The bold, the dreadlocked and the beatlified: Zidane, Noah, Hulot

Twice a year, French Sunday paper Journal du Dimanche publishes a list of France’s most popular personalities.

It’s no miracle that football player Zinedine Zidane tops the list, beating previous winners Yannick Noah (tennis player turned singer) and Nicolas Hulot (treehugger turned environmental lobbyist).

It looks like aging rocker Johnny Hallyday is punished for seeking tax asylum outside France – he dropped from 4th to 17th place. The highest ranking woman is dwarfed actress Mimie Mathy, at 4th.

Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal came in 23rd, up from 49th in July, and her conservative challenger Nicolas Sarkozy came 42nd.

The only thing I don’t understand is the headline in the Reuters bulletin : Zidane remains best-loved French despite head-butt.

That should be: Zidane remains best-loved French because of head-butt, surely?

[tags]France,French,Zinedine Zidane,Yannick Noah,Nicolas Hulot[/tags]