Hot-Blooded Karaoke at The Royale

Tender was the night on Saturday, when patrons of The Royale were treated to a Valentine's Day tongue bath of love poetry karaoke as part of the Observable Readings series.

With the bartenders softly placing empties into the trashcan like eggs into a basket, emcee and Washington University literature professor Jeff Hamilton offered a contemplative reading of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded."

Two young ladies read aloud -- from cell phones -- their own compositions. One couple riled the crowd with some ribald love limmericks. And Dwight Bitikofer, publisher of the Webster-Kirkwood Times, gave a full-throated reading of excerpts from John Milton's "Il Penseroso."

But profundity hung thickest in the air toward the close of the evening, when a woman recited, with masterful restraint, the lyrics to Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff."

If you didn't get laid after love poetry karaoke, YOU dropped the ball.

See more photos after the jump....