A pair of Robonova-1 kit robots teamed up with “Chi” (Naoki Nokubo) of the defunct pop-idol trio Sh?chishin (???) for a special performance on Fuji TV’s “The Best House 1-2-3″ variety show last night. (Watch it.)

The new trio — named “Robo-Sh?chishin” — performed “Sh?chishin,” the original group’s self-titled hit single. Although the robot replacements sang off-key and sounded rather robotic, one of the little guys pulled off a surprise by taking its pre-show “break a leg” instructions literally (skip 1:20 into the video).