Then, we enter a glittering, aquatic-themed dance number that nods to the Busby Berkeley-choreographed “Human Waterfall” sequence in 1933’s Footlight Parade. It’s yet another reminder of Ophelia’s drowning, though the use of lifebuoys here references Taylor’s metaphorical rescue from the same tragic fate. After that, Taylor reappears with a sparkly blue tinsel feather boa of sorts, which matches the style of the jackets she and her dancers wore for the Eras Tour finale.
The full showgirl
In the next scene, we see a clapperboard with the title Sequins are Forever—a play on “Diamonds Are Forever” or Marilyn’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”—plus, “featuring Kitty Finlay.” Kitty is the name of the character at the center of the song “The Life of a Showgirl,” and Taylor’s dearly departed grandmother Marjorie Finlay, about whom she wrote the song “Marjorie,” was an opera singer—another kind of showgirl, if you will. The board also says “Take 100”—a reference to the line “keep it 100” in “The Fate of Ophelia,” as well as the fact that Taylor’s lucky number, 13, and Travis’s jersey number, 87, adds up to 100. As Taylor said on New Heights, “That’s numerology.”
When we next see Taylor, she has dark, Elizabeth Taylor-esque hair and violet eyeshadow. (Elizabeth Taylor famously had violet-tinged eyes, and on the album’s second song, “Elizabeth Taylor,” Swift sings, “I’d cry my eyes violet.”) On a chalkboard behind Taylor, you can see the abbreviated titles of songs from The Life of a Showgirl and their corresponding numbers (“7. AR,” particularly prominent, is track seven, “Actually Romantic”), as well as a Sequins are Forever poster featuring Taylor and bearing the names of Sabrina Carpenter, Max Martin, and Shellback.
She flies into the rafters, and then emerges a sequin-covered showgirl à la Singin’ in the Rain—albeit in orange, the main color of the album, naturally.