni is reported to be collaborating with US rocker Lenny Kravitz. Bearing in mind the string of beautiful women with whom he has 'collaborated' in the past - including Madonna, Vanessa Paradis and Lisa Bonet - her husband might want to keep his security services on permanent alert.