When the musicians launched into Elvis Presley's 'I Can't Help Falling In Love With You,' Koizumi, who is a great fan of Presley's began singing along with the tunes with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who was sitting next to him.
After the performance, Koizumi mounted the stage and thanked the musicians for playing his 'favorite song,' and added, 'Since I became prime minister, I gave up falling in love.'
The Japanese leader was then presented with a cowboy hat made of rabbit skin from the Asia Society, which he promptly donned, and vowed to develop a 'creative partnership' between Japan and Australia, to tumultuous applause.