Germany's first porn-karaoke bar opens
July 23, 2019
Hamburg's already infamous nightlife scene got even more risqué on Monday night with the opening of Germany's first bar dedicated to "porn karaoke."
Singing is not the first order of business at the "Porno Karaoke Bar," which was opened by German drag queen Olivia Jones in the northern German city's St. Pauli district.
Instead, visitors are invited to go on stage and moan along to clips from pornography films from the 1970s and 1980s as they soundlessly play on screens in the background. Currently, visitors can choose from nearly 30 retro clips.
"It's funnier than I thought it would be," Jones told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper on opening night.
"At the beginning, people are reserved and don't dare to try it out, but meanwhile we've noted that we can hardly save ourselves from the guests who are galloping onto the stage," she added.
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Name the tune — moaning style
For those who need a warm-up before taking the stage, the bar offers a form of "foreplay" where performer Lex Dildo, who serves as the master of ceremonies, moans famous songs and has visitors guess the tune.
Not only is the game fun, but it also serves to draw out the shier customers, Jones said.
"I don't want to single out any particular gender, but you wouldn't believe how many big studs are unable to perform when they get up on our stage," Jones told news agency DPA ahead of the opening.
Jones is one of Germany's most famous drag performers and owns several bars and clubs in St. Pauli, which is home to Hamburg's infamous Reeperbahn with its nightclubs, sex shops, porn cinemas and the city's major red-light district.
In 2010, Jones also opened up Europe's first strip club that features male performers — and only allows women to enter.