Coldplay Take Home NRJ Music Award d'honneur: Chris Martin 'C'est magnifique'

It is the classic dilemma for English-speaking rock stars at foreign award ceremonies - try your acceptance speech in the local language and risk looking foolish, or stick to English and look arrogant.

Chris Martin stopped worrying about looking foolish long ago, so did not hesitate to attempt to show off his language skills at the NRJ Awards in Cannes - the French answer to the Brits or the Grammys. He began by saying something along the lines of: "Ma Francais comme voiture cassee" - a shaky phrasing to start off but which could be taken to mean: "My French is like a broken car".

Luckily for him, the French aren't averse to a good abstract metaphor, and they lapped it up. "Je voudrais dire a vous un grand merci (I want to say to you a big thanks)," he continued. "C'est fantastique."

Read the full NRJ Awards review on Chris Martin at the Coldplay forum here [thanks mimixxx]