RIYADH — The General Entertainment Authority (GEA) announced the launch of the second stage of the Qur'an and Adhan Global Awards following the conclusion of the first stage on Monday, August 18. The second stage will see the shortlisting of registered applicants, which reached 42,000 participants from 162 countries, 24,766 of them in the Qur'an recitation competition and 17,347 in the Adhan competition. Since their launch earlier this year by the GEA's Chairman Turki Al-Sheikh, the two competitions witnessed a large global turnout where Saudi Arabia topped the list with 9,082 applicants. Egypt came second with 5,184 applicants, followed by Pakistan with 1,822, Indonesia with 1,801, and India with 1,225. The remaining applicants came from a total of 157 countries. Moreover, the five countries maintained their rankings in the Adhan competition, which witnessed a similar level of high interest. The competition received 7,167 participants from Saudi Arabia, 2,872 from Egypt, 2,193 from Pakistan, 1,064 from Indonesia, and 956 from India, with the remaining also covering 157 countries. The final two stages are also expected to witness an outstanding enthusiasm among participants. The third stage involves live on-stage performances, while winner announcements and awarding will be concluded throughout the final stage. The winner of the Qur'an Recitation competition will receive a prize of SR5 million ($1.3 million), while the winner of the Adhan competition will receive a prize of SR2 million ($530,000).
