While I’m as pleased as everyone else that Berryz Koubo will be covering the German seventies group Dschinghis Khan, I think they could have made some better choices if they’re going with European pop. Right off the top of my head, here’s some other songs that would sound great for my second favorite unit of H!P Kids:

Plastic Bertrand’s “Ça plane pour moi”. Seriously, I want to hear Momoko sing these lyrics, but sped up the way Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore did it. It could wind up like that scene from Decline of Western Civilization where the Germs’ Darby Crash is rolling around the stage floor, babbling like an aphasic child going through a seizure. Also, imagine a stadium full of wota doing that high-pitch “ooh-whoo-ooh-ooh!”. Glow sticks could shatter.

Lordi’s “Hard Rock Hallelujah!” It’s an actual Eurovision winner, and the costumes would look great on the girls. (Maasa seems particularly well-suited to such a style.) They can rock out even more than “Munasawagi Scarlet”, and strike air guitar poses like in “Honto no Jibun”. Also, we can all make bets on who’ll lose a limb to the pyrotechnic displays shooting off around them.

France Gall’s “Les Sucettes”. What could be more sweet and Jpop-py than a song about lollipops? The PV for this could drive the wota wild. Oh man, I’d pay triple for the Single V if they ever did this song. Quadruple for an extra-long making-of segment.

Einstürzende Neubauten’s “Yu Gung”. If it’s good enough for Pussy Galore to cover, it’s good enough for Berryz.

Barring all this, Berryz can also boost their image by doing a Hinoi Team and working with a famous comedian. While some of you would think Dandy Sakano would be the perfect fit, my vote would be for Hard Gay - he’d certainly give “Les Sucettes” the extra oomph it needs.

And I know all of you have ideas of your own on this topic. I’d love to hear them.