'The Hoff' back in Berlin for Wall anniversary MTV awards

(AFP PHOTO / VALERIE MACON)

David Hasselhoff will co-present at this week's MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin, 20 years after his now legendary performance after the fall of the Berlin Wall, organisers said Wednesday.

Wearing a leather jacket with flashing lights attached, "The Hoff" performed his song "Looking for Freedom" in front of half a million people at the historic Brandenburg Gate on December 31, 1989.

Just weeks earlier, on November 9, the Berlin Wall dividing West Berlin from communist East Berlin had been torn down in a peaceful revolution, leading to the unification of West and East Germany the following year.

"Knight Rider", "Baywatch" and "America's got talent" star Hasselhoff, 57, has a large and loyal fan base in Germany, with "Looking for Freedom" topping the charts for weeks and the album of the same name the country's top selling record in 1989.

The highlight of Thursday's MTV awards will be a 20-minute concert given by Irish rock group U2 at the Brandenburg Gate, which will be beamed into the O2 arena on the other side of the city where the awards take place.

The 10,000 tickets for the concert by U2, who came to Berlin in 1990 to reinvent themselves and make "Achtung Baby", for many fans their best album, sold out in three hours.

Other performers at the MTV awards from 2000 GMT include Beyonce, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Jay-Z, Leone Lewis, Shakira, with Katy Perry presenting. Other co-presenters include the Backstreet Boys and actor Jean Reno.

Around 100,000 revellers are expected at the official Berlin Wall celebrations on Monday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel due to host a gathering of world leaders past and present.