"contestant number" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It is typically used when referring to a specific participant in a competition or game show. Example: "Contestant number three has just won the grand prize!".
But it was contestant number one ("Hi, David, my name's Haim Saban and I'm from Israel") who stole the show.
On plastic chairs in a gymnasium, eight women sat dressed as if for their weddings, with sequined saris in pink, green and orange, pinned with white laminated contestant number tags.
But we were clearly a long way from Belgravia as the camera panned over the Las Vegas skyline to introduce us to contestant number one, Adam, an enthusiastic young chef who "creates food for awesomeness".
Contestant number two stands up.
Contestant number two says: "I am Ms. Middle Class".
Contestant number three says: "I am Ms. Middle Class".
Arguably, the main body of the film can't quite live up to this bravura opening, but this is partly because the succeeding three days, in which the dwindling contestant numbers are periodically flashed up on screen like a scoreboard, are paradoxically concerned with the more subtle back-stories of the friendships, attractions, crushes and unrequited loves that emerge in this crucible of anxiety.
As arguably -- and I will happily take on all comers here -- the most talented contestant the number one series has presented in eight seasons, Idol could have used a win by Adam to bolster both its talent-vaulting validity as well as prove a crosses-all-demographics appeal.
Distraction, which featured contestants removing numbers stuck to naturists' bodies using only their mouths, had 1.5 million viewers, or a 9% share, which was 200,000 more than the 1.3 million watching Kirsty Wark on Newsnight.
One contestant sang a number from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, wearing a full-bodied Sarah Brightman wig.
Therefore, in order to test our measure, we analyzed the data ranking each contestant by the number of unique users.
