Carla Bruni: Sings at Mandela show

Carla Bruni: Sings at Mandela show

French first lady Carla Bruni sang at a concert in New York to commemorate Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday. This was the first time that she had sung in public since marrying French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Dressed in black trouser suit, Carla Bruni strummed guitar alongside former Eurythmics musician Dave Stewart as they performed a duet on Saturday night. They sung a slower version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" while the French president Nicolas Sarkozy smiled and clapped sitting in the audience.

"It's not very good for dancing but very good for dreaming."Forty one year old former model made this comment before launching her French hit "Quelqu'un m'a dit" ("Someone told me") that left the crowd whooping.

The concert was held at New York's Radio City Music Hall. It also featured some prominent artists like Queen Latifah, Aretha Franklin, and disco queen Gloria Gaynor as well as African artists, including Baaba Maal.

Besides Franklin, some of the biggest applause came when Cyndi Lauper paired up with American rapper Lil' Kim to sing "Time After Time", while Alicia Keys and African artist Angelique Kidjo swirled their hips singing "Afrika."

Stevie Wonder was joined on stage for the grand finale by all the concert's performers and actors including Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker and Susan Sarandon. All of them sung Wonder's hit "Happy Birthday" while the Soweto Gospel choir sang throughout the three-hour concert.

Nelson Mandela, who is very frail, was not at the "Mandela Day" concert as he has been advised of not traveling internationally. However he delivered a video message.

He said, "Our struggle for freedom and justice was a collective effort. Mandela Day is no different," he said. "It is our hope that people will dedicate their time and effort to improve the conditions within their own community."

President Barack Obama also delivered a message via video, saying that Nelson Mandela's life taught people to have courage.

Barack Obama further said, "From New York to Cape Town, people are celebrating this extraordinary man." "The story of his life can be summed up in Nelson Mandela's own words, 'It always seems impossible until it's done.'"