Carla Bruni-Sarkozy performs at The Mandela Day concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York July 18, 2009.

French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy sang at a concert in New York to commemorate¹ Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday -- the first time she has sung in public since marrying French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

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

"It's not very good for dancing but very good for dreaming," the 41-year-old former model said before launching into her French hit "Quelqu'un m'a dit" ("Someone told me") that left the crowd whooping².

The concert held at New York's Radio City Music Hall also featured such prominent artists as Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah 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 swirled³ their hips⁴ singing "Afrika."

Stevie Wonder was joined on stage for the finale by all the concert's performers and actors including Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker and Susan Sarandon singing Wonder's hit "Happy Birthday" while the Soweto Gospel choir⁵ sang throughout the three-hour concert.

Mandela, who is very frail⁶, was not at the "Mandela Day" concert as he has been advised he should no longer travel internationally but he delivered a video message.

"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 Mandela's life taught people to have courage.

"From New York to Cape⁷ Town, people are celebrating this extraordinary man," Obama said. "The story of his life can be summed up in Nelson Mandela's own words, 'It always seems impossible until it's done.'"

为了庆祝纳尔逊•曼德拉九十一岁的生日，法国的第一夫人卡拉•布吕尼-萨科奇在纽约的一场音乐会上大展歌喉，这是她与法国总统尼古拉斯•萨科奇结婚后第一次在公众场合献声。

周六晚上，布吕尼-萨科奇身着黑色长裤套装，一边弹奏着吉他，一边用慢版唱着鲍勃•迪伦的《飘在风中》。在她身边和她一起表演的是舞韵合唱团（译者注：该合唱团为英国前卫电子合成音乐传奇团体）的前乐手戴夫•斯图尔特。法国总统萨科奇在观众席中向她微笑、鼓掌。

现年41岁、曾经做过模特的布吕尼在开始演唱她的经典法国歌曲《有人告诉过我》前说道：“这首歌虽然不太适合跳舞但很适合幻想。”她对这首歌的精彩演绎引起了观众的高呼。

此次音乐会在纽约无线电城音乐厅举行，出席这次音乐会的还有著名的艺术家艾瑞莎•弗兰克林、奎恩•拉提法和“迪斯科女王”葛罗莉亚•盖罗等，非洲艺人巴巴•马尔等也参与了演出。

弗兰克林的出场引起了全场轰动，此外，辛迪•劳帕和美国说唱歌手莉儿•金同台演唱的歌曲《一次又一次》也赢得了观众最热烈的掌声，阿丽西娅•吉丝和非洲艺人安洁莉克•琪蒂欧一边唱着歌曲《非洲》，一边扭臀舞蹈，令观众为之倾倒。

最后出场带出结束曲的是史蒂夫•汪德，包括摩根•弗里曼、福里斯特•惠特克和苏珊•萨兰登等著名演员在内的所有表演人员都站到了台上一起合唱汪德的经典歌曲《生日快乐》。在三个小时的音乐会中，索韦托圣歌合唱团一直担任伴唱。

由于曼德拉已经年老体衰，医生建议他不能再做跨国长途旅行，因此未能出席“曼德拉日”音乐会，不过他通过一段视频发表了简短讲话。

他说：“我们为自由和公正所做的斗争需要我们共同的努力。不管是不是曼德拉日都是如此。希望人们能够将时间和精力用于改进所在社区的条件。”

巴拉克•奥巴马总统也通过视频发表了讲话，表示曼德拉的一生告诉人们要有勇气。

奥巴马说道：“从纽约到开普顿，人们都在为这位杰出的人物举行庆祝活动。纳尔逊•曼德拉的人生故事可以用他自己的话来概括：‘很多事情在它被完成之前，看上去都是不可能完成的。’”

Vocabulary:

launch into: 开始

whoop: （激动、欢乐时的）高叫，高呼

feature: 由……表演、主演

finale: 终曲