Many a foreigner living in Japan has attempted and mangled this classic karaoke favourite, the theme song from popular Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro, just so they can let their vocal cords rip in the chorus. Even with limited language skills, you can probably belt out “Totoro, totoro” one million times and manage to mumble through the rest of the words.

But this cockatiel Poko-chan’s sense of pitch and inner pizzazz puts humans to shame. Accompanied by her owner on piano, she warbles through a song that few have fully mastered. What would Simon Cowell say? You be the judge.

Helpfully, there are a ton of songs in Japanese that repeat one word over and over in the chorus, such as “the fish song” (just sing “sakana sakana sakana“, the Japanese word for fish) or even The Blue Hearts’ classic “Rinda Rinda” (Linda Linda). The combination of these simple songs with the all-you-can-drink system at your local karaoke joint will turn just about any non-Japanese speaker into an instant singing sensation. Cockatiel Poko-chan doesn’t need beer to have a good time, though, and is quite happy to sing on request. Check this out:

Japanese critics note that her “rhythm is a little off” (close enough for jazz, I think) and she falters at the end of the chorus (like most singers do, when they run out of “Totoro”s), but overall a great effort and better than many renditions I’ve participated in. Go Poko-chan! Another cute bird on the up-and-up.

Source: Kotaro, YouTube CuteFunnyVideo