Opening number 开场 Opening, number, 开场

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“Ingibjorg Egilsdottir, Miss Iceland 2009, pre-tapes her opening number for the Miss Universe 2009 competition at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas August 18, 2009.”

Could you explain “opening number”?

An opening number is the first performance of a major event, like in the above example, the Miss Universe pageant. It welcomes the audience with a spectacle of music, dance and/or theatre to introduce the show/event. In this case, “number” refers to a routine or act.

The “opening number” can be the most anticipated or most dreaded part of a show. Take the Oscars for example. Many telecasts of the Academy Awards have presented brutal “opening numbers” which have made audiences cringe with embarrassment or just plain bored them. The 1989 Oscars “opening number”, in which actor Rob Lowe and a woman portraying Walt Disney character Snow White sang and danced to the song “Proud Mary”, has gone down in Oscar history as perhaps the worst “opening number” ever. It made little sense and was embarrassing to watch. On the other hand, last year’s Oscar’s “opening number” was very entertaining and earned praise for host Hugh Jackman. His scaled-down, “recession-inspired” mostly one-man routine was original, funny and showed that you don’t have to have glitz or over-the-top costumes to entertain an audience.