Retired singer voted most popular French personality
Jean-Jacques Goldman, a French singer who has been retired for a decade, has been voted the most popular personality in France. The survey also found former President Nicolas Sarkozy has many more fans than current President François Hollande.
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Sixty-one year old Goldman tops the list of the 50 most popular French personalities published by Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper. The rankings were compiled from a survey of 1,001 French adults by survey firm Ifop.
Grammy-award winning Goldman has been the second-highest grossing French living pop-rock singer since 2003.
Goldman wasn’t even on the previous list compiled in December 2012. His last album was released in 2003, but last year, a group of young French pop stars released an album reinterpreting Goldman’s songs, including his first hit, "Envole-moi" (video below).
Second place on the rankings went to actor Omar Sy, who topped the list in December. Actress Sophie Marceau jumped 11 spots to take third place, followed by Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning from the 2011 silent film The Artist.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy made the biggest jump of all, leaping 32 spots to number 20, well ahead of François Hollande on 44th spot.
There has been speculation in recent months that Sarkozy may be staging a political comeback in time for the 2017 presidential election.
Hollande did slightly better than larger-than-life actor Gérard Depardieu, who caused controversy when he took up Russian citizenship, apparently in an attempt to avoid high taxes in France.
Five most popular French personalities
1. Jean-Jacques Goldman (singer)
2. Omar Sy (actor)
3. Sophie Marceau (actress)
4. Jean Dujardin (actor)
5. Gad Elmaleh (actor and comedian)
Five least popular French personalities
46. Gérard Depardieu (actor)
47. Elie Semoun (actor and singer)
48. Alain Delon (actor)
49. Patrick Poivre d’Arvor (TV journalist)
50. Claire Chazal (TV journalist)
Notable mentions
20. Nicolas Sarkozy
44. François Hollande
Source: Ifop/Le Journal du Dimanche
Jean-Jaqcues Goldman's first hit from 1984: "Envole-moi"
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