DAVID HASSELHOFF - HASSELHOFF DEFENDS EMOTIONAL IDOL SCENE

DAVID HASSELHOFF is proud of being caught on camera crying during the final episode of AMERICAN IDOL - he just wishes US President GEORGE W BUSH could follow his example and show some emotion too. The former BAYWATCH star was in the audience watching finalists KATHERINE MCPHEE and TAYLOR HICKS face-off for the title and was overcome with emotion when the winner was announced. He refuses to feel embarrassed by his sentimental display - and insists if politicians could show some love and warmth like him, the world would be a better place. Hasselhoff hits back saying, "Is it wrong for a grown man to cry? Maybe if we had more emotion in the White House we wouldn't be in this mess we're in. "What moved me was the person sitting next to me is my best friend, he has brain cancer. It was his birthday and this was his present. "When Taylor Hicks won I said, 'Isn't that cool? A guy gets the American Dream.' Then I look over at my best friend who says, 'Isn't it great to be alive?' "I find it kind of strange that you have to explain that in this world. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with having emotion?"